Improving Concentration - The source of health, wealth, and success.

LEARNING TO IMPROVE YOUR CONCENTRATION?

Need Better brain power, sharper wits? All you need is regular meditation, a study suggests.
Scientists believe meditation could join mental arithmetic puzzles, sudokus and crosswords as a way of 'brain training'.
They found adults who meditate have better powers of concentration and faster reaction times than those who don't. meditation
People who meditated scored better in mental ability tests in the study
Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University compared the mental abilities of 25 ordinary members of the public with 25 volunteers recruited from a Buddhist meditation centre in Manchester.
The volunteers were asked to take part in mental tests designed to measure accuracy, concentration and speed of reaction.
Dr Peter Malinowski, who led the study, said: 'We found that people who meditated scored better on both the tests.
'They had higher speeds, they made fewer errors and they were less distracted.'
In one study, volunteers were given lines of letters with dashes marked above them. As quickly as possible, they had to cross out letters with two or more dashes.
In the other, they were presented with a list of colours such as 'RED', 'BLUE' or 'GREEN' printed in different coloured inks.
Again, racing against the clock, they had to name the colour of the ink each word was written in.
The task is notoriously difficult because the brain wants to read out the word rather than identify and name the colour ink.
The mediators made around half the errors of the non-mediators, Dr Malinowski told the British Association science festival in Liverpool.
Although the study was small, the results were statistically significant.
The kind of mental skills tested mimic those used when driving, he said.

Motorists need to concentrate, avoid distractions and respond automatically and quickly.
They are also used when learning - suggesting that meditation could help improve pupils and student's performance in classes.
More research is needed to show whether meditation improves concentration and mental skills - or whether people with focused minds are more likely to mediate.
'At this point we can't say if one causes the other,' Dr Malinowski said.
'It could be that people who have a high attention ability are drawn to mediation.
'Or it might be that if people with low attention start meditation they give it up and never try it again.'
However, past studies have shown that meditation can alter structure of the brain - making people more positive and content.
During Buddhist meditation, people are encouraged to focus on just one thing - often their breathing.
They also trained to avoid distractions and become more aware of their bodies and surroundings.
Dr Malinowski, who is publishing the research in a journal in the next few months, believes that concentration skills can be improved with practice.
'However, there is still a way to go until principles and underlying mechanisms are clearly identified and confirmed,' he said.
'Meditation research is still in its infancy.'
Brain training puzzles and computer games have seen a massive surge in popularity in recent years.
Psychologists argue that practicing sums, logic and special awareness puzzles exercises the mind.
Last year, a study showed that primary school pupils who played on a Nintendo DS Brain Training computer game every day for 10 weeks boosted their concentration and maths skills.The main stumbling block to concentration is the inevitable distraction we get from our own thoughts. It is random, uninvited thoughts that distract us from achieving pure concentration. The only solution is learning to control and quieten our thoughts. The first thing to be aware of is that we do have the choice to welcome or reject thoughts; we should not feel a helpless victim of our own mind. The second thing is we need to consciously watch our thoughts and prevent ourselves following any train of thought that detracts from our concentration. If we casually begin a project, it is easy to begin daydreaming and lose focus; what we need to do is be very determined to concentrate without distracting thoughts. When we have this intention and determination it becomes much easier to concentrate.
Concentration is an activity like any other. Clearly the more we practice, the better our concentration will become. We wouldn't expect to be a strong runner without doing some special training.
Similarly, concentration is like a muscle, the more we exercise the stronger it becomes. There are specific concentration exercises we can do, such as focusing on a small point of an object; but life itself presents innumerable opportunities to sharpen your concentration. The key is to always take opportunities to heighten our powers of concentration.

The practice of meditation will definitely improve our powers of concentration. Actually, when we try to meditate, it is concentration that is the first thing we need to master. A daily period of meditation gives us the chance to specifically work on concentration techniques. This can involve concentrating on a candle or just concentrating on our breathing. These exercises are simple but effective.

It is difficult to concentrate on one thing for an extended time period. Sometimes, the best solution is to give ourselves frequent change. If we concentrate on one task for an hour, we can then move onto something different. This change in activity enables us to use different qualities, therefore, we can maintain our powers of concentration without becoming tired of one activity.

The powers of our concentration depends a lot upon our physical well-being. If we are tired, unhealthy and afflicted by numerous minor ailments, concentration will be more difficult. Of course, concentration is still possible; it is just more difficult. However, we have to try to make life easy for ourselves; we need to give a high priority to our physical health - getting sufficient sleep, staying physically fit. Undertaking exercise will help develop our concentration. It will help if we lose weight, clear the mind and create a sense of dynamism. If you struggle to concentrate, we need to think of a holistic solution; good physical health and fitness will definitely help develop our powers of concentration.