How to calm a restless mind? Anxious brain. How to Calm Your Thoughts, Heal Your Mind, and Take Back Control of Your Life
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Meditation practiceMeditation Mistakes
Calm the mind
Now you are ready to begin the actual meditation practice. At this stage, the main thing is still calming the mind.
Calming your mind is not as difficult as it seems. All you need to do is just sit. Yes, just sit, and that’s it, in comfortable clothes and a place convenient for you. Now you can practice ways of entering and exiting meditation and feel how the state of meditation automatically calms your mind. Choose a time when you don't need to rush anywhere. Your studies will not be useful if your thoughts are occupied with some thing that you urgently need to do. If your life is busy with daily work, find time early in the morning or evening after work when thoughts about work can be most easily put aside. Don't rush yourself, don't set big goals right away. Start with a short time - 15 minutes. Over time, the length of your practice and your skill will increase.
Exercise “Just sitting”
Sit in a position so that your back is straight, but not tense. Place your hands on your knees, palms up, one on top of the other, crossed, so that the tips of your thumbs touch each other. Take your time - choose the pose as much as you need. If you feel inner stability and peace, then the pose is chosen correctly. The pose should carry peace and balance - then you can begin the practice. Use any method of entering meditation - concentrating on a point, image, mantra, prayer or counting from 1 to 50.
Now gather all your attention and begin to mentally explore your body, moving carefully from top to bottom and looking for tension. Do this gently and calmly, as if barely touching your body with your attention. Notice all the sensations you will experience. You will feel how your body naturally relaxes with just a touch of attention. Allow your eyelids, which become heavy, to cover your eyes completely or halfway.
Pay close attention to everything you feel. Do you have any doubts? Tensions? Are you waiting for something? Then relax your attention and let it go - let it wander freely. You will feel that the mind is already calming down - it is much calmer than it was at the beginning of the lesson. Remember: your soul is deep and calm, and thoughts, memories, doubts, fears, expectations are something that is temporary, secondary, something that comes and goes. Feel a calm and deep space within yourself - feel that it is you. From this calm and deep space, look at your current thoughts, feelings, doubts and expectations. Let them flow by, flow easily and freely - and leave. Don't fight them, don't follow them - just watch from the side as they pass by.
Start exploring your body again. Move your attention from the crown of your head down your body. Notice all the sensations that will occur in the body: warmth, blood pulsation, numbness, chills, moistening of the palms - everything, note everything, be aware of the life of your body, do not miss anything. Carefully observe every part of your body - even those areas where there are no sensations: focus on the lobe of your ear, on the knuckle and phalanx of each finger... Notice that you can be aware of everything - both the presence and absence of sensations in your body. You are aware of your body, aware of its sensations - a conscious body does not get sick, because with your attention you are doing nothing more than making the energy of your body move. The body where energy moves is a healthy body. A body where energy stagnates is a sick body. With just attention and awareness you are already healing yourself.
The preliminary stage has been completed. You have already experienced what it means to enter a healing state. Even if you haven't realized it yet, your body has already understood and realized it. A body that has not felt the touch of attention is like a lamp that has gone out. The body, illuminated by attention, begins to concentrate and radiate light and health energy.
Now it is necessary to make the transition to the main stage of entering a meditative healing state. Until now we have occupied our minds with attention to the sensations of the body. Now let's give him one more task - monitoring his breathing.
Exercise "Breath control"
Breathe as usual, but consciously notice and monitor the entire breathing process. Feel and realize: here I am drawing in air through my nostrils, here the air is moving through my nose and respiratory tract, here it is filling my chest and stomach. Watch all the sensations from the passage of air. Next, watch your exhalation: here I exhale, the air passes through the respiratory tract and enters the nostrils, now it is warm air, it passes through the nostrils and comes out.
