>>20016073I am very well aware of that, but probably due to my personality/stress/anxiety, paying attention to it makes me feel worse.
In the end object of focus doesn't matter, it could be external/internal, it could be a defocus from anything... I sometimes do a 30 minute total defocus/soft focus with my eyes open.
Breath is important in the sense that you're relaxing your abdomen where most of the stress is. Now I can do that but in the beginning it was difficult. It really doesn't matter what the object of focus is, as long as it doesn't bother you, it's all the same and it develops attention that carries over to anything else.
>>20016074There's many different ways to tackle stress.
You can either face the situation or turn away from it, both are fine, if you turn onto it you need to do it with concetration and don't surpress anything.
For example, using the coldest showers made me anxious, but if you use your increased focus from the practice, simply focus on the sensation and the sensory clarity of the sensation, then it's not that big of a deal and even becomes enjoyable. It's what they do at the Buddhist temples with ice-cold water, but I don't compare myself to them since they're devoted to the practice while I am a layman.
Be sure to check out Shinzen, don't forget about it.
