Concentration of Mind
I think everybody knows the importance of concentration. Concentration of mind is a way of life. Every work that we do in our life should be done with highest concentration. Many great Indian Sages and western psychologists have suggested different ways to improve the concentration. I have tried to put them here as many as possible. Try to practice them in the privacy of your own room.
Exercise 1.
Sit still; relax your body all over and then neck, chest, and head held in a straight line; legs crossed one under the other and weight of the body resting easily upon the ribs; right hand on right leg, left hand on left leg. There should not be a single movement of the muscles in any part of the body. You must avoid all rigidness and tension of the body. There should not be the least strain on muscles. You should be able to "relax" completely. Start with 5 minutes. Continue till you can accomplish the 5 minutes sitting without any conscious effort, increase to 15 minutes which is about all you need.
You can practice it even sitting on a chair or anywhere else;
Exercise 2.
Cultivate a self-poised attitude and demeanor in your everyday life. Avoid a tense, strained, nervous, fidgety manner and an over-anxious appearance. Be easy, self-possessed and dignified in your bearing. Be courteous, thoughtful and quiet. Train yourself to stand, sudden and loud noises with equanimity and composure. When engaged in conversation let your speech be calm and measured and your voice well-controlled and even. A certain degree of reserve should always be observed. In short, keep yourself well under control on all occasions. Avoid bluster, self-assertion, gossip, levity or light talk, too much laughter, excitement and so forth. Too much laughter weakens the will. Be a quiet, earnest-thinking being. Be serious. Regard "solitude" as the greatest medium of self-development.
Exercise 3.
Fill a glass full of water and taking the glass between the fingers, extend arm directly in front of you. Fix your eyes upon the glass and Endeavour to hold your arm so steady that no quiver will be noticeable. Commence with one minute exercise and increase until the 5 minutes limit is reached. Alternate right and left arms. Increase to 15 minutes.
Exercise 4.
Sit erect in your chair, with your head up, chin out and shoulders back. Raise your right arm until it is level with your shoulders, pointing to the right. Turn your head and fix your gaze on your hand and hold the arm perfectly steady for one minute. Repeat with left arm. Increase the time gradually to 5 minutes. The palms of the hands should be turned downwards.
The following exercises are meant to aid you in getting under control, such mental faculties will produce voluntary movements.
Exercise 5.
Sit in front of a table, placing your hands upon the table, the fists clinched and lying with the back of the hand upon the table, the thumb being doubled over the fingers. Fix your gaze upon the fist for awhile and then slowly extend the thumb, keeping your whole attention fixed upon the act, just as if it was of the greatest importance. Then slowly extend your first finger, then your second and so on, until they are all open and extended. Then reverse the process, closing first the little finger and continuing the closing until the fist is again in its original position, with the thumb closed over the fingers. Repeat with left hand. Continue this exercise 5 times at a sitting, then increase to 10 times. Don't forget to keep your attention closely fixed upon the finger movements. That is the main point.
Exercise 6.
Place the fingers of one hand between the fingers of the other, leaving the thumbs free. Then slowly twirl the thumbs one over the other, with a circular motion. Be sure to keep the attention firmly fixed upon the end of the thumbs.
Exercise 7.
Sit in a darkened room and quietly concentrate your mind upon one thing. Do this as long as possible without allowing other thoughts to enter your mind. This should be practiced at least once in a week.
Exercise 8.
Go out into the open air each evening when the sky is clear and see how many stars you can count without allowing any other thoughts to enter your mind. The more stars you can count without thinking of anything the greater the degree of development produced. Quite an interesting exercise.
Exercise 9.
Take 12 ordinary pebbles. Place them in your left hand. Then with your right hand pick up one pebble, hold it at arm's length and concentrate your mind thereupon without allowing other thoughts for full 60 seconds. So with all the pebbles. Then start picking up with left hand. Do this for one hour daily.
Exercise 10.
Every night before retiring, concentrate upon your passive mind: "When I get up in morning, my Will-power and Thought-Force will have increased. I expect you to bring about a thorough change in my Will-Force. It will gain in vigor, resolution, firmness and confidence. It must grow strong, strong, strong." This is an important and an infallible method in Will-development.
Exercise 11.
Go by yourself into a room where you will not be disturbed. At the beginning 'relax' all over. Then count from one to ten without allowing any other thoughts. As soon as you accomplish this, your mind is in a receptive state. Concentrate as before and order your sub-conscious self to evolve a strong, infallible memory. Form your own auto-suggestions.
Exercise 12.
Pick out half a dozen unfamiliar faces. Vividly impress them upon your subjective mind. Then recall them at least once each day for full one year, each day impressing at least one more new face. Should you find you are forgetting any of your older faces, do not add new ones but firmly fix the other old faces in your mind through concentration. This is a very interesting exercise. Memory belongs to the sub-conscious mind, remember.
Exercise 13.
Concentrate the mind on a paragraph in some holy book and commit to memory. Learn by heart one paragraph daily taking care not to forget the old ones. In time, you will improve wonderfully.
Exercise 14.
People with weak memories always lack concentrative ability. Concentration is the key to all mind-power. So, always challenge your mind with something which you are not familiar with like learning a new language, reading a book which is not of your “taste” .
Disclaimer : these exercises are not invented by me . I have found them in various books and none of them do any copyright violation.
Sources :
Books -
The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga - BY SWAMI MUKERJI
The Power of Concentration - by Theron Q. Dumont
These books are available on Gutenberg.org .
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