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Exercises To Help Increase Your Focus During Meditation (Simple Enough For The Work Place) When was the last time you stopped to just relax your mind? In the fast-paced world that we live in, it’s almost a sin to just take a breather. If you’re an employee in a corporate setting, it’s highly likely that you are under lots of stress and fatigue. Even self-employed individuals like to hustle and be on the go. Regardless of the type of work you’re in, it’s important to set aside some alone time, to keep your mind calm and ready to take on new challenges.
Did you know that meditation is amongst the top five complementary health approaches used in the US? In the survey conducted by the CDC under the National Health Statistics Reports, they investigated the use of complementary health approaches amongst the US population. As the survey has reported, meditation is on the top five complementary health approaches used by the US. It’s under practices such as dietary supplementations, breathing exercises, yoga and chiropractic. It has superseded other practices such as massage, homeopathy and acupuncture. Further, there is a linear trend in the use of meditation over the years. In 2002, around 7.6% of the US population used meditation practices. In 2007, the percentage increased to around 9.4%. And in 2012, although the trend decreased at around 8%, it still represents a significant part of the population. The three most common meditation subtypes that were used by the population are mantra, mindfulness and spiritual. Most meditation practitioners, around 76.2%, use this practice for their general health and well-being. Other reasons for the use of meditative practice are for the improvement of energy and memory enhancement.
Meditation in the work place In the scenario above, we have highlighted the stresses under which humans nowadays are exposed to in the work place. Meditation is being promoted and incorporated in many company work places such as Google and Apple. Studies with regards to the effectiveness of meditation for reducing stress and maintaining mental health in the corporate setting are abundant. For example, in this study done by Shiba and colleagues, they investigated on the prevalence of meditation use in office setting. Aside from that, they also investigated on the characteristics of those who do practice meditation and their job performance. Around 3.9% of the participants practiced meditation, with characteristics such as higher education, higher household income, higher stress level and lower body mass index. Those who practiced meditation doesn’t just have better job performance, but also better job satisfaction and job engagement.
It’s easy to begin meditation but it’s hard to maintain your focus Meditation practice is very easy to get into, you just need a quiet environment and you can begin meditating. But despite its simplicity, there’s one aspect of meditation that is hard to maintain and that is your focus. The mind of humans have been trained to constantly wander. It’s what our environment and society have trained us to do. This is because there’s always a need to fulfill numerous tasks and things during the day. That’s when meditation comes in, a practice that can help ease one’s mind. The ultimate goal of all subtypes of meditation is to become more aware of the self. By being aware of your mind and your thoughts, you become better at controlling them. In the work place, this can lead to enhanced productivity, better relationships with co-workers
and overall satisfaction to job. Here are some exercises that you can do to help increase your focus during meditation.
Exercise 1 - Try Equal Breathing
For the ultimate beginners, it’s fine to begin with a simple exercise to gain your focus through breathing. We would call this first exercise as equal breathing. In this exercise, you simply breathe naturally, taking note that the inhalation and exhalation are of equal duration. To begin, find a comfortable position and place for meditating. This is very important as it can aid in making your focus clearer and better. Equal breathing entails one to breathe slowly, at least six seconds long. Inhale through your nose for at least three seconds. Then, exhale through your nose for at least three seconds. You can continue doing this a few times in a minute, at least ten times. You
can also keep track of your progress by counting to further enhance your focus. Whenever you find your mind losing focus, just re-direct your attention to your breathing.
Exercise 2 - Observe A Still Object Observing a still object is the easiest way of maintaining focus. You can find an object that you’re neutrally interested in. This could be a fruit, a rock or even a glass of water. Choose one that won’t induce any unwarranted thoughts. So it’s best to avoid items like a ball pen, which can remind you of work, or a toy, which can remind you of cleaning. The still object must be something that doesn’t invoke an emotional response or thought. After you have chosen a neutral still object, it’s time to start practicing your concentration. Set the object within a straight range from your gaze. Find a comfortable sitting position, like the lotus or half lotus and focus your eyes on the object. Focus your attention into the object as well. Whenever you find your mind wandering, revert your attention to the object in front of you. Continue doing this for at least two to five minutes and gradually increase the duration as you progress into your practice.
