Concentration Exercises for Training the Mind

Sharpening the needle of concentration requires practice, as everything else in life.

Do you go to the gym? If you do, how many times a week and for how long?

Have you studied a foreign language? If you did, for how long did you practice, until you had a basic knowledge of the language?

It is the same with developing your concentration. You need training and practice. Even only ten minutes a day of concentration exercises will do you good.

Your mind does not like discipline, and will resist your efforts to discipline it. It loves its freedom more than anything else, and won't let you master it. It will make you forget to do the exercises, tempt you to postpone performing them, or make you feel too lazy. It will find many tricks to occupy your attention with something else.

Below, you will a few simple concentration exercises. By practicing mental exercises, it is possible to train the mind and master it, and put it in its proper place, as your servant, and not as your boss and master.

You are not the mind, nor the thoughts that pass through it. Though it might be hard to accept this idea, the mind is not you, the real you, but only a tool that you use. It is an instrument, which has great value, but it has to be taught to obey you.

Most people believe that they are the mind, and erroneously believe that controlling the mind means holding themselves back and denying their freedom. They feel that controlling their mind is not natural, and that it is some sort of repression. These beliefs are not correct.

The proof that we are not the mind comes with training. Accept the idea in theory, and in time, as your control over your thoughts grows, you will know it as a fact. In reality, you, the real you, is the one mastering the mind. It is not the mind mastering itself.

Find a place where you can be alone and undisturbed. If you wish, you may sit crossed legged on the floor, but most people would find it more comfortable to sit on a chair. Sit with your spine erect.

Take a few calm deep breaths and then relax your body, by directing your attention to it, and relaxing each muscle, from head to toes.

Practice each of the exercises below for about 10 minutes, and after a few weeks of training, lengthen the time to 15 minutes.

Start with the first exercise. Practice it every day, until you are able to do it without any distractions or forgetfulness, and without thinking about anything else, for at least three continuous minutes.

Every time you get distracted, start again, until the 10 or 15 minutes pass away.

You have to be honest with yourself, and proceed to the next one, only after you are convinced that you have practiced it correctly and with full concentration.

There is no timetable, since this could be frustrating. If, for example, I tell you to practice a certain exercise a certain number of days, two things might happen. You might get disappointed, if you cannot get the desired concentration within the allotted time period. You might also proceed to the next exercise, without practicing correctly the previous one.

Mastering the exercises successfully can take days, weeks, months and sometimes even more.

Put your whole attention into the exercises, and do not think about anything else. Be careful not to fall asleep, daydream or think about other matters. The moment you find yourself thinking about something else, stop the exercise and start again. After you become proficient, lengthen the time, and if possible, include another session in the afternoon.

Do not attempt too much at the beginning, and don't try to perform them all at once. Go slowly, without overdoing them or tensing your brain.

If you find it too difficult, or thoughts distract you and make you think about other matters, don't despair. Everyone encounters difficulties along the way. If you persevere and never give up, in spite of difficulties and disturbances, success will crown your efforts. Remember, even those with powerful concentration had to exercise their minds.

It does not matter if your concentration is weak now. It can be developed and strengthened like any other ability, through training.

In time, you will find out that you can concentrate anywhere, anytime, no matter where you are. You will be able to focus your mind, think and function under the most trying circumstances, while remaining calm, relaxed and collected. The reward is worth the effort a thousand fold.

Now to the exercises. For full benefit, it is advisable that you practice each exercise for one additional week, after you are convinced that you are practicing it correctly and with full attention.

Exercise 1
Take a book and count the words in any one paragraph. Count them again to be sure that you have counted them correctly. Start with one paragraph and when it becomes easier, count the words in a whole page. Perform the counting mentally and only with your eyes, without pointing you finger at each word.

Exercise 2
Count backwards in your mind, from one hundred to one.

Exercise 3
Count in your mind from one hundred to one, skipping each three numbers, that is 100, 97, 94, etc.

