Using Four-Corner Breathing to Find Your Focus

After a hard day of work, or a stressful afternoon at the office, you may find that you are having trouble focusing on a task at hand.  Even if it was something as simple as a scheduling conflict for lunch, you may feel as though your mind is elsewhere and you cannot seem to get your full attention and focus on that late-afternoon project.  One meditation trick you can try to help you obtain--and retain!--your focus is by using "Four-Corner Breathing."

1.  Find an object nearby that has four corners--a box, your monitor, or even this page.

2.  Start at the upper-left-hand corner and inhale for four counts.

3.  Turn your gaze to the upper-right-hand corner and hold your breath for four counts.

4.  Move to the lower-right-hand corner.  Exhale for four.

5.  Now shift your attention to the lower-left-hand corner.  Tell yourself to relax and smile.  Repeat three to five times, or as often as you like.

Source: Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., psychologist, attention expert, and author of "Finding Your Focus Zone."