Exercise 3 - Imagine A Nature Scenario If you can’t afford to leave the work place to go to a park or nearby garden, imagine a nature-like scenario instead. There was a study on the pain perception of cancer patients after being exposed to guided imagery. The result was that there was a change in pain perception of these patients, with significant pain reduction after the guided imagery. Although progressive muscle relaxation was found to be more effective, guided imagery is still found as a viable alternative for pain perception.
To use this exercise to practice focus, you just need to imagine a suitable nature scenario that can invoke relaxation upon you. Perhaps the most commonly chosen scenario is that of the gentle swaying of the leaves of the trees in a forest. Close your eyes and imagine that you’re in the woods. The wind is gently swaying and the leaves of the trees are being swayed into it as well. The leaves follow the motion of the wind. Continue imagining this scenario for two to five minutes.
Exercise 4 - Repeat A Mantra If you remember in our previous blog post, we have mentioned that mantra meditation is one of the subtypes of focused meditation. In a recent study, it was found the speech repetition, or simply mantra, can effectively reduce activation of various brain cortical networks. The researchers postulated that this could account to the relaxing effect of speech repetition to its practitioners.
Universally, the word Om has been the designated mantra for meditative practice. Om can mean a variety of things but in Hinduism, it stands for the most revered deities. You can use this word or other mantras that might be applicable to your intention. Begin by sitting in the lotus or half lotus position. Close your eyes and say your mantra a few times in a minute. It doesn’t matter how many times you do so, just make sure you’re at a comfortable phase, not too fast nor too slow. Continue doing this for two to five minutes and you can gradually increase the duration as you move deeper into your practice.
Exercise 5 - Listen To One Sound This exercise is best done during early morning when there’s not much external noises around. It can also be done late in the night when noises around you aren’t too explicit. If you live in the country side, it’s easy to pick a natural sound like the chirping of the birds. But if you live in the city, it might be ideal to put on a background music containing your preferred sound of nature, of an animal or even a musical instrument. Just make sure that it contains just one type of sound to better hone your focus. First, ensure that you have your background sound turned on. Assume a comfortable sitting position and close your eyes. Allow yourself to be immersed in the sound. If it’s the chirping of the birds, you can even try counting each sound you can hear. If it’s the drops of the water, hear the sound of each droplet as it falls into the pavement. As you move into deeper concentration, you would find it easier to focus on your preferred sound even if there are external sounds around.
Exercise 6 - Use The Power Of Your Nose The power of our olfactory sense is very supreme that it can evoke emotional responses in just one simple sniff. Thus, it is important to find a neutral or relaxation-inducing scent for this exercise. You can’t choose odors like perfume or food, which can further induce stressful memories or emotions. Instead, opt for natural alternatives like essential oils
and herbs. Lavender, chamomile, rosemary and lemon balm are suitable options since these are all calming scents. Choose the most appropriate scent for you and the form in which you want to indulge in the smell. This could be via oil, natural herb form or even candle form. Set the scent a few minutes before your practice so that it can envelope the entire area. Again, assume your preferred sitting position and concentrate on that scent around you. Do not attach any emotions or thoughts to the scent. Simply enjoy the scent and let your mind relax as it envelopes your body, mind and senses.
Focus is the essence of meditation While there are a number of meditation subtypes, they all boil down to one principle. That principle is to become more focused so that in the end, you can know yourself more and achieve enlightenment. Thus, we can say that focus is the essence of meditation. However, intense focus is hard to achieve especially since our generation is exposed to so much external stimuli. The exercises above can help you obtain focus enough to start your meditation practice. But you need to incorporate a few more changes to truly imbibe intense concentration. First, make sure that you remove all gadgets during your meditation practice. In fact, except for an alarm clock, remove your smartphone, tablet or any other technological stimuli that can hinder your focus. Second, make sure your meditation place is free from any noises. If not, use noise-cancelling earphones or headsets to ensure total concentration. And third, meditate at consistent times during the week, this can help in establishing a pattern that can mediate more intense focus in the end. Hopefully, these exercises can help increase your focus during meditation. Start slow and build your practice gradually. If ever you have any more questions, you can utilize the comments section below to ask us. If you have found this blog post helpful, don’t forget to like and share it to your friends and loved ones.
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