Use breath as a spotlight to train all three attention systems

You settle onto your bedroom floor, legs crossed over a soft rug, evening shadows softening the walls. You close your eyes and notice the flicker of a streetlamp through the curtain. Then, you turn your attention inward. You feel the gentle cool of each inhale on your nostrils—soft and light. The warmth of the exhale follows, like a sigh.

Thoughts arise: dinner dishes undone, tomorrow’s meeting, your inbox pinging. Each time you catch yourself carried away, you picture a gentle flashlight beam returning to your breath, illuminating only that breath sensation. In that narrow beam you feel steady—you’re using the orienting system to select, the alerting system to recognize when thoughts drift in, and executive control to guide you back.

After five minutes, you open your eyes. Your mind feels quieter, your heart rate slower. You take the calm you’ve cultivated and carry it into the rest of your evening. This simple spotlight on breath has given you the clarity and calm to be fully present, moment by moment.

You take your seat and anchor yourself to one breath sensation, letting all else dim away. When random thoughts or sensations pull your focus, you gently guide your mental spotlight back to the inhale or the exhale—no scolding, just returning. You practice daily, starting with three minutes and adding a minute each week until you reach ten. Each session becomes a workout that trains your orienting, alerting, and executive systems to work in harmony—start tomorrow at breakfast time.