Now focus on just one point - your nostrils. Watch how the air enters and exits at this point. Breathe calmly, easily, barely audibly, slowly. This kind of breathing is soothing. If the mind just wants to take a break from breathing and engage in its usual fussy mental activity, do not be angry with yourself, this is a common occurrence. Calmly and patiently return your mind to observing the breath again and again. The mind is bound to be distracted - that is its nature. Just start over - that's all. In the process, awareness develops: you see the nature of your mind, which wanders as it pleases, and consciously discipline it. If you are persistent enough, the mind will eventually calm down.
If anxiety and excitement prevent you from focusing on your breathing, just retreat for a while, just watch your mind, how it wanders, how it grabs onto one thought or another. Don't fight it, don't follow these thoughts - just watch them come and go. Accept your mind as it is - just watch it. Make peace with yourself. Once this happens, the excitement will subside and your mind will submit to you.
Now you can leave the state of meditation.
The East is considered lazy, and the West is energetic. Because in the East, people more often allow themselves contemplation and relaxation. But the business West condemns the habit of inaction and does not recognize the benefit of just lying around. Moreover, there are more healthy people in the East than in the West. Do we live for vanity? Those who live for the hustle and bustle get sick more - and still, in the end, do not feel satisfied with life from this hustle and bustle. People try to fill their lives with vanity, because they are afraid to remain in emptiness. But then it turns out that vanity is the emptiness, it only exhausts, but does not fill. But in what seems like emptiness to the uninitiated lies the real fullness and richness of life.
Let all the blessings of the world into your life right now - all you need to do is relax, calm your mind, open up to the Universe and let it into you. The abundant Universe will bring with it everything you need, and above all, it will share its health with you.
Exercise “Lying Meditation”
It is not necessary to specifically meditate while lying down during the day. When you go to bed at the end of the day, simply take a few minutes to meditate. To do this, you need to lie on your side, straighten your body completely, and bend one arm so that the palm serves as a support for the head. With your mind's eye, examine your body to see if there are tensions anywhere. From your attention, tensions will begin to disappear. Focus on your breathing. Put aside the memories associated with the past day and the expectations associated with tomorrow. Within a few minutes of achieving a state of clear, pure mind, you will be able to fall into a deep, restful sleep and be well rested.
Having mastered still meditation, you can move on to other forms. You can just sit, just walk, just stand, go about your daily activities - and at the same time immerse yourself in a state of meditation.
Go out into the open air, but not for any purpose, as you usually do. Do it without any purpose. And even move such a goal as “doing meditation” to the sidelines of your consciousness. Don't set goals - we succeed best in those things in which we do not set out to succeed. The intended goal and the struggle to achieve it are the path to defeat. The absence of a goal is freedom, and freedom is the path to victory.
Exercise "Walking"
Go out into an open space, a park or garden, where there is a path at least 25-30 steps long. Stand at one end of the path and turn your mind inside your body. Feel how your spine is straight and how your arms hang freely along your body. Place your palms gently together in front or behind your body. Direct your eyes to a point approximately three meters in front of you at ground level. Let your gaze always be directed to a point on the ground three meters in front of you - then your vision will not be distracted by surrounding things and objects. Start walking calmly, softly, smoothly, at your usual pace, but not fast or fussy. Choose the pace and method of walking depending on your condition. If you are drowsy or are drawn into obsessive thoughts like in a viscous swamp, walk more energetically. If you are anxious, restless, walk more smoothly and softly. Get to the end of the path and stop. Take a few breaths in and out, focusing on the state of your body. Turn around and go back. Now focus more closely on the sensations in your legs. Pay especially close attention to the sensations that arise in your feet when they touch the ground. Feel the entire sequence of your foot touching the ground, then lifting your foot off the ground, and the space between steps.
Develop patience - bring your mind back to these sensations again and again, even if it gets distracted. And he will be distracted - that’s how he’s designed. Return concentration to your mind again and again - and sooner or later you will notice that thoughts go away, and your soul is filled with a state of lightness, peace and bliss. This means that the mind has been cleansed, and along with it your entire being has been cleansed.
