It could seem like it is difficult to focus because your attention is being pulled in many different ways today. Your preoccupation might be the result of having too many thoughts demanding your attention. This would be a good day to use meditation to help you remain centered amidst the storm of your thoughts. You could consider trying a counting meditation, which can help you develop a greater ability to focus. Find a quiet place to sit and begin counting your breath from one to 10, with each inhalation and exhalation cycle being one. Once you reach 10, start counting your breaths beginning at one. If you find that distractions arise, you can bring your attention back to your counting. You might notice that this technique allows you to quiet your mind and increase your focus.

Using counting meditation to help limit distractions is a wonderful way to still the mind and gain clarity. The nature of the mind is to trick us into thinking that our immediate thoughts always need attention. As thoughts swirl through our heads, it is easy to allow our attention to become diverted--each idea seems to be important. By counting our breath we are giving our minds little room to run wild on us. We give our chattering minds a concrete point of attention to focus on and train them to retain this focus even while we are not meditating. Doing counting meditation today will help you control your scattered thoughts and extend this focus to the rest of your life.