Call this unit what you will but I'm not going to mention the word "meditation." You'll envision me sitting in a lotus position in my PJs chanting some mantra like "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring." Let's just call this unit "Mental Focusing" because the techniques I'll describe will shift your senses from outward concerns to inward focusing. Now, don't worry, it's not constipating - but you might want to keep a supply of prunes around - just in case.

Mental focusing is a time-tested, scientifically proven way to help reprogram your subconscious. It also can provide relief from stress and worries of everyday life.

What is at the heart of mental focusing?

• Learning to relax and block outside stimulus
• Recuperating - lowers metabolic and heart rates
• Concentrating on those things you want to accomplish
• Focusing on staying positive

There are quite a few sites out there on meditation and mental focusing (refer to my Related Site page). Some have valuable information and some are just down right weird. We're going to avoid the weird side and get down to some basic steps for completing the focusing process. Remember that setting aside a set time (as best you can) and practice are paramount for getting the most out of the process. Here are the steps to follow:

Being able to reprogram your subconscious is one of the benefits of being able to focus your attention inwardly. In past units I've mentioned the use of affirmation statements as a way to get you to do some mental training. Once you've found that you can focus your thoughts, start using those same statements to replace the initial mantra. Those statements can include:

• Affirmation of one's self.
• Positive goals for the day.
• Religious beliefs.
• Even things as simple as I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.

Now, don't get yourself all hyped up before starting your focusing. Having hightened expectations will only create stress and it's important to get into a relaxed state. So start simple, and just use the process to relax while blocking those annoying things around you. Avoid being impatient.

Dreaming occurs when your body is in it's most relaxed state and that's what mental focusing hopes to achieve. Well, maybe not to that level but, hopefully, close. Have you ever laid in bed, not fully asleep, and not fully awake, and envisioned some event? Kind of like a dream but maybe more like advanced daydreaming in living color. That ability to "visualize" is your next step in mental focusing.

Visualization is taking focusing to the next level. It can assist you in making changes to your subconscious by enabling you to visualize the accomplishment of goals. This same process is used by successful businessmen, sports folks, and politicians just before the primaries. Those goals can include an improved self-image, being able to work better with people, being more positive, reducing negative self-talk, moving beyond mistakes, or other traits you identified in the Who Are You? exercise way back in Unit 1.

You must be able to get into a relaxed state and focus before you'll be able to visualize. Here's how the rest goes:

• Get into a relaxed state
• Remember to focus inwardly and avoid external stimulus
• Visualize input from different senses
• shapes and colors - sunsets or something you like
• auditory - hear a bell - move to complex things like voices - change in pitch or volume
• tactile - soft cat, heat, sandpaper, warm water - reach out and touch something
• taste - what foods do you like - what flavors do you avoid?
• smell - very strong sense - ocean spray - locker room
• Next visualize doing something - eating some soup
• The process increases in complexity until you start visualizing yourself accomplishing those goals.

My youngest son is a musician (classical guitar) and he speaks about focusing on a new piece of music and visualizing how it will be played - without the guitar. I've spoken with coaches that work on getting their teams to visualize a successful athletic performance. There are countless stories of monks and martial arts folks who succeed at amazing feats simply by getting in the correct mental state.

The mind is an incredible piece of equipment, capable of leading us down a number of paths. Using it to focus on the things you want to accomplish is one of the best uses of it you can make. But not unless you've identified those goals or changes. Hopefully, you've been with me through each of these units and have completed the various projects I've assigned. In the next unit, we'll look at putting all of it together into your own "Change Me" program.