Consider, the opposite of distracted has issues as well. Those modes where we stick to a topic like a tick on a caffeinated chipmunk. And have to pull ourself out of a wormhole because we could focus there for hours and we’ve got other chit to do. That is also an issue. But it does help with meditation.
It helps just hang out with the breath, watching thoughts go by but not taking the ride, just noticing them. Or, when we take that ride unconsciously, eventually realizing it and hopping off. Try sitting there focused on this simple task for an hour. It’s not even that hard. In fact, when done daily for a while, a simple sitting awareness of the breath becomes blissful. And as a base, we can explore technique #1 of the 112 techniques in the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra that Lord Shiva revealed for gaining enlightenment. In fact, #1 is all the Buddha used, and teaches, but there is a little missing piece in #1 the Buddha doesn’t cover. Perhaps people discover it naturally, or accidentally, but it’s a minor difference that can make a big difference in meditation. Number 1 is the beginning of a set of techniques that use the breath. It instructs us to be aware when are breathing in and out —but also, and in particular, during those intervals when the breath has stopped. It may be a split second after inhale, or several seconds after exhale. Doing nothing to rush to either point, just follow the path of the breath without expectation. The breath becomes smooth, like silk, and the end points subtly blissful. This state carries a grace that is better than any drug, in my experience.
Being distracted, on the other hand, is a different way of using awareness. Inner or outer, it latches on to the strongest signal and switches when another is coming in hotter or the current one attenuates. Awareness plugs into these signals. It may not even be processing them in any original way, merely receiving without expressing. Or with regulated expression. It’s like a human brain becoming an antenna and the signal squirts limbic juices to reinforce the importance of scanning for the next input in an endless chase. There are other techniques in the 112 better suited to that nature for some.
But there’s another role distraction can play. Spreading awareness but keeping a coherent base. This resembles peripheral vision, where we don’t focus on any one thing, but we focus on maintaining an even spread and not getting absorbed by a single viewpoint. It’s not like the staccato of distraction/short focus, it’s like maintaining an open field of only distraction. This state creates instant alpha waves in the brain. And it’s precious for realizing tensions in the body because peripheral focus is not just visual, but auditory: we hear everything as raw sound, not words or even music; and somatic: feeling the entire body and, in fact, spreading it beyond the body so the body is floating in this bubble of extended perception.
But back to the breath and method #1 and an observation. It’s such a small thing. But it seems like it could also be pretty big. When hanging out in the intervals, there’s a distinct catch in the breath. A clenching just at the nadir of exhalation where the body grips subtly to keep from releasing deeper. Almost as if it’s afraid to let go completely. As if this might be the last breath and it better hang on to a little for the future. And there is a space here where awareness seems to touch the edge of the abyss. And dips our toes in bliss. What’s that about, anyway? Do all of Shiva’s techniques have these subtle portals? It may be worthwhile to explore some others. He recommends finding one that clicks for us personally.
Osho does a good job of describing these methods in his massive Book of Secrets