I started with imaging the source of a string of bubbles rising in a glass of ginger ale or beer. I moved to focusing on the lower left corner of a rectangle, any rectangle. That is the place on a math graph origin where the axes are positive upwards and to the right.
https://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2019/06/direct-meeting-with-yourself.html
Some exercises prescribed by my physical therapist ask for 10 or 15 repetitions and I often lose count. I got interested in the rosary beads. I am not Catholic or Muslim and have never used beads. But I have read about human visual memory, especially for faces - it is excellent. I have also read about "square breathing", a technique for concentrating on one's breath when it is helpful to keep attention on one thing, such as the breath. In square breathing, I breath in fairly slowly to my own count of 4, hold my breath for the same count of 4, exhale slowly to a count of 4 and wait for a final count of 4 before repeating the 4,4,4 and 4 exercise.
I modified the technique for my own use. I find a rectangle in my vision field somewhere. It could be a wall hanging or a piece of furniture. There are many rectangles around me, including the windows, the driveway and rectangles on the houses nearby. I start in the lower left corner, take a given number of breaths, move my eyes to the upper left corner and repeat. I then use the upper right corner and the lower right corner. Finally I finish off looking at the center area of the rectangle. That gives me a basic five but I can do two or three breaths at each point for 5x2 or 5x3 or 5x4. I don't lose my place and I have something to engage my attention nicely.