If the mind is distracted not only by extraneous thoughts, but also by the surrounding environment, simply allow everything you see and hear to pass through you without lingering. Let the surrounding environment not catch your mind and pull it along with it, but pass by without touching you.
Our task is to enter a state of calmness of the mind, a healing state, when the voice of the inner healer awakens and we receive healing from a healthy Universe, merging with it. The voice of the inner healer is nothing more than that part of us that is one with the Universe and knows its laws - including the laws of healing.
We have explored several ways to calm an anxious, sick mind and bring it into a state of healing silence. There is another method, perhaps not suitable for everyone, but very interesting in its results, unexpected and even more surprising.
This is meditation in an active, chaotic movement without a given tempo or rhythm. We know that for the mind to stop and give the floor to Reason, it needs to be occupied with something: contemplating the breath or an imaginary image, or concentrating on prayer. In dynamic meditation, we don’t even occupy the mind with anything - it becomes silent on its own because it finds itself in a state of shock. When you engage in dynamic meditation, the mind simply does not understand what you are doing - it, with its mundane, straightforward logic, cannot understand the meaning of this - and from lack of understanding it plunges into shock and freezes. And here, unconstrained by the shackles of the mundane mind, your true nature comes to life and comes out - healthy, all-knowing and ready to heal you from all diseases! Don't you know that you have your true nature? Then it’s time for you to discover it in yourself and get to know it through dynamic meditation.
This exercise is absolutely safe. The fear that you may experience when you start it is not the fear of possible danger, but the fear of meeting your true self. This is the fear of the mind - the fear of stopping and giving way to the true nature. After all, sometimes we are afraid of our true selves - we are afraid, looking into our souls, to suddenly see some terrible monsters there that we do not want to meet. Don’t be afraid, there are actually no monsters there, and what may seem like monsters to us is just our unresolved problems that pretend to be so terrible. But as soon as you honestly and directly look into the eyes of these fears, they will disappear. The more we run away from fears, from meeting our monster problems, the sooner they overtake us, the closer their heavy breathing is behind our backs. But when we stop our running, turn to face them and boldly look into their eyes, we understand that there was actually nothing to be afraid of, fear melts away before our eyes, like morning fog, and nothing remains of it.
Don't be afraid to face yourself. Those problems and fears that live in your soul will cease to be monsters when you learn to get rid of them in meditation. And in meditation, everything is possible, including getting rid of the most terrible (or rather, seemingly so) “monsters.” You will see for yourself.
Exercise "Dynamic Meditation"
This exercise should be done on an empty stomach, alone, in an empty spacious room, with a minimum of clothing on the body, or, in any case, in clothing that is light, loose and does not restrict movement.
First you need to lie down or sit in a comfortable, relaxed position and spend a few minutes breathing through your nose, but your breathing should not be as usual, but fast and deep enough, and not measured, but erratic. The depth and speed of breathing gradually increases.
Then you will feel how your body wants to move from such breathing. Stand up and let your body move the way it wants. Tell yourself: “Come what may” - and don’t suppress anything in yourself, trust yourself, your deepest true nature and let whatever happens happen: dance, jump, twitch, make sudden or smooth movements, roll on the floor - it’s all the same , as long as you do exactly what you want, without regard to any “rules” - there are no rules here, you are your own most important rule! You can laugh, scream, growl, scream - whatever you want. Do this for a few minutes.
After a few minutes, freeze and remain in the position in which you froze. The energy you awaken in this stillness begins its healing work within you.
Then a few more minutes of dancing, jumping, laughing or screaming - you will feel that you have been cleansed, that you are now filled with joy and a sense of celebration from what you have experienced.
Stillness again - and exit from meditation.
At least with the edge of your being, at least for a moment, but you, of course, felt what it was: a state of calmness of the mind. You have already felt the healing power inherent in it. Now you need to direct this healing power, discovered by you and awakened in you, to healing itself.