Exercise 4
Choose an inspiring word, or just a simple sound, and repeat it silently in your mind for five minutes. When your mind can concentrate more easily, try to reach ten minutes of uninterrupted concentration.

Exercise 5
Take a fruit, an apple, orange, banana or any other fruit, and hold it in your hands.

Examine the fruit from all its sides, while keeping your whole attention focused on it. Do not let yourself be carried away by irrelevant thoughts that might arise, or thoughts about the grocery where you bought the fruit, how and where it was grown, its nutritive value, etc. Stay calm, ignoring, and showing no interest in these thoughts.

Just look at the fruit, focus your attention on it without thinking about anything else, and examine its shape, smell, taste and the sensation it gives you when you touch it.

Exercise 6
This is the same as exercise number 5, only that this time you visualize the fruit, instead of looking at it.

Start, by looking at the fruit and examining it for about 2 minutes, just as you did in exercise number 5. Then close your eyes, and try to see, smell, taste and touch the fruit in your imagination. Try to see a clear and well defined image. If the image becomes blurred, open your eyes, look at the fruit for a short while, and then close your eyes and continue the exercise.

You may imagine holding the fruit in your hands, as in the previous exercise, or imagine it standing on a table.

Exercise 7
Take a small simple object such as a spoon, a fork, or a glass. Concentrate on one of these objects. Watch the object from all sides without any verbalization, that is, with no words in your mind. Just watch the object without thinking with words about it.

Exercise 8
After becoming proficient with the above exercises, you may try this exercise.

Draw a small geometrical figure, about three inches in size, such as a triangle, a rectangular or a circle, paint it with any color you wish, and concentrate on it. Look only at the figure you have drawn, and at nothing else. Only the figure exists for you now, with no unrelated thoughts or any distractions.

Keep your attention on the figure in front of you, and avoid thinking about anything else. Also, try not to strain your eyes.

Exercise 9
The same as number 8, only this time visualize the figure with the eyes closed. As before, if you forget how the figure looks like, open your eyes for a few seconds and watch the figure and then close your eyes and continue with the exercise.

Exercise 10
The same as above in number 9 but the eyes open.

Exercise 11
Try for at least five minutes, to stay without thoughts. This exercise is to be attempted only after all the previous ones have been performed successfully. The previous exercises, if practiced correctly, will endow you with the ability to impose silence on your thoughts. In time it will become easier and easier.

How to Focus Your Mind by Remez Sasson

How many times have you tried to focus on a task, read, study or meditate, only to find that your mind is wandering?

Tips, advice and simple exercises for improving your concentration and focusing your mind.

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The secret of success is constant practice. The more time you devote to the exercises the faster you progress, but this need to be done gradually. Start with ten minutes, and as it becomes easier, and your ability to concentrate improves, increase the time.

When you see that you are successful, you will begin to love the exercises, and in time they will turn into a habit. You will be able to concentrate your attention easily and effortlessly upon anything you want to concentrate on.

Do you jog, exercise at the gym, or study a foreign language? How difficult it was when you first started? How many times you wanted to quit? Yet, after a while you began to like what you were doing. It became a habit, and did not require special effort. So it is with developing the power of concentration.

After some of time, it will be easier to concentrate, and your mind will learn to be calm and relaxed. Things, circumstances, and events that used to agitate and anger you, will not disturb you. You will experience happiness, content and satisfaction, self-confidence and inner strength. You will be able to cope more easily and efficiently with the outer world.

You will feel a new form of consciousness growing in you, bringing you peace of mind. At first, you will experience it sporadically and for a brief moment, but in time, it will grow and fill you completely. You will be able to make the mind work for you in a most efficient way, and you will also be able to silence it when you want.

After your concentration gets stronger, your attitude and reactions to events and people will change, and you would discover many things about the mind, how it functions, and how to use it efficiently.

About the Author

Remez Sasson is an author and blogger. He is the founder of SuccessConsciousness.com, a website and blog about self improvement and spiritual growth.

Remez Sasson is the author of several life transforming books, with a wealth of information, advice and guidance.