Spirit X
Step into a conversation for our global and digital age. Guided by Nikola Ristic, Spirit X explores the 69 Principles—a spiritual framework that draws wisdom from East, West, North, and South. It weaves together ancient traditions, rational thought, culture, science, and technology into a path toward greater unity, peace, freedom, love, and fulfillment.
In times of crisis, Spirit X is both a vision and a call: reminding us that genuine spirituality is no longer just a personal choice but a cultural and evolutionary necessity. Each episode invites listeners to engage with teachings that aim to nurture inner balance and collective awakening.
May Spirit X inspire the sanity, happiness, and awakening of all.
Spirit X
How Training Your Attention Transforms Your Day
Ever notice how your mind leaps from thought to thought like a monkey swinging through trees? We take that restless energy and turn it into calm, clear focus with a simple, human approach to attention training. Drawing on hands-on work in middle and high schools and insights from contemplative traditions, we share practical exercises that move from outer objects to inner awareness—no jargon, no pressure, just steps you can try in minutes.
We start by reframing mindfulness as deliberate attention to what’s happening outside and inside, then show how that act reliably increases presence, peace, and kindness. You’ll learn why attention is a trainable faculty of the mind, not a fragile resource you’re doomed to lose. Through playful yet effective drills—gazing at a finger, centering on a cup, settling into the breath, and sensing the alive presence within—you’ll feel how single-minded focus softens the “monkey mind,” relaxes the body, and restores mental energy. It’s a practical antidote to digital overload and the self-critical chatter that erodes confidence.
As we guide you through external and internal anchors, you’ll notice a pattern: focused attention is relaxing, and relaxation makes focus sustainable. That feedback loop unlocks better choices, steadier moods, and a kinder way of meeting the world. We close by mapping a path forward—small daily reps, gentle returns when you drift, and an invitation to let attention rest in its source, where clarity and ease naturally arise. If you’re ready to reclaim your focus and feel more awake in your own life, press play and practice with us. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs calm, and leave a review with one word that describes how you felt after the exercises.
Hello everyone, welcome to the episode five of Spirit Text Podcast. I'm happy to be here with you and I thank you for your attention. And speaking of attention, the episode five is going to be about attention from the psycho-spiritual standpoint. In general, indeed, postcast, we are exploring life and spirituality from a spiritual standpoint. We are slightly using my book, Spirit X, Spirituality for Global and Digital Age. We follow certain chapters there and kind of guideline and the structure. But today I want to have a little bit of a pause from that structure. I want to offer you something that I discovered by actually teaching and offering mindfulness in middle schools and high schools within my nonprofit spirit without boundaries, and relates to the notion of attention and why it's so important in digital age. So I have my own definition of mindfulness and it goes like this. Mindfulness is paying deliberate attention to what's happening on the outside and what's happening on the inside. And the result of that process and that gesture is more presence, more peace, more joy, more love, more kindness in the world, in our world, in the world around us. So it's a complex definition. It usually takes me five to ten workshops to actually unpack that whole notion. But you probably notice that that notion of attention is the first big buzzword in that definition, and attention is important in digital world, in global world, in contemporary world, and it's extremely important in our life. And uh in my workshops I help people actually realizing attention experientially. My own definition of attention is attention is the quality of your mind that is capable of focusing on the objects on the outside and objects on the inside. So our mind is a very complex structure and fascinating structure, and one of the faculties, one of the qualities of our mind that that it can pay attention to various objects and structures, etc externally, but also internally. And once we train our attention mindfully and with discernment, we are actually winning the game of life. Otherwise we are at mercy of our untrained attention. In Zen Buddhism, which is a very rich spiritual tradition, there is that notion of monkey mind. So monkey mind, just like monkey jumping from branch to branch in a kind of a little bit chaotic way, our mind can be monkey mind. So I'm thinking about this, I'm thinking about that. Oh I need to do this, oh this person said that, or oh, I needn't do this, oh I'm not good enough, and stuff like that. So there is this internal chatter in our mind that can be actually very, for the lack of a better word, self-destructive. The vast majority of people are not aware of that, so that's why training attention is the key. So what I would like to share with you today is some exercises that I developed in middle schools and middle schools and high schools, but actually they can be applied to any age and any group globally, and uh the exercise will help you first identifying your attention and then uh understanding and feeling the benefits of actually trained attention. So we're gonna we're going to do a few exercises and and further on you'll be able to kind of continue on your own. So I'm going to ask you very gently to pay attention to this finger of mine. So I'm going to do it with you. So I'm paying attention to my finger. And I'm noticing that when I single-mindedly focus on the objects on the outside, so that's attention, the quality of my mind that is able to focus on my finger, is actually my attention. So I'm going to ask you to pay attention to this finger of mine, and I'm going to use two. But by focusing on this finger, I'm noticing another interesting thing. When my mind using my attention single-mindedly focused on the object on the outside, I'm actually also relaxed. So single-minded concentration and focus is also relaxing because our mind is not a monkey mind. So focus can be relaxing, and that's a huge lesson. So I'm going to ask you to pay attention to my nose too. I do this with middle schoolers and they like it. So at this point, your attention is focused on my nose, single-minded attention, which overlaps relaxation. I'm going to ask you in the room where you are, where your computer is, to choose one object. I'm going to focus on the cup here. So I'm focusing on a cup, single-minded attention, objects on the outside. I feel focused but also relaxed. And finally, I'm going to ask you to gently close your eyes. Gently close your eyes. And focus on the process of your breath. That's the object on the inside. And attention is turned within, and we gently open our eyes. And one more object on the within. So I'm going to ask you to close your eyes gently and to focus on the alive presence in your being within. So alive presence, something is aware, something is awake, something is alive with capital A. There is being with capital B dwelling inside of us. Just bring your attention there and notice how that feels. And we gently open our eyes. So thanks for practicing with me. So what happened here was that we played with our attention on the inside, on the outside, but you also trained our attention. So in digital world and global world, in contemporary world, when we trade our train our attention, we can expect some uh good results in our life when we are at mercy of our untrained attention. Attention can take you to very, very, very uncomfortable places within and without, and that's not what we want. So training attention in contemplary world is the key. It's not difficult, it requires some repetition, it requires a good instructor like myself, and it requires your goodwill to actually train your attention and to discover peace. Once attention rests into its source, which is this conscious alive presence, then we truly relax and we are truly awake. Takes a little time that we rediscover that place that is inherently available to us all the time. But that's why this attention training is so important. We will play with attention throughout our podcast, we'll play attention throughout our book, but this was the beginning. So just be aware where your attention is, and you'll be winning in the game of life. Thank you for your attention, and I will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much.
