How do I increase my powers of concentration?

Answer 1

Word puzzles, like sudoku and regular crossword puzzles- they use memory along with deep thought -- watching Jeopardy if you are really gifted enough to know enough answers that you won't get bored watching...

Answer 2

This is a biggie. You're on a roll though. By simply asking the question you are opening yourself up for answers that will lead you there. Most of the answers you will find within. That comment is very annoying until you get there.

My best advise is practice. Like everything else you just practice concentrating until you master it. The best ways I know are to (1) slow down (2) breathe, (3) meditate. No matter what you try the key is to focus and understand that you have the ability/power to concentrate fully and completely on any give thought, task etc.

You'll definitely get there.

Answer 3

Memory games and puzzles do help. However, my son had the same issues. He took martial arts and within 2 months his concentration levels increased, he was less figety and his grades climbed in school. Also things like yoga, regular exercise, and taking short breaks from whatever you are working on, can give the mind more focus when you need it. Also seek an MD opinion. It could be depression, ADD, or something simple like that.

Answer 4

The brain needs exercise so you could practice concentration exercises. Minimise distractions and focus on the task in hand, taking regular breaks helps to maintain focus. Try brain training games for fun.

Answer 5

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Focus

Answer 6

As a common precursor, when you sit down to practice exercises in concentration and contemplation, precede your sessions with a prayer to God or Guru, and invoke their presence and Grace.

Smile and fill your heart with a recollection of joy and happiness that you may have experienced in the past. Feel God's light suffusing and relaxing the entire body, and gently, rhythmically, slow down the process of breathing. It always helps to keep your eyes shut and focused on the area of the third eye. Closing the eyes ensures stillness of the mind. The attention should always be turned inward, that is, we should try and lose awareness of our bodies and feel the consciousness being sucked into the vacuum-like depths of the eternity.

Practicing in a sitting position is advisable, especially for beginners, as in this position it becomes far easier to gain control over the truant mind. With practice, one can practice certain viable techniques successfully, even when walking, standing or reclining.

In the beginning it is advisable to sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes in the morning and evening, and to continue doing this without interruption instead of attempting longer sessions at the very outset. In the initial stages, it is very likely that you will experience cramps in the leg, but with continuous practice and a detached awareness, one will overcome this very common complaint.

Disciplined, steady practice of even a few minutes each day will help tide over typical 'grumblings' of lack of time.

As you practice, especially until you become a seasoned practitioner, remember to intermittently check and relax the body, and by the use of your will, to calm the breath and the functioning of other organs of the body. Enjoy what you are doing and approach it from the plane of a 'large' consciousness, forgetting the little body-bag of skin and bones as you practice.

Watching the breath
Sit in a chair with your spine held upright and straight, or sit on a comfortable mattress (preferably earmarked for concentration and meditation) in the cross-legged, or lotus position. Face the east or the north as energies that flow from this direction help one concentrate better.

Preferably practice in the early hours of dawn or late at night, when much of existential Nature is quiet and restive. If possible, keep the stomach in a relatively empty state - after a heavy meal much energy is diverted in the process of digesting the food, and the prince of sleep, of course, also tends to distract you!

Keep your eyes shut and focused on the area of the area of the third eye in between the eyebrows. With alertness and aloofness, become a witness to the process of the inflow and outflow of breath. Breathing in through the nostrils, calm the body. Breathing out through the nostrils, smile. As you breathe in, feel cool freshness permeating your whole being; as you breathe out, feel yourself melting in the omnipresence of His soul magnetism.

As you breathe in, take in all the love in the world; as you breathe out, give peace and light to all. Dwell in the moment. Do not think of anything else. Just be there, observing the inflow and outflow. Do not seek to control it. If you can feel it, feel it; if it seems to have disappeared, be aware of the state of no-breath. In fact, the wider these moments of no-breath, the greater is the benefit. Above all, remember to be detached. If it helps, with every inspiration mentally chant 'Aum' or any other mantra, and do the same with the expiration.

Let not the chanting control the flow and do not attempt synchronization. Concentrate on the breath, and let the mantra chanting happen as a supplement. This detached observance will quickly lead to a calming of the heart, the lungs, and the diaphragm. The deeper you go, the more subtle will the experience become and you will begin to realise that it is God who is breathing through you.

Remember, exercises such as these are not for beginners. These are practiced by all and sundry even after 15-20 years of perfecting their meditations. The mind is verily like a wild cat and constantly needs to be tamed.

