Self Development and Concentration go and in hand as two compliments that support each other.
Many years ago, when I first began to take an interest in Self Development the Power of Concentration and its effect on the mind began to interest me enormously.
To have the ability to concentrate the mind on anything you wish to is the key to having control over your mind. It isn’t the only power of your mind that should be developed,there are other things of importance but the Power that Concentration affords you is phenomenal.
Imagine being able to focus on anything you wish, to be able to choose which thoughts to entertain and which ones to dispense with and ignore totally. Well, I’ll tell you that it’s a wonderful feeling and an extremely powerful concept.
How long can you hold your concentration for? You probably believe that you have good concentration and you can focus on an idea or an object for a long period. The chances are that you can’t.
Try it. Think of something and attempt to focus, concentrate and hold the idea of the object firmly in your mind for longer than one minute.
Okay, that was difficult you will admit – if you’re honest. Try five seconds. Try to monitor what happens when during your attempt. Discover that within a few short seconds other thoughts break in and destroy your concentration immediately. Big problem.
The point is that most us don’t realise that we have never devloped the power to concentrate on an idea or an object in away that is really focused. If we could focus then our lives would change and we would experience tremendous benefits.
When I first began to practice Concentration Techniques I was 16 years old. I read many books about it. Some where extremely informative and some where simple rehashes of other books. I did glean a lot of information from books and I put them to the test. That was many years ago and my powers of concentration developed to degree that astonished me. It was the practice of the techniques that caused the change in my abilities to think.The books were nothing more than information -reading doesn’t increase the sort of focus that I’m talking about.
Imagine being able to hold and idea firmly in your mind. To be able to think clearly about one subject for as long as you desired. What sort of result do you think it would bring?
You would have a clarity of understanding and comprehension way beyond the normal scatter brained activity of some people. It would be as to have a power that only comes to those who work towards it through practice. Practice is the key. I don’t have enough room here to give all the details of how to concentrate because you should really inform yourself deeply about it if you wish to obtain the sort of concentration you would like to have. I would rather tell you now about the benefits and the basic practice. then encourage you to think about practicing it maybe even start to practice.
I’m going to leave a list below with links to books which can give solid information and guidance on concentration techniques. First though, a small list of ideas that could answer one or two questions about concentration.
- How long does it take to learn or benefit from? That depends on the person and practice. With me I was always thinking about “how long?” then one day, about six months later I realised that I gained quite strong concentration. I could focus and dwell longer on ideas without stressful effort. I noticed that regardless of noisy surroundings I could think clearly and not be distracted so easily. Relaxation was easier and I had an enormous sense of self-control.
- How do you practice? By focusing on an object or thought for as long as possible. A thought process like counting is good, practice counting and simply concentrate on the numbers as you do. A beginner may aim at ten but find that thoughts distract at number three or five. At number ten you are probably not really counting anymore but have drifted off into dreamy thoughts. Practice improves this.
- How often should You practice? Everyday, continuity is important to developing the mind. Five to ten minutes a day at first will be fine, later you will find what’s good for you. then you will naturally discover the joy in it and practice at every opportunity, like walking along the street or sitting on a bus etc. Counting, walking, looking at art all offer opportunities to practice concentration techniques.
