Under Load

Breath and sound. You're going to hold both while I add weight. Find your breath first. Find a sound — anything ambient, anything stable. Begin toggling. Breath. Sound. Breath. Sound. Clean cuts. Here comes the load. Pick a color. Any color — first one that appeared. Hold it. Don't say it aloud, don't visualize an object — just hold the color in the background while you keep toggling. Breath. Sound. Breath. Sound. What color were you holding? Still there? Or did it drop? Most people drop it around the second toggle. The background task is the first casualty — that's normal. The exercise is to catch it dropping and reinstate it. Keep toggling. Breath. Sound. Now: start counting. From one. Each time you land on breath, increment. Don't count out loud. One hand of focus on the toggle, one hand on the count, the color running underneath both. Breath — that's one. Sound. Breath — what number are you on? If you lost count, restart from one. No penalty — restarting is the drill. Three things now. Toggle. Count. Color.