Watching the breath is a prelude to controlling it and developing our concentration because the consciousness inherently isolates itself from the automatic function of breathing and gradually realizes itself as distinct from it. Regularity in practice helps the one realize that one's life and consciousness is different from the ego and that one need not identify with the delusion creating forces of mortality, ill-health, and sensory sorrow.

Attractive and Mundane
It is easy to fix the attention on what is pleasant and attractive. The mind is easily drawn to it. It is more challenging to take the needle of attention to what is really uninteresting to us. Focusing on the attractive, binds us, but concentrating on dull objects, ideas, circumstances will help us break many fetters.

Pay attention in greater and greater detail to any idea, or object that is uninteresting. Let the mind dissect the object, situation in all its firmaments; go deeper, analyzing the reasons for your disinterest and look at the positive aspects of that under consideration from God's point of view. Do this traveling or sitting, and feel the unpleasantness melt away, giving rise to a newfound interest. This practice will help dissolve many blocks and weakness and will help strengthen your concentration and mind power.

Tratak , as it is called in Yoga - One can view an object, the image of one's favorite deity, a picture of one's Guru, a symbol, or as is popularly done, the flame of a candle. Sit in front of it and view it with concentrated attention for as long as possible, preferably without blinking, but without any strain. Then close the eyes and visualize the object in the darkness behind the closed eyelids. Repeat the process and gradually increase the time of gazing, and the period of visualizing with closed eyes.

In due course, it shall be feasible to view it with clarity even in its absence. Steady practice will make it possible for you to conjure up the image in a jiffy and without any notice. This will help steady the naughty mind and will also work wonders with concentration. Apart from this, it is a wonderful method to heal various ailments of the eyes. You should practice this only for a minute or two during the first few days and then gradually increase the time spent each week.

For concrete, discernible results, practice for 7-8 months. If you maintain discipline and regularity over this sustained period, it can soon become a well-acquired habit with you. If you wear spectacles or contact lenses, it is better to practice it after removing the visual aid.

Internal Focusing
Sit comfortably in a chair with the spine held straight or in a comfortable cross-legged position. Calm the breathing and suffuse yourself with joy and light as described in watching the breath , above. Then practice a pattern of regulating the breath to an inhalation (through the nostril) of 5 or more seconds (as may be comfortable), a holding of breath for the same number of seconds, and then a gradual exhalation through the nostrils, again spread over an identical span of seconds. Do 5 - 10 rounds of this cycle. Now visualize an image of your Guru, deity, or a spiritual symbol, in either the area of the third eye (ajna chakra) in between the eyebrows or then in the region of the heart center (dorsal chakra). Keep the image centered there.

It helps if you can with feeling and devotion seemingly dissolve your physical body and know yourself only to be a halo of loving, kind white light. See the symbol, image, nestled as distinctly as you can (with closed eyes, of course) at the appropriate center (chakra) within this halo. Experience your lightness and freedom. Know only the presence of the image (God manifesting as your chosen form) and your awareness of being aware. Let not any thoughts that come by, as they are bound to, disturb you. Be still in the mind, and aware of their presence whenever they come.

Without reacting, you will soon notice them pass away. Keep your mind focused only on the image of your attention. Explore the image as vividly as you can, summoning all the soldiers of concentration. Keep the thoughts focused on the object. Gradually, continuing to maintain detached equanimity, reduce the number of thoughts to one as there are bound to be many thoughts on that one image.

The more sincerely you practice, the more will be the reward of commingling with that one image. Soon you will have felt yourself dissolving into the object of your concentration. If the image is that of a deity, spiritual symbol, or a Guru, by a cosmic law of vibratory magnetic exchange, you will be immersed in the powerful, pure vibrations of the power behind the image. Maintain a supreme silence and enjoy the feeling.

Being with Water
Water is purifying, therapeutic. It washes away a lot of our energy blocks. Feel yourself on the bank of a pure, limpid lake. Singular in its glory, the rays of the rising sun are penetrating deep into your cells to recharge them with vital energy and stimulate the life force within. Each cell is vibrating in alertness and concentration. In your mind's eye, behind closed eyelids, see the water clear and still. Feel the touch of the water. Stay with the feelings for a few moments. Now visualize ice - transparent and vivid. After a few minutes, feel the ice turning into crystal. See the whole lake as one huge crystal. Observe it, touch it, and walk on it.

Walk a few meters onto this bed of crystal. Crystals are reservoirs of great power, and they magnify and reflect what you infuse into them. See yourself speaking with the crystal bed. Infuse it with love and strength and know that it is all being reflected back to you, magnified a hundred times. Know that it is God that has become the crystal and as you remain in silence, receive God's blessings and thank Him for all the silent kindness and goodness that he bestowed upon you.