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Meditation practiceMeditation Mistakes
Hello, dear readers! In our hectic age, it is very difficult to remain in harmony. Many people live in stress. Many (especially women) lack peace and inner stability. But here's the great news: you can become the master of your mind. You can break out of a series of worries, fears, empty “chewing” of events... How to calm your mind
The disease of our mind
We are so accustomed to chaos and an abundance of unnecessary experiences in our heads that we have already begun to consider this the norm. It already seems to us that life is woven from continuous problems. We are so accustomed to the state of stress that we no longer notice it.
Yes, there are real problems. Sometimes people have nothing to eat, they feel hungry. Sometimes a tsunami hits a city, an earthquake begins... In fact, even in such situations it is stupid to worry and be nervous. You need to make some decisions, do something, without overloading your brain with negative thoughts.
But the rest of our problems are created by our mind. We are worried that we might get fired at work. That my husband somehow communicates with us differently. That we won’t be able to go to the resort, that we have a lot of extra pounds, that the weather outside is bad, and the aunt on the bus said something rude to you...
Everyone needs a calm mind in all situations. Especially in some difficult situations. If you are nervous, it is very difficult for you to make the right decision.
A simple example, understandable to all mothers: a child suddenly fell heavily from some slide, lies there and cries. Perhaps he fell upside down. Perhaps he has blood somewhere, etc. What are the options?
You can be horrified, tear out your hair, burst into tears, blame yourself for being a bad mother;
You can examine the child, call an ambulance, and at the same time be overwhelmed, nervous, and replay this whole situation in your head a thousand times;
Or you can not kill yourself and not worry at all. Stay calm. Just approach the child, assess his injuries, try to calm him down, and if necessary, call an ambulance, and calmly go to the hospital.
Which option do you think is better?
Fortunately, some people suddenly become absolutely calm in critical situations. Fortunately, I’m one of those people: I start to worry and get nervous belatedly, when the situation has already been resolved. I am very grateful to my body for this.
We also had falls, blood, some illnesses, etc. And my daughter, looking at my unshakable calm, gradually calmed down herself. Therefore, I know that the most important thing is to maintain inner balance in emergency situations.
However, a calm mind will be no less valuable in ordinary everyday life. It will make her much nicer and happier. Essentially, happiness depends on our state of mind.
How to become calmer
To achieve the desired state you need to do two things:
Clear your mind;
And don't pollute it.
Purification is achieved through meditation practices and prayer. I have written about them many times, and will write more. In the meantime, let's focus on the second, no less important point...
How to keep your mind calm
Your life will change significantly if you take care of what comes into your consciousness. I can give some practical advice:
The most banal, but most important rule is no TV! And no mindless browsing on the Internet! It is very important! TV and the Internet load us with a huge pile of garbage!
If possible, create a good social circle for yourself! Communicate only with people who are working on themselves, do not spread negativity, and have useful and constructive conversations. No whining, gossip or chatter about “nothing.”
If for some reason you cannot get rid of destructive communication (for example, from work colleagues or relatives), find yourself a lot of other, good communication. So that there is much more good communication, so that it outweighs. During the conversation, we adopt the state of mind of the interlocutor.
Create strict censorship on films and books. No action films or detective stories. Choose quality movies that carry a positive charge, not depression.
The Vedas say that to maintain purity of consciousness, it is important to follow a daily routine (get up before 6 am and go to bed before 10 pm) and eat fresh vegetarian food. If possible, follow this.
Keep your home clean and tidy.
Learn to think optimistically.
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How to become an optimist
In fact, optimism is just a habit. Try tracking your thoughts. For every negative conclusion, immediately look for three positive ones. In every situation in which the disadvantages are obvious, immediately find any three advantages.
Today many books have been written about positive thinking. The authors recommend working with affirmations, collages of desires, visualization... Some people do not approve of these methods, while others praise them.
My opinion: at a certain stage, affirmations are very useful! They are good when you need to learn to think in a positive way. I worked actively with affirmations throughout the year.
However, meditation, mindfulness practices, and prayer are preferable to affirmations. And they work on a deeper level.
