Integrating the practice of dharana (redirecting the awareness to the chosen object of meditation) into the day to day activity to gain more mastery over the mind.

My client will pick one activity(ex.brushing teeth) from her day to day life to practice concentration. She will do this twice daily for 2 minutes for a week, rating her effort each time. After a week, she will either add a new activity of her liking along with the previous one or continue with the old activity depending on her rating for the week.

My client is a 45 year old woman. She has a tight neck, shoulders, upper back and ribs. She used to work as a software developer but at the moment is a homemaker. She found herself ruminating about the past and/or worrying about the future and unable to stay focused on her day to day activities. She has regular meditation, asana and pranayama practice. She feels better after her daily sadhana and wants to gain more mastery over her mind.

My client will pick one activity(ex.brushing teeth, making bed, washing dishes, driving etc) from her day to day life to practice concentration. She will practice concentration each time she does this activity for a week, rating her effort each time. She will rate her effort by circling Yes (I did bring my awareness back to brushing) or No (I got lost) in a monthly calendar. After a week, she will either add a new activity of her liking along with the previous one or continue with the old activity depending on her rating for the week.

I used Raja yoga teachings, in particular concentration (dharana) for this practice. This practice will keep her in the present moment as she has a habit of ruminating a lot. This will also increase her will power to stay focused for a short duration of time.

During our first meeting, my client and I discussed her general health and about her goals for this meeting. We met again to discuss the plan I had (which is to practice concentration while doing daily work such as brushing, bathing, folding clothes, washing dishes, driving, eating etc.) to incorporate concentration during her daily life. She chose to practice concentration while brushing her teeth twice daily. She agreed on tracking her progress by checking "Yes (I did bring my awareness back to brushing) or No (I got lost) on a monthly calendar. We also came up with a contingency plan when she fails or forgets to do the exercise. I followed up with her after a week (over the phone). She had some challenges and wanted to try this again for a week and she will add more tasks as she progresses and will contact me if she needs assistance.

My client and I will meet after a week to measure her progress. we will then decide on how to proceed with this task. My suggestions would be to proceed this activity on her own measuring her effort and adding more tasks as she progress

I explained my intended plan to my client and she agreed to give it a try. This plan needs a lot of time, patience, enthusiasm and commitment from the client side. If it is implemented as intended the client will sure to reach her goal of staying in the present moment.

We have to come up with a contingency plan when she fails to do the task. I understood this task needs lots of encouragement and self-discipline. This may take a long time to see the progress but it is worth the effort.

If applied properly with full enthusiasm this method will definitely work. But this method may take a long time to see some progress and the client may get discouraged and eventually they may drop this task. My client is self-disciplined and it works well for her and she is making some progress. If I encounter the same situation, I will go with the same plan and adapt the plan as needed for the client.