Sleep Now - 6.4 - Focusing
Jessica Ortner guides a tapping exercise on focus and attention. The session uses mindfulness and energy work to help you manage distractions and build concentration through a meditative practice.
So how do you tune in? It's really easy to get sidetracked. There's so many things pulling your attention. Facebook announcements on your phone, your emails popping up, your kids or your boss is pulling at your skirt. There's a lot going on and it's okay to acknowledge that and just be present with it for a minute and then give yourself the gift of getting something complete. There are times when you have to pay attention to other things and. And we're inviting you to allow the transition to be easier, too. So if your kid is about to flush Barbie dolls down the toilet, you probably have to stop what you're doing and go and rescue the Barbie dolls or the frog or whatever it is. So you may not have that undivided attention, but if you allow yourself to transition out and transition back in, that can be a lot easier rather than ripping yourself away and then forcing yourself back. So if you can take a nice, slow, deep breath and let yourself feel your body. I know when I'm being pulled around like that, I get so above my head, like in my head or above my head, and I'm just like, ah, Facebook can wait. It has a sense of urgency and like, we want to know what's going on. It's okay to put it aside. It's okay to turn off the notifications for a while. Email, you can wait. Very rarely is there. If you don't respond in the next 30 seconds, you will lose $3 million.
Those are called spam.
Yes, yes. I'm a Nigerian prince, so it's okay. I will sometimes close my email. As horrible as that sounds, I know that's like anti American or wherever you're from, but it is okay to close your inbox for a little while and have that focus or to step away from the computer. And we're just going to invite you to have a different energy about this. So do you have anything you want to add before we tap? Rick?
After we tap.
Okay. So nice deep breath. Feel your toes and your butt. Karate chop. Even though there are a lot of things pulling in at my attention, even.
Though there are a lot of things pulling at my attention, I'm gonna give.
Myself the gift of focus.
I'm going to give myself the gift of focus.
I have this vision of a fairy godmother coming in I have this vision.
Of a fairy godmother coming in and.
Waving her magic wand.
And waving her magic wand.
Giving me focus.
And giving me focus.
And I gratefully accept.
And I gratefully accept.
Top of the head. It's Hard to focus sometimes.
It is Hard to focus sometimes.
Eyebrow. It's easy to get pulled in a lot of different directions.
It's easy to get pulled in a lot of different directions.
Side of the eye. I choose to let myself ground I.
Choose to let myself ground.
Under the eye. I actually get more done when I'm tuned into my body I actually get.
More done when I'm tuned into my body.
Under the nose. I can tune into a part that isn't achy right now.
I can tune into a part that isn't achy right now.
Chin. I can wiggle my toes and I.
Can wiggle my toes.
Collarbone. And let them help me with the process.
And let them help me with this process.
Under the arm. It's okay to tune in right now.
It's okay to tune in right now.
Top of the head. I let my primitive brain know I'm safe.
I let my primitive brain know I'm safe.
Eyebrow.
It's been so vigilant it has been so vigilant.
Side of the eye. It's been trying to pay attention to.
Everything it's been trying to pay attention to everything under the eye.
And it's been doing a really good job at that.
And it's been doing job at that.
Under the nose. Thank you for caring, primitive brain.
Thank you for caring, primitive brain.
Chin. And I'm ready to focus and relax.
And I really am ready to focus and relax.
Collarbone. One last check. No leopards or bears.
One last check. No leopards. No bears. Teddy bear.
Yeah. Under the arm. It's okay to ground and focus.
It's okay to ground and focus.
Top of the head. And give myself the gift of getting.
Things done and give myself the gift of getting this done.
Nice deep breath. And it really is true. If you can let yourself complete something that can give you a lot of energy, that's a really like that celebration, like, oh, my God, it's really done. I don't have it hanging on me anymore. It can feel amazing. So you can have small goals. It doesn't have to be. I will write a book today. Not gonna happen. I'll start the I'll write a layout or I'll start the first chapter. I'll jot down some bullet points. I want to get. Wow. I did that. I took a step forward. I'm really proud of me.
