u/xelirc

For those of you who have been practicing for a longer time and struggled with severely scattered attention in the beginning, I’m asking for your honest advice.

Even after an hour and a half of practice, I’m not seeing real improvement. I don’t have the luxury of practicing 10+ hours a day like on a retreat, so I want to make the time I meditate more useful.

I’m trying to focus on a single area (area between upper lip and entrance of nostrils) but my attention keeps spreading across multiple areas at once. Anapana stays somewhere in my “radar,” but I noticed it becomes mechanical. I’m aware of it even while thinking without much effort but no matter what I try, the area of attention doesn’t seem to narrow, even during longer sittings.

If you’ve dealt with this and found a way through it, I’d really appreciate hearing what actually helped you move past this stage. Even a small insight/hint or shift in approach could make a real difference for me.

Thanks in advance! 🙏🏻