How do you practice and maintain single pointed attention throughout the day? When I am doing manual tasks, work, walking to the shops etc, I try to focus my full attention on what I am doing, and let my distracting thoughts float by like in meditation. However, like meditation this doesn't always work but it's the same process, distracting thoughts will come in and I then try to bring my attention back to the task.

There's plenty of opportunity to practice this in the daytime when we're busy with day to day business, but there's a difference between giving these little tasks full attention throughout the day and giving the T.V or a book full attention. If I watch a film or a program I am concentrating on this with my full focus. But I am not fully present, I'm distracted. Sometimes I slip back into the T.V habit and after a couple of hours I will stop watching and feel the sensation of 'coming back', I was lost in someone else's imagination.

Sometimes it's just good to sit in a silent room and just Be in that silence, sometimes it's better in a busy noisy room, finding that inner silence.

I'd be interested to hear what being present means to other people and how you bring into daily life.

Woody