Simple, refreshing excerpts from Thích Nhất Hạnh to cultivate concentration

By Thich Nhat Hanh on November 19, 2025

Attention and Happiness are connected

Mindfulness is the miracle that can restore wholeness to our dispersed mind, calling it back so we can live fully each moment of life.

Mindfulness always brings concentration, and concentration brings insight.

When you drink your cup of tea, if you are concentrated and you focus your attention on it, then the cup of tea becomes a great joy for you. Mindfulness and concentration bring about not only insight but happiness as well.

Freedom from Regret and Anxiety

To breathe with full awareness is a miraculous way to untie the knots of regret and anxiety and to come back to life in the present moment. If we’re imprisoned by regrets about the past, anxiety for the future, or attachment and aversion in the present, we’re not free to be in contact with life. We’re not really living our life. When we breathe in and out and follow our breath with attention all the way through from the beginning to the end, we’re already at ease, no longer dominated by our anxieties and longings. As we breathe with full awareness, our breath becomes slower and more regular; peace and joy arise and become more stable with every moment. Relying on our breathing, we come back to ourselves and are able to restore the oneness of our body and mind and become whole again. When body and mind are together, we are fully present, fully alive, and able to be in real contact with what is happening in the present moment.

Radio NST

Most of us have a radio constantly playing in our head, tuned to Radio NST: “Non-Stop Thinking.” Most of this thinking is unproductive. The more we think, the less available we are to what is around us. Our mind is filled with noise, and that’s why we can’t hear the call of life. Our heart is calling us, but we don’t hear it. We don’t have the time to listen to our heart. We have to learn to turn off the radio and stop our thinking, our internal discourse, in order to be able to fully enjoy the present moment and live our life.

Our mindful breathing and steps are able to pull us out of our thinking and bring back the joy in being alive.

The Secret of Success in Meditation

The practice of non-thinking is the secret of success in meditation. When thinking settles in, you lose the first impression of contact and a chance to be in the here and the now, to be in touch with what’s inside and around you. Instead, just become aware of contact and feelings. Then you can be in touch with the elements of nourishment and healing available in your body and the environment, both physical and mental. When the feeling is pleasant, stop all thinking and just become aware of the feeling. It may be the pleasant feeling of walking barefoot on the beach. Walking on the beach, you can be very happy if you are able to let go of thinking of this or that. Brushing your teeth, going to the toilet, turning on the light or the water tap, any moment can be a moment of happiness.

Maintaining Motivation

When we’re not in touch with our volition, our deepest desire, then even if we struggle and try hard, concentration will not come easily. When that desire is strong in us, the concentration needed to realize real awakening arises effortlessly. Whether we are eating, drinking, walking, or washing dishes, even when we think we’re not very concentrated, we are concentrated because we are being motivated by that strong desire. Scientists and philosophers who are concentrated on their special subjects also have this kind of desire. When we touch our deepest desire, concentration comes easily and stays with us for a long time. We will be in constant concentration, not only in the meditation hall, but in the bathroom, the garden, the kitchen, the market, wherever we go.

The Spiritual Is in the Ordinary

With mindfulness and concentration, everything becomes spiritual. Where do you seek the spiritual? Seek it in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes become holy and sacred if mindfulness and concentration are there. Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute.

Washing dishes in the historical dimension,
I see them piled high.
Looking from the ultimate dimension.
The pile presents no obstacle.

Calming and Releasing Tension in the Body

Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I release the tension in my body.

Calming our body allows it to rest. Resting is a precondition for the healing of body and mind. Returning to our body, we may become aware of the suffering and tension in our body. Living in forgetfulness, we’ve allowed stress and pain to accumulate in our body, and modern life brings added stress. We have to be kind to our body and give it an opportunity to relax. While breathing in and breathing out, we calm our body and allow the tension in our body to be released.

Whatever the position of our body, whether we’re lying, standing, sitting, or walking, we can always practice mindful breathing and releasing the tension. You can practice while cooking breakfast, taking a shower, driving the car, or sitting on the bus. You don’t have to set aside a special time. We shouldn’t say, “I have no time to practice.” We have plenty of time. We can practice all day long and get the benefit of practice right away.

Walking to the classroom, the workplace, or the meditation hall, you can allow the tension to be released with each step. Walk as a free person and enjoy every step you make. You’re no longer in a hurry. Walk with ease, releasing the tension in the body with each step. This is the way to walk every time you need to go from one place to another. When you practice like this you get relaxation and joy, and it benefits everyone around you. To practice mindful breathing is an act of love. You become an instrument of peace and joy, and you can help others.

These are excerpts from How to Focus by Thích Nhất Hạnh, published by Parallax Press.