Learn to drop a wandering thought mid-sentence and reward yourself with a really nice refreshing breath

"Usually a thought, once it’s finished, will lead to another thought and then another one. Learn to drop the thought right in the middle and come back to the breath. When you come back, reward yourself with a really nice breath, one that feels really refreshing. That way, the next time you wander off, you’ll be more inclined to come back because you know when you come back it feels good.

While you’re with the breath, try to be as sensitive as possible to how the breathing feels. The more sensitive you are, the more subtleties you’ll find. And the more subtleties you find, the more interested you’ll get: What’s actually going on here?

Areas of the body where you’ve been carrying tension around for who-knows-how-long: You can begin to loosen them up. You notice all kinds of things about how you relate to the body, and how the mind relates to itself in the present moment.

If you find yourself talking to yourself about the breath, that’s fine. That’s an integral part of the concentration."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Protect Your Inner Center"

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