1. 4 Roads of Thought
- Class or Category
- Part (Tree - Leaves, Root)
- Quality (Colour, speed)
- Proximity
2. use simple objects, such as a coin, a key, or a pen (use the object like the car specification, mobile specification, bike specification of a particular model)
set timer 10 min , observe the object and then write about the object seeing the object the properties like colour
3. Mind Cooking - 5 min timer
4. Mind Walking - 5 min timer
5. Draw an area map and different way to reach a destination
6. Memorise a number like mobile number, atm, aadhar number
7.
Here are 4 mental exercises that can help you get your focus back.
Counting exercises
- Take a random book and start counting the words in one paragraph. Don’t count them aloud and don’t point fingers at each word. Do it a couple times to get the count right. Then count the words in two paragraphs. When you see you are able to do two paragraphs easily, increase the number of paragraphs.
- Count backward from 100 to 1, again, mentally and not aloud. Repeat the exercise. When you are comfortable with this range, increase it to 500, and so on.
- Count backwards with variations. For example, skip the numbers in five, like 100, 95, 90, 85 etc. When you are comfortable with that, try a harder variation, like a count of three – 100, 97, 94 etc.
Observation exercises
- Take any physical object – a fruit, a toy, a book anything – and focus your entire mind on it. Observe its characters and features carefully and meticulously – like if it is an apple note what the colour is, how red or how green, if the shape crooked or smooth, the texture, the smell of it. Simultaneously, keep your mind from straying into other random thoughts. For example, your mind can stray from the apple to your grocery bills, but don’t think of those things. If your mind strays, gently bring it back to the contemplation of the apple. Start by observing for 3-5 minutes, and increase the time to 10-15 minutes in phases.
- When you master the focused observation, try observing without thinking. When we think, we are usually having a conversation in our minds. We think in languages, and those language words bring out images from our memory stores. In this exercise, you try to observe without any kind of talking going on in your head. Don’t tell yourself if the apple is red or green or smooth or crooked. Just observe without thinking anything. Increase the observation time slowly.
Visualizing exercises
After you have observed an object thoroughly for a few minutes, close your eyes and try to visualize it, exactly as you have observed it from different sides and angles. Try to imagine its texture, smell, shape, colour everything that you have noted with your eyes open. If the image tends to blur open your eyes, observe for two more minutes, then close them and try again.
Focusing exercises
Sit in a quiet place and choose a word to focus on. It can be anything, as long as it has some positive or inspiring connotation for you – like ‘love’, ‘success’, ‘joy’, ‘courage’ etc. It can also be a phrase or a motto, whatever works for you. Now repeat this word or phrase constantly in your mind with complete attention for 5 minutes. Try to keep your mind focused on just the word/phrase and nothing else. When you find that comfortable, increase the time to 10 minutes.
Now, just like physical exercises, mental exercises too need a bit of preparation and warm-up. Follow these ground rules before starting any mental exercise.
- Choose a comfortable place to sit with minimum disturbances, either visual or auditory.
- Sit with your spine straight. You may sit cross-legged in a Yoga posture, or just sit in a chair. What matters is that you sit straight and comfortably.
- Increase the intensity of the exercises slowly, and move to a bigger count only when you can comfortably and easily perform the previous step.
- Remember these are not about success, but consistency. If you can’t get your focus back after 3 days, you are not supposed to. Keep at it and the effect will show.
Concentration Exercise - William Walker Atkinson
Concentration arises from the
mastery of Voluntary Attention. So there you have the whole
matter in a nutshell. So your first step toward acquiring Mental
Influence should be to cultivate Voluntary Attention.
We might fill page after page with exercises designed to
strengthen your faculty of Voluntary Attention, but what
would be the use. The best plan is to set you to work to find
something upon which to concentrate, for the very search will
develop attention. Look around you for some object to study
in detail. Then concentrate your attention upon it until you
have seen all there is about it to be seen, then take up another
object and pursue the practice further.
Take a page—this page,
if you will, and count the number of words on it. Then see how
many words are required to fill each line, on an average; then
see how many letters there are in each word, in each line, on
the whole page. Then go over the page and see if any words are
misspelled, or if any of the letters are imperfect, etc. In short,
get acquainted with this page, until you know all about it. Then
take up another page, and after studying it in the same way,
compare the two. And so on. Of course this will be very dry and
tedious unless you take an interest in it. And the interest may
be aroused by remembering just what the exercise is designed
for.
