Improve Concentration through Meditation…
February 26, 2019
I would start by elaborating the literal meaning of the word Concentration -this is the ability to direct one’s attention in accordance with one’s will. It means control of the attention. It is the ability to focus the mind on one subject, object or thought, and at the same time exclude from the mind every other unrelated thoughts, ideas, feelings and sensations.
Concentration and meditation are two mental states of mind often confused with each other. Concentration relies on self-control and mind focusing. It usually involves a prolonged focus and consciousness of the mind. It involves the inner world (the person’s mind) and the outer world (the person’s environment).In the act of concentrating, there is the act of concentration on the object. There is also a limit on concentration. It has a start and a finished stage. Often concentration causes exhaustion and frustration, especially if the desired effect is not achieved.On the other hand, meditation is also a state of mind. Meditation is often the opposite of concentration. The nature of meditation is not an unfocused mind but an uncluttered mind. Unlike concentration, there is less or no brain activity when performing this function.
I would also mention here that the actual purpose of concentration is relaxation of our mind such that it may be emptied out of all vague thoughts and can thereby focus on the particular task at hand.
But if we just undertake an activity to concentrate onto a particular object / subject,we will start feeling strained and our eyes would start paining.So,the ideal way is of relaxation through meditation.This also ensures being stress free and maximum energy concentration for better & lasting memory.
Hereby, I would like to share a small activity for concentrating our energies internally which just takes few minutes of our time.Starting with your eyes closed,we need to inhale;keeping the breath inside,we need to start counting and then exhale only when we are no longer able to keep the breath inside.Thereafter,the second step is to exhale the breath ;start counting and inhale only when it becomes unbearable.Practice and repeat these two steps for 5 minutes daily and this would make certain that our inherent energies would start getting concentrated internally.The collated energies would then be within our control and at our disposal as per requirements.This technique allows our thoughts to be stable as well and I would like to name this state to be that of perfect Synchronisation / Alignment.