My experience
I myself am naturally very nervous and restless. That is why at the age of 18 I realized that something needed to be done about this. A long search began.
Yoga, auto-training and meditation helped me a lot. Unfortunately, after having children it is almost impossible to devote enough time to this. But if you follow the principles I mentioned above, you can help your mind remain calm.
We don't have a TV. I carefully monitor what comes to me in the form of films and books. I control my communication. I try to constantly feed my mind with something useful and positive. And I need much less time to meditate than before. It's much easier for me to feel in harmony.
At first glance, the principles I wrote about are very simple and banal. But all the most effective methods can be ridiculously simple! The main thing is to apply them in life. Try it! Feel how important communication is to you. MASS MEDIA. Thinking style. Start taking this more seriously.
Dictation taken from the site: askrealjesus.ru I will try to give you a simple but effective method so that you can experience peace, my beloved. You can approach this in different ways, but the basic idea is that you dedicate some time to it every day, or at least as often as you can. Go to a quiet room. Sit in a comfortable chair so that your spine remains straight, and then direct your attention inward. Inevitably, thoughts will arise. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that in order to calm your mind you have to fight your thoughts, control them, because in doing so you are straining the mind. How can you calm your mind while stressing even more? Many people have wasted countless hours in meditation trying to calm the mind, only to make it more struggling and restless. Instead, the approach is simple. You know that behind every external phenomenon there is an underlying, deeper reality. When you look at your physical body, you know that there are organs and bones beneath the visible surface. But bones and organs are made of cells. Cells are made up of molecules. Molecules are made up of atoms. Atoms are like miniature solar systems with electrons orbiting the nucleus. But between the electrons and the nucleus there is empty space. And thus, if you go deeper and deeper beyond external phenomena, you see that you ultimately reach emptiness. Emptiness. There is nothing. No electrons, no neutrons, no protons. No molecules. Nothing. You can use various visualizations, including the one I just gave. You can also visualize a river with its constant movement, but that there is still empty space between the molecules. Outside the flow of water there is stillness that serves as a backdrop for movement. For motion must be relative to something, and you know well that very slow motion cannot be detected by your senses when there is no comparative reference. And so, ultimately, any movement can only be seen because there is a motionless background. So you can meditate in your mind on the river. And when thoughts arise, you see that they are like whirlpools in a river. But when you enter them and come out the other side, you eventually achieve peace. What I'm saying is that when a thought comes, you don't try to fight it. But even at the same time, you do not swim with it. You walk right into it. You go through it. And you are looking for what is behind it. As a result, another thought may appear. Enter it, go through it. Look for what's behind it. If another thought arises, go into it, go through it. Look for what's behind it. Keep doing this, my beloved, and eventually you will achieve some degree of silence. Spend time in silence Continue to practice this day after day and over time you will be able to quickly achieve silence and feel that behind the flow of thoughts there is silence - a Presence that forms your sense of identity, your sense of Being, your sense of "I AM" ". And it is only because you have this feeling that 'I AM' that thoughts can appear in your mind, in your being. And so, by going beyond every thought, every feeling, every perception in the mind, you can come to that ground of Being, which is the core of Presence, your I AM Presence. And then spend some time in this silence - without forcing, without desire, without asking, without praying for anything. Take pleasure in simply experiencing the Presence, my beloved. Don't ask for anything, no answers, no changes. Enjoy the experience of Presence. And when you feel that the time has come for completion, take a moment to calmly return to your normal state of consciousness. This meditation does not take much time. As you become more experienced, it only takes you a few minutes a day. And then from there you just go and go about your daily business without expecting, asking or demanding anything. But you will be surprised how contact with the Presence can be a catalyst for bringing new thoughts, new perspectives, new ideas into your outer mind. Ideas that you realize are not part of the normal disturbances in the atmosphere of this Earth, coming from mass consciousness, but come from a higher realm and carry with them a certain degree of infinity - and therefore allow you to be in the creative flow and bring new solutions, new perspectives. And then, as you tune into Presence, you can also begin to carry the feeling of silence with you. You will come to the point where you can begin to speak from silence, so that your words are not born from the interference of your own mind or the collective consciousness and tend to counteract any other form of interference. Instead, they will flow from a deeper level; they will be filled with something. They will be inspired by the Presence and will therefore reach people on a deeper level. For they will touch their hearts and help them to see higher. Sometimes it is legitimate to challenge people in a very direct and confrontational manner. For some of you this is a natural expression, at least at the current level. I am not saying that you should all express yourself in the same way. I am simply saying that you all have the potential to consider sharing your Presence in some way, so that the words carry more than just words and the linear mind, so that they are filled with something true, my beloved .