After practicing this way for a short time each day, you will
begin to find that you are able to bestow greater attention
upon objects upon which you are trying to manifest Mental
Influence. You are developing Concentration, and that is the
great secret of the use of Mental Influence, and explains the
differences in its manifestation among men. Think over this.
Select a thought and see how long you can hold your concentration on this thought. If any other thought drifts into your concentration, get it out.
Make it a habit to concentrate on this thought everyday for say 10 minutes.
Make it a habit to form mental images. See yourself where you’d like to be and be blind to everything else.
The best time for deep concentration is right after reading something inspiring as you’ll both mentally and spiritually be in the desired realm.
Prepare yourself for deep concentration. Lie down on a bed flat without a pillow. Fill your lungs comfortable with air and hold it in as long as you can without straining yourself. Take in deep breaths for next five minutes and relax all your muscles.
Mentally prepare yourself for the deep concentration. You are about to learn valuable knowledge. Believe that you have succeeded in maintaining your concentration.
Exercise 1: Sit in a chair and hold still. Make sure you aren’t making any involuntary muscle movements. Concentrate you focus in holding as still as you can. Do this for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not strain yourself. Be sure to be relaxed before you do this.
Exercise 2: Sit in a chair straight, chin out and shoulders back. Raise your right arm until it is level with the shoulder. Turn your head and fix you gaze on the fingers. Hold you arm still for 1 minutes. Repeat this for the left arm. When you are able to hold steady for 1 minutes, try doing it for 5 minutes. Do it until you can do this exercise for 5 minutes with each arm.
Exercise 3: Fill a small glass of water and hold it with your fingers. Now raise the arm in front of you and look at the glass. Hold still until there is no noticeable movement.
Exercise 4: Watch yourself during the day and see that your muscles aren’t strained. Relax yourself. Cultivate a self poised manner. Stop any involuntary movements such as twitching and jerking any body parts.
Exercise 5: Move your chair close to a table. Place your hand on the table and form a fist keeping the back of hand on the table. Fix your attention to the fist and gradually open your thumb, keeping your attention fixed as if it were a matter of great importance. Then, open the next finger until all are open. Then reverse the process, closing first the last finger that you opened. Do this exercise with your left land too. Do this five times each.
It is important to practice these monotonous tasks to train your attention, and get a greater control over it.
Exercise 6: Sit down and place your hand on your knee with all fingers closed except the first one. Move your first finger side to side keeping you attention on the tip of this finger.
Everyday make sure to train your attention by focusing on monotonous subjects.
Exercise 7: While walking try to smell the odors of your environment. See how many different odors you can smell and then try to concentrate on one of those smells.
Exercise 8: Lie down and pay attention to your heartbeat. Try to imagine blood leaving the heart and reaching different organs. Try saying to yourself everyday: “Every cell in my body thrills with life, every part of my body is strong and healthy.”
Exercise 9: Put a clean glass of water in your sleeping room and sit beside on a chair beside the table. Gaze into the clean water and think how calm it is. Picture yourself getting into just as calm a state. This will calm your nerves down and help you sleep.
Exercise 10: Exercise talking before a mirror. 3 minutes a day is enough. Mark two points on the mirror level with your eyes. These are supposed to be another human eyes. Then gather all you attention to speak while looking at those points.
Exercise 11: Sit in a chair upright. Press your finger against the right nostril and take a deep breath, drawing the air in as you count to 10 and then expel it through the right nostril as you count to ten. Repeat the exercise with another nostril.
Exercise 12: Learn to exercise self control. Control your desires. Avoid gossiping about others.
Exercise 12: Every person should learn to think clearly. To practice this, read a short story and try to summarize it in a few sentences. Read a newspaper and see how few a words you can express it. Read an article and write a summary of it. It is not necessary to write it, you can also express it orally. Go to your room and deliver it as if you were talking to somebody.
After practicing these exercises, read a book for 20 mins and write down what you’ve read. At first you won’t be able to remember a lot but with a little practice you can write a good amount of what you read.
When time is limited, try to read short sentences and try to write it down word for word. The better the concentration, the better the accuracy will be.
Exercise 13: If you want to break a bad habit, close your eyes and imagine yourself standing in front of you. Use the power of positive affirmation and tell yourself “You are not a weakling. You can get rid of this habit. This habit is bad and you can break it.” Imagine you are giving advice to somebody else. Soon, you’ll start to see yourself as everyone else sees you, and you can break your habits.
Exercise 14: Sit on a chair and place a clock with the second hand in front of you. Watch the second hand as it goes around. Do this for five minutes and during this focus on nothing but the second hand.
Exercise 15: Believe in yourself. Have faith in yourself. You can be the master of your concentration.