And if you're a little stuck, just tap and think about what's a two minute step? Because part of what we're doing here is we're tuning your state of being Remembering that the state of being where I have to take into account 100 different inputs at a time, I have to keep all my sensors open. When I start tuning to one particular thing, I'm quieting the inner noise because I'm saying it's okay to filter out Facebook, it's okay to filter out email, it's okay to filter out. I wonder when that person's going to get back to me and just being able to tune and quiet the inner noise. And we're doing something lovingly sneaky here and maybe some of you are picking up on this. We started off in helping you quiet your inner noise so that you could focus on something. Sleep, you could focus on making the transition and letting go of some things. Guess what? That same skill that you use to get to sleep, to sleep well, to handle an interruption when you sleep and go back into a another focus state of allowing your body to tune to what it is right in front of it, sleeping, these things can be used in your professional world. It can be used during lovemaking, it can be used anywhere that you as a human being want to tune yourself.
You're building those muscles.
You're building those muscles. It's an energetic skill and it allows you to dance and move with life in a way that isn't predominantly primitive brain focused. And that's part of what our real mission in the world is. We know that people's heart, minds is different from their primitive brain. Vigilant warrior. There's a time for vigilant warrior, but most of the time when we're engaging in works of love and co creation, it's not time for that. And yet we still as human beings spend an awful lot of energy there. So having this focus in a broader sense is what's beautiful. I'd like to do another quick tapping on that karate chop. Even though so many people around me Even though so many people around me, including me sometimes. Including me sometimes get really into my primitive brain.
Get really into my primitive brain.
What do I need to fight?
What do I need to fight?
What do I want to run from?
What do I need, want to run from?
And sometimes I freeze.
And sometimes I freeze.
And they do too.
And they do too.
I'm building a different kind of focus.
I'm building a different kind of focus.
One that's quieter, more present.
One that's quieter, more present and a lot juicier. And a lot juicier.
Because that's the kind of thriving life I want.
Because that's the kind of thriving life.
I Want top of the head. That's the kind of thriving life I.
Want that's the kind of thriving life I want.
Eyebrow. I want to connect to my creative.
Spirit I want to connect to my.
Creative spirit side of the eye and the animals that are part of my.
World and the animals that are part.
Of my world, including the human ones.
Including the human ones.
Under the eye and to be surprisingly calm and confident to be surprisingly calm and confident under the nose and filled with gratitude.
And filled with gratitude.
There's so many miracles just about being alive.
There's so many miracles just about being alive.
And I have so much more than that.
And I have so much more than.
That under the arm. And I invite every cell of my body to celebrate.
And I invite every cell of my body to celebrate.
Celebrate the opportunity to focus Celebrate the.
Opportunity to focus and express myself. And express myself. That felt so good. Thank you, Rick.
Celebrating the opportunity to focus the opportunity to express some aspect of yourself. We can be the gardener that's planting seeds and we can be the person that's pulling up the weeds, and we can be the person that waters, that adds sunshine, that hangs from the tree and makes monkey noises. We get to be all of that probably not exactly at the same time. And by bringing in and blending in this mindful awareness, the inner noise which we promised you as part of this course would be a big part of it. You're going to be bringing that into everything that you do. Be open and curious. We invite you to be open and curious of how that tuning that you're using to get better sleep can be brought in a delightful, interesting way into every interaction that you have.
And realize that this can take a little bit of practice. All the energy work and the visualizations, all of that will help build your muscles faster. It's like legal steroids. But if you've been practicing the other way for a while, realize it can take a little. Don't get mad at yourself. If you see yourself, go, oh, my God. Thank you for noticing. I noticed I was doing it. It doesn't. That's a sign that you're shifting from that being normal to a different way of being. So when you notice it, praise yourself. Oh, my goodness, I noticed. And then just gently invite yourself to experience it. Even if you can only hold it for a minute at first, it's okay. You'll build up the muscle surprisingly fast.