Of particular interest to site readers are the questions “ restless mind", i.e. such a state of thinking when thoughts flow in an endless stream day and night, prevent a person from concentrating, making the right decisions, require great intellectual and volitional efforts to maintain internal composure, etc.
I'll start from the beginning, pardon the pun. The activity of the mind is its natural quality, it is normal. In contrast to the mind, the soul strives for peace; in this sense it is passive. Therefore, an active mind is good, but only on one condition: that this mind is properly regulated, that it is disciplined. Otherwise, under certain conditions, sooner or later the mind becomes restless.
For example, a car with a powerful engine that instantly responds to the gas pedal is the dream of many motorists. However, in the absence of movement, the engine of this car must operate at the minimum required speed. If the engine runs at high speeds without moving, this is a disaster, such an engine wears out quickly, it will fail faster than usual, and such engine operation pollutes the atmosphere more.
Restless Mind- similar to a car running at high speeds without moving. This engine needs adjustment.
The mind works through an organ of the physical body - the brain. Therefore, a restless (unregulated) mind is the cause of many diseases of the human physical body. No wonder. The human brain is akin to an on-board computer for a car, ship, or aircraft. The brain issues commands to the body. An abundance of thoughts gives rise to an abundance of contradictory commands to the body and its systems, which leads to an imbalance of the body and its systems with all the ensuing consequences. These are so-called psychosomatic diseases. In fact, ordinary everyday trauma is also the result of a restless mind, it is also psychosomatic like hypertension, for example, since it is the result of contradictory work of the mind.
Causes of a Restless Mind
Relatively speaking, I see two large groups of these reasons: internal and external.
- Internal reasons are determined by the fate of a person, his previous lives, his present way of life, the motives and purposes of his actions.
- External causes are the environment, the intensity of information processes in which a person is included.
The main cause of a restless mind is the sum of impressions stored in a person’s operative and long-term memory.
These impressions are emotionally charged to varying degrees and emotionally significant for a particular person. This is why events from even the distant past can constantly pop up in his mind if they are emotionally significant (important) to him. As long as this emotional charge exists, impressions will determine the person’s further behavior.
How to calm your mind?
The New Year holidays are approaching, a time of noisy feasts, fun, meetings with friends and relatives. But behind them will come everyday life, work, life issues that have not gone away. What the New Year will be like for everyone depends largely on himself.
I would like to conclude the article with an excerpt from the book of Master Kamlesh:
We must be very careful in how we spend our lives, because this is our destiny. ( Creation of destiny, chapter “Understanding the path”, p. 149.).
How to calm your nerves and thoughts in your head. What is a clear mind?
There are several ways in which you can reduce the agitation of the mind and achieve greater peace and stability. For example, meditation-reflection on any topic will help you sober up your mind and soften the “roar of the surf” caused by hyperactivity and agitation of the mind. The following themes are usually used: the impermanence and variability of nature, the suffering of the human race, the inevitability of death, priceless opportunities on your life's path.
If you are distracted by strong, obsessive desires to possess something or someone, look through the entire scenario, choosing as the subject of contemplation the entire life cycle of the object of your desire - a thing or a person. Vividly imagine how you gain possession of what you passionately desire, and replay the whole story of owning it - from beginning to end - in your mind.
