Mind Chi Chat – concentration?!

Leave a Reply

Tell me, how is your concentration? Do you find it hard to focus on one thing?
Do you experience ‘chicken circle’ thinking?
Are you repeating the same unwanted thoughts over and over?
When you tune in to your brain and its chatter, is it mostly negative?

Want to improve your concentration?

Last week we looked at your breath, and the power it has to control your response to stressors, calm your nerves and build your resilience. This week we look at building your mental muscle of concentration.

Your brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time! Much of the time it is like a butterfly, flitting from one flower to another. Just for that second THAT flower is the most important, and then, oh! let’s go to this one.

Because of the constant bombardment of media, you have been trained to hop constantly from this buzz to this beep, to that flash.
NOTE THIS: Your brain can only focus / concentrate on ONE thing at a time.

Think of it as an on / off switch. Become conscious of when it is on and when it is off to a new stimulus. Your right hemisphere loves the unusual, and is quickly tempted by anything it deems more interesting than the more logical, repetitive function you may be requiring from your left hemisphere.

So, how is YOUR concentration?

How is your ability to focus your thoughts? If you do any form of meditation or mindfulness, you may already be experiencing the benefits of a focused mind.
If not, here is a simple activity that will bring your ‘right now’ brain function in to your awareness.

Richard Israel and Vanda North introduce you to ‘One!’

Richard was the co-author of Mind Chi and I love to share this moment when we explain the second of the 8-steps of Mind Chi – to focus on one.

Hold the resins of control over your own mind.

What are the benefits of improved concentration?

There are many benefits:
1. A boost to your self-confidence – knowing you can focus when you need and want to
2. Getting your work / study / tasks done faster – working in concentrated bursts on one topic is the most productive you can be
3. Memory improvement, when you concentrate on something, your brain has been told ‘This is important’ and so creates more connections for you to be able to recall
4. Loosing yourself in a task is more energising and relaxing at the same time. It is a form of the ‘flow’ state and
5. You will probably find it much easier to concentrate when you really enjoy something, so there is a secret, memory, flow state and ability to focus are all improved when you are doing something you relish.

Mind Chi step 2 – focus for 1 minute on ‘One!’

Now you can see how in the first 2 minutes of your 8-minute Mind Chi routine, you have told your body and your brain – ‘I am in control here!’ How good is that?

Chi and I are standing by on the ready to take your calls and emails! 

Chi & I look forward to seeing / hearing from YOU!!! 

To book a 15 minute Mind Chi Chat with Vanda to explore how Mind Chi might assist you, your group, team or company build resilience and joy! 

And for more wonderful Mind Chi blogs:

Want more resilience for your organisation, here:

Here is a short cartoon about ‘Resilience for Change’





Mind Chi Chat – your power breath

Leave a Reply

Something that we do all the time, however seldom give any though to – is your breath.

And it is CRUCIAL!! Not doing it has dire results. And not doing it with awareness ALSO has disastrous results!!

Why is your power breath important?

In previous Mind Chi blogs, I have shared ways to check how you are currently breathing. At this time, many people discover that they are taking shallow, high chest breaths.
This is the least effective way to breathe and exacerbates the strain of any stressors.

Let’s look at two crucial reasons why your power breath is so important.

  1. Your brain requires approximately 20% of the oxygen of every intake of breath.
    Lack of oxygen to the brain is why you may feel tired, confused, forgetful and can’t think clearly when you feel the strain of stressors.
  2. Controlled power breathing sends a message to your parasympathetic nervous system and tells you that you can remain in control. You do not need to let the ravages of stress overcome you.
Your square belly power breath

How to do your power breath

There are just 4 simple steps:

  1. Breath in puffing out your belly, slowly for a count of 3 seconds
  2. Hold that breath for a count of 3 seconds
  3. Breathe out slowly for a count of 3 seconds and
  4. Stay empty (wait – do not breathe back in right away) for a count of 3 seconds
    and repeat.

Additional considerations:

  1. If you are able, make sure your feet are both square on the floor; if seated, that your sitting bones are solidly on the chair; that you stack your vertebrae one on top of each other, so you do not require extra energy to hold your body up, and slightly wiggle your head to make sure it is balanced on top of your spine.
  2. If you are walking to a meeting or something you are really not looking forward to, just perform your square belly, power breath as you go, and continue throughout the meeting as much as you can.
  3. If you are already skilled in breathing techniques, feel encouraged to make each side of the square longer – just keep them all the same length.

Here is a 4-minute video explaining the square belly power breath: https://thechangemakergroup-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/p/vanda/Ed7iA72gC-lKiga60kwYl2oBnCr58whAQJnsbEIbF11j4Q?e=FbUtvW

The square belly power breath is the first step of Mind Chi

For the next few weeks, I am going to ‘deep dive’ into each of the 8-steps of Mind Chi, so you may discover more of their importance and potential for you to control your mental energy and build your resilience.

Chi and I are standing by on the ready to take your calls and emails!

Chi & I look forward to seeing / hearing from YOU!!!

To book a 15 minute Mind Chi Chat with Vanda to explore how Mind Chi might assist you, your group, team or company build resilience and joy!

And for more wonderful Mind Chi blogs:

Want more resilience for your organisation, here:

Here is a short cartoon about ‘Resilience for Change’