Stop thinking—about what you are going to say next while someone else is still speaking. Notice your breath. Hear them out, open your mind, and listen.

Stop thinking—about all the things that could go wrong in your career. Notice your breath. Be your best and do your best.

Stop thinking—about your workday when you are with your family. Notice your breath. Love them now.

Open Awareness Meditation, also known as “open attention,” “open monitoring,” or “soft focus,” is a form of mindfulness meditation in which you allow the many things present in your consciousness (sounds and other sensory input, as well as your thoughts and emotions) to arise in your awareness and then naturally fall away as they are replaced by different sounds, thoughts, etc.

The ancient concept of yin and yang refers to the two fundamental sides of nature—both spiritual and physical, both feminine and masculine.

Yin is the feminine aspect of all things and is associated with that which is expansive, open, and receptive, while yang is the masculine aspect of all things and is associated with that which is precise, active, and specific. Every person has both yin qualities and yang qualities,

Attention is the yin to concentration’s yang. Attention (mindfulness) and concentration (focus) work together to provide a full, rounded experience of being both focused on the task at hand (whatever it may be), as well as having a complete awareness of, and an open mind to, the many aspects of the moment you are in.

This sixth sense of thought often comes to the foreground in mindfulness practices like meditation.

Thoughts provide important information, but they are not fundamentally different from or more important than, say, the taste of a pear or hearing a Mozart symphony.