February is Meditation Month here at Tricycle. As we embark upon our 28-day meditation challenge, our new retreat with renowned meditation teacher and co-founder of Insight Meditation Society, Sharon Salzberg, is a great way for beginners to get started and for veterans to renew their practice.

In this first week’s retreat, “Concentration,” which is available for all to watch, Sharon discusses how common it is for our minds to become scattered and subject to all kinds of distraction. The practice of concentration, or as she calls it, of “gathering,” can result in a sense of empowerment and feelings of integration and presence. 

Sharon guides us on how to go about practicing gathering and settling, beginning with the breath as the object of concentration. By becoming aware of how our minds tend to wander, she says, we can cultivate an essential principle of concentration, which is to “begin again.” The retreat ends with a guided meditation session. 

Watch this week’s retreat here. To watch future retreats and gain access to all of our archived online retreats, subscribe to Tricycle here.

Check out the preview of this week’s retreat below: