Om Yoga Magazine — January 2018

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om family

I

recently got a puppy, and learning

how best to serve her reminded me

of my children when they were young.

I used to observe them closely to

understand their basic needs and

simple desires. Watching my puppy out on a

walk, she puts her nose to the floor, sniffing

madly, and follows any scent that grabs her

attention. Head down, she gets lost in the

trail, making no contact with me at all. A

helpful dog trainer taught me how to get her

to look up at me so she checks in regularly,

maintaining connection, while having fun

too. Teaching her to focus on me, a ball, a

treat and eventually life with her head up will

help her interact with the world around her.

For this she needs to focus.

Streaks don’t rule

I have worked with children for decades,

but over the last three years, I’ve noticed

a distinct compromise in focus in young

people. Look around at cafes, restaurants

or even waiting rooms, most people are

using a screen to bide time. What happened

to reading, drawing, puzzles and other

creative ways to entertain our children?

We are raising iGen kids; they don’t know

life without the Internet. The constant

connection to a tech gadget, and the

need to keep communicating, feeding an

online pet or playing games keeps people

switched on, plugged in and over stimulated

by something outside of themselves. My

daughter complains about the desperate

teen need to maintain ‘streaks’ on Snapchat.

Keeping a streak is counting uninterrupted

daily communication with friends. Teenagers

work hard to maintain their streaks and

some have them with all their contacts,

which demands constant attention and

daily communication, in fear of breaking

the rhythm and returning to zero. This

madness results in heavy and constant

distraction, with hours spent on cultivating

inane conversation that leads nowhere. With

their noses down, sniffing the next lead, and

getting their minds wrapped and warped in

this digital game, focus on reality begins to

wane, and valuable time is lost.

Focus should be

cultivated and protected

This can happen at home, and is also

taught very effectively and subtly in yoga or

mindfulness classes, and other arts or skills

that need concentration in order to make

progress. By choosing to focus on something

• other than streaks – amazing things are
  possible and the world becomes a bigger
  place again. It’s our responsibility to keep
  our children’s noses off the ground, to help
  them look up to the sky and see the endless
  possibilities that surround them. Interaction
  with them is necessary. Like getting to know
  my pup, it’s important to keep watching
  where your children’s interests lie, and
  offer them opportunities to expand their
  awareness in these areas. Show them the
  world, inspire them to learn new things and
  visit new places. With a gentle nudge here
  and there, teach them how to focus on a
  dream that is bigger than a screen, and
  bring the sparkle back to their reality again.

Time to be present

I know that not all children are given the

opportunity to stay connected to tech, but

the reality is that as soon as a smart phone

is given to a child, their reality changes. We

are deep in the tech generation, and our

children are living in a world that has not

been experienced before. It’s time to observe

the changing behaviours, good and bad, and

be prepared to manage things differently.

As I notice a decline in the ability to

concentrate in adolescence, I work more

strongly on focus in my yoga classes.

From the moment they sit on the mat; my

gentle direction is on focus. We focus on

the ground beneath us, making connection

with the finite earth, and the sky above

us, making connection with the infinite.

Throughout the class, there is focus on

breath, on the task at hand and even on

small areas that need attention e.g. ‘locate

the heel of the back foot’. During meditation

and relaxation, I bring their attention to

ideas, body parts, breath and specific points

of focus. This brings them to the present.

There is only the moment, and in this

moment, there is no distraction. Being in the

moment makes space. It raises your nose

from the ground and creates a larger reality.

And in that reality, things fall into balance.

And in that balance, there is peace.

Siri Arti has created a one-day course called

‘Find your Focus the Starchild Yoga way’.

More details on: starchildyoga.com

Concentration and focus must be encouraged and

protected, so we don’t lose ourselves in activities that

minimise our world. By Siri Arti