When you see what you're ultimately left with, you'll be able to cool down your unfulfilled desire much faster. Contemplate with compassion and empathy; when the mental exaltation subsides, return your attention to the object chosen for concentration.
Antidote to dull attention
When your attention is dull and you want to increase your level of mental clarity, some physical aids will help you. Experiment: sit with your back as straight as possible in a room with bright light, looking up.
To refresh your mind, try mindful walking, take a refreshing shower, splash cold water on your face, and look up at the sky.
One meditation teacher said: if you feel sleepy during meditation, imagine that you are sitting on top of a telegraph pole or on the edge of a precipice - in this case, the likelihood that you will not fall asleep increases dramatically!
Below are a few tips to help counteract lapses in focus and increase your mental energy.
Visualize your body filling with light.
Imagine that your mind is of the nature of light.
How to calm your nerves and thoughts in your head
Visualize your mind as a sphere of brilliant white light near your heart and imagine it rising to the top of your head and dissolving into the infinity of space.
Reflect on things that lift your spirits, lift your spirits, expand or open your mind or heart.
Contemplate the people whose example has inspired you.
Meditate on the virtues of kindness, on the characteristics of someone you truly love, on something or someone in your life, on the people to whom you are grateful.
If you feel that you are starting to mark time, not moving forward or backward, it is better to end this lesson with meditation and move on to something else.
If you're tired, relax, take a nap, or take a bath. If you're feeling overly excited, try mindful walking, jogging, or play music that makes you feel good about moving.
Take a closer look at how your compassion and your creativity manifest themselves while you are busy redirecting unproductive mental energy.
Focusing and calming the mind
Sit comfortably and take a few minutes to relax. Place your hands on your lap and smile to yourself quietly and calmly.
How to calm your nerves and thoughts in your head
Bring your attention to your breathing, feel how the air enters and leaves your nose. Now start counting each exhalation, from the first to the tenth. If you lose count, go back to the beginning; if you can't make it to ten, go back to the beginning.
This technique can be used at any time of the day, devoting a few minutes to it.
The goal is to focus your mind on what you are doing, and focus not too intently and not too relaxed.
Don't try too hard: allow the mind to be focused but relaxed. The mind will inevitably start to wander, but if it does, just take a step back. As Saint Francis d'Sales said: “If the heart begins to wander or become distracted, gently bring it back to its subject; and even if during this hour you did nothing, just directing your heart to its subject, it still means that you spent this hour with great benefit.”
With constant practice, concentration will become better and better, and you will feel that it has become much easier for you to keep your mind on the subject of contemplation and on anything in general.
The cure for disappointment
If most of your time is spent distracted or overstimulated, it can be easy to feel like your meditation session is being wasted. There is a simple and effective remedy for this, and it is also an excellent way to improve concentration.
How to calm your nerves and thoughts in your head
Break your big activity into many smaller ones with breaks in between. (You can use this method any time you have a free minute.)
1. Sit comfortably, straighten your back.
2. Take a deep, full exhalation without making any extra effort.
3. As you exhale, visualize the sound “ahhh”.
Allow the sound to open up and flow freely. At the same time, allow your mind to open and flow freely along with this sound, forming a single wave of awareness - until the consciousness is distracted or overexcited.
4. At the first sign of distraction or agitation, stop the activity immediately.
5. Relax. Take a break (fifteen to twenty seconds).
Look around. If you want, you can walk around to stretch your legs, but then repeat all the steps.
Repeat as many times as you deem necessary within the time frame devoted to meditation. Gradually you will get used to these short periods of time, within which your attention is not scattered, and to the corresponding concentration.
At first you may only be able to maintain your concentration for a few seconds, but with continued practice you will be able to stabilize your attention and deepen it.
As you develop your skill of concentration, you will consciously feel that your mind and the sound of "ahhh" are continuously unfolding outward, even when you pause to take a breath.
(Taken from the public domain
