We have discussed before how valuable our attention is. The bizarre little mantra above, which comes from a zen Buddhist tradition, conveys that importance in four short words. When you’re sitting, just sit. When you’re walking, just walk. Don’t think about other stuff when you’re doing something: happiness lies in focus.

 

In his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi makes a similar, if more detailed point. He claims that flow states, when we almost totally lose the sense of our surroundings, including our thoughts and worries about the rest of our lives, because we are so absorbed by what we are doing, can become so enjoyable as to be almost addictive – but they come through the hard work of focus.

 

Sit, walk, flow.

 

Please try it today. Right now, you’re reading this. If you’re reading this while doing something else (Is the TV on? Is your phone nearby? Are you eating lunch?), pick one of those things and just do that. And only do that. Don’t think about anything else.

Perhaps you can try it right now with the simplest: breathing.

 

Because it’s the simplest, it is also the hardest: there’s less going on to focus on, so our distractions can be noisier. That’s perhaps why it is the starting point of so many meditation practices.

 

Stop reading now, set a timer for five minutes, and just think about your breathing. Sit, walk, breathe, flow.