Focused Attention: Meditation to Develop Concentration and Serenity (TR1D25)

Registration closes at 9:00am (Pacific Time) on September 28, 2025. A waiting list will be created if the program fills early. A recording* will be available following the program. Continuing Education Credits? (see details below).

Description:
Focused attention helps collect the mindstream, returning awareness to a single object of meditation. This counteracts overstimulation from today’s world and the damaging neurological impacts of social media, texting, and technology that bombard us with stressful messages and alerts. This practice (known as samatha) builds the muscle of concentration, enabling us to turn away from our devices and allowing us to settle into the serenity of our deeper nature. Through this practice, we also see the habitual patterns that cause us to suffer—on and off the cushion and in our relationships. As we build capacity to turn away from these patterns, laser-like awareness can develop, leading to profound stillness and deep joy.

Online Only: We are offering this program online via Zoom.

Tentative Schedule (subject to change)

• Welcome
• Sitting Meditation 1
• Q&A
• Moving Meditation
• Sitting Meditation 2
• Lunch Meditation
• Talk
• Q&A
• Silent Break
• Sitting Meditation 3
• Q&A
• Closing

Benefactor – $200
Sustainer – $120
Basic – $95
Scholarship Rate (BIPOC, M/K) – $45

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org no later than 12:00pm (NOON) PT on the day prior to the program date.

*Recording Note: Registration includes unlimited access to this program’s recording. You must register by the deadline above. The recording will be available in ~10 days after the program.

Important Note for CEC participants: If you are interested in receiving continuing education credits (CECs), you must register and pay for CECs prior to the start of the program (no retroactive CECs will be given) and you must attend the entire program. Please review the CEC information below.

Cancellation Policy – Online: Drop-ins, Daylongs, Multiday Programs (1-3 days), Family Programs/Series, CEC fees:

• NO REFUNDS
• Open Credit, or Donation to Spirit Rock = if cancel by midnight, the day prior to program start (Pacific Time)
• No Open Credit = if cancel day of the program, or beyond

Continuing Education (CE) credit available:
This program offers 5 CE credits for $50 for psychologists, and California-licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors. Please review our Continuing Education Credit information page to determine if your association or board will accept credits offered by Spirit Rock.**

Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public. This program supports health care providers in cultivating focused attention and emotional regulation skills that can be applied both personally and in clinical practice. By learning to reduce overstimulation and burnout caused by constant digital input, providers can enhance their presence, resilience, and capacity for attuned patient care. These practices help providers recognize and interrupt habitual reactive patterns, fostering greater clarity, compassion, and effectiveness in therapeutic or caregiving relationships.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-
At the end of the program, you will be better able to:

• Define focused attention (Samatha) and identify its role in developing sustained concentration and present-moment awareness;
• Describe the neurological and psychological impacts of overstimulation from digital technology, and explain how focused attention practices can mitigate these effects;
• Demonstrate how to incorporate focused attention and mindfulness of breathing practices to reduce emotional reactivity, stress, and technology-related burnout in clinical or caregiving contexts;
• Analyze the relationship between focused attention practice and the recognition of habitual cognitive-emotional patterns that contribute to suffering, both intrapersonally and interpersonally.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

**Please note:

• For full Provider information, and additional CEC information, including attendance requirements, cancellation, and grievance policies, please visit our Continuing Education Credit information page.
• For those with a different license than listed above, or with a license from a different board or association than listed on our CEC info page, please contact your licensing board or association directly to request pre-approval/acceptance of CE credits offered at Spirit Rock. Spirit Rock does not confirm the applicability of credit for those with licenses different than those listed.
• Spirit Rock is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16905 for 5 contact hours.
• Credit is awarded for instructional time only and does not include extended silent meditation, if offered.
• Potential Conflict of Interest Statement: This instructor may have authored publications relevant to the subjects covered in this course. The instructor might reference these publications during the course, and they may receive financial compensation if these publications are purchased.