Focus! Concentrate! We hear it all the time but what does it actually mean?
When you are supposed to be keeping your attention on something, let’s say a video game for example, and you are so close to completing the level or attaining the goal, or finishing the race in first place, you think to yourself ‘focus, I can do this’.
When your teacher asked you to answer a math problem and you’re trying hard to figure it out but your friend keeps poking you in the side under the table, you start to giggle and forget the teacher for a second who shouts, “Concentrate!” But what exactly are these two words trying to get us to do?
Let’s have a look and see if we can figure it out together.
Focustrate
When we keep our attention on something to the exclusion of everything else, we are said to be concentrating or focusing on that thing. Essentially both of these terms refer to the same action of the mind.
When we meditate, we focus or concentrate on the breath and the body.
When we play golf we focus on having the right alignment of our bodies, and we concentrate on the ball to ensure that we hit it correctly.
When we cook, (most of us) concentrate on the process of actually cooking, the heat, the chopping, the recipe at hand, the rotating of the food in the pan etc.
The thing about focustration though, that not a lot of people are aware of, is that it can be developed, it can be improved and it can be enhanced.
Let’s call that developrovanced. Only kidding!
Training Your Ability to Focus & Concentrate
The art and science of meditation is something that we can use to further enhance our ability to keep our mind concentrated on a particular task. When we initially learn how to meditate, we are introduced to the simple practice of watching the breath.
We learn to sit still and focus on the breath and the breathing motions of the body. When we do this, most of us, initially find it very difficult to do.
Our thoughts race and we constantly lose track, ending up lost in thoughts either about whether or not we are doing it right, or as has been the case with me personally, about what flavor ice-cream they might have in extra-terrestrial civilizations.
At first, we are hopeless when it comes to having enough concentration to stay focused on the breath without losing track.
But…
It is possible to train our ability to remain focused for longer periods of time. By practicing meditation and watching the breath, in a regular program of discipline, practicing repeatedly and again, we slowly enhance our capacity to remain focused on the body and the breath.
Naturally, this enhances our ability to concentrate on other things too. Just like anything else in life, the more we practice the better we get. Therefore, if we find it difficult at first, all we have do to is refer to the timeless saying.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Do It Again, and Again, and Again
Okay, that was not quite right, but the point is still the same. By constantly referring back to keeping the attention focused, on anything actually, it does not have to be the breath; we will gradually increase our capacity to remain focused.
With regards to meditation specifically though, it is by far one of the best practices to use to enhance concentration ability because it places emphasis on keeping the attention situated on the body and the breath, or the environment that we are in. It does not require any special equipment or circumstances to practice and so you can cultivate this ability anywhere and everywhere.
Naturally, this develops focus and concentration but at the same time, it encourages us to remain present by keeping our mind clear. The effects of this are infinitely positive, not just regarding concentration and focus development, but also regarding lowering our stress levels, overcoming anxieties, facing our fears, finding greater peace, the list goes on and on.
Learn to meditate, improve your ability to concentrate and focus, and encourage the development of inner peace in your body, mind, and spirit. An all-round winner, wouldn’t you agree?
