Wisdom is the prime thing

In the first post of this series, we discussed ways to improve concentration on external objects and avoiding the distractions of external stimuli that threaten to hijack our focus.

But how do we improve our focus on the internal objects of consciousness – the ephemeral thoughts and emotions of the moment — and avoid the pitfalls of distraction in the inner workings of our minds?

Why work on internal consciousness as a means of improving concentration?

Because it is impossible to reach the peaks of intense concentration on external stimuli without spending time in the valleys of self-awareness.

In many ways, the key to successful external concentration is controlling the only thing we ever can control — our internal landscape. It is not during every conversation that we miss some vital clue to the speaker’s true feelings because a cell phone went off. But for many of us it is almost every conversation that we miss some vital clue to the world around us because of internal distractions that arise constantly.

You can observe this phenomenon during many conversations. At times, you’ll notice that your last sentence derailed the other person’s concentration, and you sense that any further sentences at the moment will be completely lost. So you stall or pause, watching his eyes, waiting for the glazed-over look to pass, and then you continue. What happened? In essence, some rogue thought, some internal distraction took him out of the moment of concentration. He won’t even know what he missed.

When we allow that to happen to ourselves, we miss the nuances of communication that can tell us so much: the facial expression; the furtive glance; the look of uneasiness or distress; the subtle inflection given to an unexpected word in the sentence. Had we been truly paying attention, we would have asked a question, perhaps probed a bit. The conversation would most likely have taken a completely different course! In any case, we would have walked away with just a bit more insight. But instead, we missed the fleeting opportunity because our thoughts controlled us, instead of our controlling our thoughts.

Being able to suppress distractions from the internal world is vital to maintaining concentration on the external world. And to do that, we must build our concentration on internal objects.

How do we go about improving internal concentration?

The key is learning to pay mindful attention to our internal state. We can take out some time every day to concentrate on our thoughts and sensations. As we do this, we carve out deeper valleys of self-awareness that elevate the peaks of concentration to which we are able to attain.

Specifically, we can learn to pay close attention to the following things:

• Breathing
• Releasing muscular tension through progressive body relaxation
• Movements and sensations, such as while eating a meal

Breathing is key to establishing internal concentration. When we are hit by a tense situation or a distraction, one of the first things to be interrupted is good, deep breathing. And many of us breathe poorly the rest of the time as well! It’s amazing how that even affects things like eyesight, since the eyes use more oxygen per cubic inch than any other part of our body. By being mindfully conscious of our breathing and keeping it deep and regular, we disperse tension that would otherwise accumulate and distract us from deeper levels of concentration.

In a similar vein, most of us have muscular tension without even realizing it! Each person learns to hold stress in different muscles. I’ve been amazed to find that within a second of some disturbing thought, I can already feel the need to relax my shoulders, forehead, and hips. Being aware of it helps me to control my tension level in a purposeful way, allowing me to return my attention fully to where I want.

How can I benefit from simple, everyday activities?

The best way to improve posture, breathing, and muscular tension is by purposefully paying attention during movement. The best examples are stretching, running, and Pilates. All of these activities can be done unmindfully, of course. But they can also be used as an opportunity to sense more deeply what is going in your body, to release tension in muscles that do not contribute to the activity (ie. tensing shoulders and biceps while running), and to train your attention to hold these and other focuses in mind for longer and longer intervals. All of these activities can be used as forums for deepening the mind-body connection. While it is true that all these activities strengthen the body, I view the most important benefits to be the calmness, mindfulness, and mental focus that I accrue therein.

Even when eating a meal, Americans have the bad habit of eating large quantities of food, and not really tasting what they are consuming. It’s a trap easy to fall into, trying to get the most for your money. Buffets especially bring this trait out in people. But eating in a purposeful and aware way builds attention. As we hold our focus on the individual sensations that make each bite unique, we thereby train our powers of concentration.

The goal is to give full attention to each bite, utilizing all senses from the time the fork picks up the morsel: sensing the weight of the food, seeing the colors and textures, noticing the smell as it enters your mouth, savoring the taste on the third and fourth bites, feeling the food being swallowed.

In essence, each bite should be an entire meal.

How do I set up a training routine with these elements?

As with external concentration, the following two guidelines help make a training routine that progressively improves focus:

1. Increase the depth of concentration required, purposefully practicing during times of greater distraction

2. Increase the length of time under concentration

At first, we have to practice these skills in isolation. For instance, we may spend 15 minutes when we are alone to work on our breathing and figure out what good, deep breathing actually feels like, and how to feel the difference between tension and relaxation in all of the individual muscle groups. With time, our ability to feel smaller deviations from the ideal state of relaxation becomes more sensitive. Our concentration is deepening.

The next step is to begin practicing at times of greater distraction, ie. at work, on the bus, on the street, everywhere. The difficulty increases, but our concentration is now deep enough that we can hold our breathing and posture relaxed and calm despite the manifold of distractions present.

Now we have a toolbox for maintaining focus in the face of distraction.

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Internal and external distractions present as changes of internal state. By controlling internal state we develop the ability to concentrate at will on the object of our will. In doing so, we allow our focus to be outward when we want it to be outward, which should be during all our interactions with others and the external world.

Maintaining control over the thoughts that control our consciousness is absolutely vital to developing superb concentration. Perhaps more often than external distractions, internal distractions are responsible for the momentary losses of concentration that plague us. But this can be overcome by purposefully calming the mind and body, becoming adept at recognizing their states and reactions, and not allowing those reactions to control us.

In this series:

• Part I - Sharpening focus
• Part II - Avoiding distraction
• Part III - Putting it all together