Real Concentration is Letting Go
A few days ago I was speaking to myself, going over some notes that I’ve been preparing for an upcoming discussion. I was having fun laughing and discussing various sections of my discussion with myself. And it was great, because I came to the realization that I should never be serious when speaking to anyone. Giving a “speech” and “presentation” is a totally different experience than simply having a “discussion.” When one is serious, you become “concentrated” (in the bad sense of the word). Meaning that you become tight and overly concerned with every little thing, leading to a collapse in creativity and Beingness with the environment. But when you aren’t serious, you are truly concentrated. And real concentration is the ability to let go and become totally involved without even trying to think about it — it’s just happening.
Go For a Ride, Stop Resisting
You just allow yourself to float away. And when one allows for this “floating away,” you can truly see the artistry in everything that you do. For me, when I was going over my notes and speaking out sections of my discussion, I became a painter. Painting stories, experiences, and thoughts onto the infinite canvass of the universe. If I had been serious about what I was doing, there would have been no painting. I would have been a one of those scrupulous sketch artist hacking away with my eraser every 2 seconds trying to correct every little touch outside of the line — producing drab and mundane work. Even the serious surgeon is bound to make a mistake if he isn’t letting go (as paradoxical as that may sound). Being serious about anything in life is tantamount to walking around with a blindfold. You’ll never really see the beauty in anything.
Be Sincere instead of Serious
When you are open and relaxed, sincere (re: seeing the truth in all that you do), and not serious, you allow the universe to blow you away as it does with the autumn leaf. When you are the leaf, you are allowing the universe to take you on a journey. Think of it as a universal roller-coaster. It’ll take you to new heights. Sometimes there will be sharp turns. Seemingly abrupt stops. And scary maneuvering….but don’t tense up. Don’t hold on tight. Just trust in the ride and let go. Fly away. Soar. You are the bird soaring above the mountains. A bee buzzing above the rose. The trout allowing the current to effortlessly coax it downstream. Just let it happen. This is the nature of sincerity, never seriousness.
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Hey Dave,
I like to literally feel letting go. One way I can do this is let go of my face. For some reason our face tends to be tense, or at least mine does. So I like to consciously start the letting go of my face muscles, and then let the rest of the work be done unconsciously. I feel it all over my face, my ears, and even my scalp. Then it can go to the rest of my body. It helps me let go physically and mentally as you described. This is probably weird to most people, but it works for me. Ha!
another trick prior to speaking, is to do facial muscle exercises…like various face strains and expressions – so when you do speak, your face is loose and limber, and expressionful
also a couple jumping jacks, pushups and kicks will help too
My yoga instructor always reminds us to “loosen your face” in class. At first I thought I heard her wrong, but once I tried it, I did feel more relaxed. I would try it. why not?
Hey Vic, you are absolutely right on (just as your yoga teacher advised to you Step)… you see, the face literally has hundreds of muscles which we tend to tense up and hold tight all day and we don’t even realize it. So it’s always a great practice to let these muscles loose. This can help us learn to loosen everything, having a cascading effect on the entire body and mind. Nice pointers Lawrence. I actually like to meditate before having an involved discussion with people — it really relaxes my entire body.
Thanks for the comments, dudes!