2-minute concentration exercise

Before a group starts to work, every participant should have the oppurtunity, to clear his or her mind from earlier events and be in the position to focus attention on the next topic.

To achieve this state of renewed clarity of mind and focussed anticipation, everyone sits straight in their chair, comfortable with arms and legs unfolded and feet flat on the floor. The facilitator asks for eyes to be closed or held in fuzzy focus on a point ahead/on the floor.

 Facilitaor to group: “For the first minute, give your mind the opportunity to show all of the thoughts, memories, sensations and images which still occupy it, a result of what has happened during the day or the past weeks.

While doing this, imagine that you move a few steps backwards and watch these movements in your mind like a movie, without holding the single pictures, but letting them go as easily as they came.

As soon as your mind produces an impulse of thought, look at it and name it and put this topic “like a book on a shelf “. Assure your mind that you will think about this topic carefully at a later point of time“.

“This first minute starts now!“

After one minute, the facilitator continues:
“Now we concentrate our minds on the same object to create one “mindfield“ in the group. Pay attention to the top of your nose and observe the difference between inhaling and exhaling throgh the nostrils. While doing this feel the slightly cooler air during inhaling and the slightly warmer air during exhaling -  nothing more.

While doing so we finddiscover, that in- and ex-haling is a present to us, without needing anything to do for it - of a power which accepts us completely just as we are, with all our strengths and all our weaknesses.

Every single inhaling is a new chance.
Every single exhaling is a deep cleansing and relief!“

“This second minute starts now!“

After this minute, “prepare youself mentally during the next 10 seconds for the following topic and let the concentration position go.

Before we start to work, we can alert our bodies with tapping, starting with the shoulders and arms, over the chest, the thorax, the abdominal wall, the back, the legs, feet and toes and up again.

Now we can start with our work relaxed and concentrated“.