Mind Clear, Attention and Continuance Exercise…

There is a technique I came up with, which is really an adaptation of other techniques I have been shown in the past, or just learnt naturally…

The first technique is that of clearing the mind. Now the method I was taught was to attempt to clear the mind totally. Leaving a happy, open and free mind. This idea freaked me out a little, to say the least…
What I want to take from this technique is the mind-clearing but in smaller doses, designed simply to clear the mind of just the unwanted aspects…
For example, say I was experiencing the thought of a swear word. Now, what I want to achieve in the mind-clearing is take away anything that swear word was dependant on to inhabit the brain. I would take it's power away, so to speak…

The second technique is a listening (or attention focussing) exercise. The method I was taught here involved more than the sense of hearing, but just for the example we shall consider hearing. You would listen to all the sounds around you, without making judgements, just simply paying attention to the sounds.
What I want to take from this technique, is it's power to assess the situation, and pay attention to a particular sense. Using this adaptation, one can look at the newly mind-cleared area(s) of the brain, and start to see again, quite deeply, the situation you are in.
For example, you've just got rid of that swear word, and are now going to focus your attention back on the sounds that inhabit the mind. You can then see once more, in a more complete fashion, that which the sense of hearing wants to focus on, and identify which of those sounds are important…

The third technique is that of continuance with mindfulness. Continuance would be where the object of your attention has been allowed to get away from you a little and is now being brought back, so as to continue with the pursuit of the subject of your attention. This is done so that you can pick up where you left off before you had to interrupt fluid thought to deal with something you needed to correct.
The mindfulness aspect is where you would pay extra attention, and so forth to allow the mind to be more at one with your objects of attention.
What I want to take from this technique is the abilities of picking up from where you left off from whilst being a little more careful, and where you would make sure things stay their course.
For example, you've just completed a bout of attention focussing upon the area where you had the first problem that you then cleared your mind of. You would then continue on with the original plan of thought or activity that you were working on at the time of the onset of the problem. You would then hopefully be back on track, being productive in the pursuit you had chosen.

The combination of these processes can lead (I hope) to a more improved pursuit of productivity. The techniques can be applied to all the senses, and one of the more interesting is the sense of touch, as it appears, unlike the other senses, to be further away from the brain. The interesting aspect of this, is that the mind clearing takes on a slightly different form, that of bodily co-ordination clearing (something I have never heard of before in this specialised context, but may play a part in things like meditation and relaxation exercises).
The three techniques are best performed in the order I have introduced them (as far as I know)…
That would be mind-clearing, followed by the listening exercise, followed by mindfulness continuation.

You may find that (as I have from limited experience) the main things you encounter to change come from areas of speech, bodily relation to others, as well as the visual imagination.
Of course the techniques encounter pursuits greater than these, but a lot of your improving time may be centred around these and other key areas.

I am yet to take this idea very far, but have found it to be useful, and wish the same for you (should you try and use it)…
The next step for me is to relate this more closely to related subjects like meditation, relaxation exercises, as well as to things like chanting and breathing exercises…

Please feel free to add your comments, and also to talk about similar exercises you have come across…

My closing thought would be that, if I have described the techniques correctly, then not only is this something we can do, but is something we do, although perhaps unknowingly, which we can focus on and improve it's work by pronouncing it's effects…