Momentary and Sustained Concentration Types

Term	Momentary and Sustained Concentration Types
Definitions	Two complementary and contrasting ways to strengthen your ability to focus on what you choose. Different techniques emphasize each type. Since both types share the purpose of concentration skill development, with heightened CC&E the distinction between them may become less important. Sustained Focus (or Concentration): Trying to maintain focus on something, whether small or large, for as long as you can, or as long as the object of focus lasts. Typically used in the two UM contact strategies of Even Coverage (holding attention in a set location for as long as you can, such as in Feel Good or a special exercise like following the breath) and Systematic Inventory (maintaining steady contact across the extent of a space, such as in body sweeping). May also be used in Free Float, for instance, you could stay with the sound of a plane flying by for as long as it lasts. (Note ’til Gone is an example of Sustained Concentration.) Momentary Focus (or Concentration): Focusing your attention on anything, whether small or large, for anywhere from a split second to 30 seconds or longer, depending on things like your natural patterns and what you’re focusing on. You can have an experience of deeply focused attention that may also be quite brief. Commonly associated with the UM contact strategy of Free Float, builds concentration through repetitions and is the basis of Noting (such as in See Hear Feel). May also be used in Systematic Inventory (for instance, a special exercise like noting body locations). A way to describe different lengths of focus as they appear in life when you’re not intentionally developing concentration. For instance, rapid and precise shifts in focus, common in the martial arts, can be thought of as momentary. Being absorbed in an activity over an extended length of time can be thought of as sustained.
Synonyms	Sustained Focus and Momentary Focus
Antonyms
Related	Concentration, Noting, Re-Noting, Contact Strategy