Five Ways to be Less Distracted | Shaila Catherine

2026-03-11

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Practical Buddhist strategies to focus the mind. Shaila Catherine is a dharma teacher and author of the book titled "Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind." She authored two additional books on the concentration practices called jhana and approaches to insight meditation. She has practiced for more than 45 years, including nine years, cumulatively, of silent retreat. Shaila has been leading meditation retreats for 30 years, and has developed an array of in-depth online courses offered through BodhiCourses.org. In this episode we talk about: The Buddha's struggles with distraction

Practical Buddhist strategies to focus the mind.

Shaila Catherine is a dharma teacher and author of the book titled "Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind." She authored two additional books on the concentration practices called jhana and approaches to insight meditation. She has practiced for more than 45 years, including nine years, cumulatively, of silent retreat. Shaila has been leading meditation retreats for 30 years, and has developed an array of in-depth online courses offered through BodhiCourses.org.

In this episode we talk about:

The Buddha's struggles with distraction
Shaila's attempts to make the teachings of the Buddha accessible to contemporary minds
The importance of getting to know your own thought patterns
the counterintuitive strategy of "avoid it, ignore it, forget it,"
Replacing seduction with mindfulness
Developing a flexibility of mind
And why we're vulnerable to our own tendencies when we're not mindful

This episode originally aired June 29th, 2022.

Related Episodes:

How to Focus | Shaila Catherine

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Additional Resources:

Shaila's upcoming course: Beyond Distraction
Shaila's books
Insight Meditation South Bay

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