Concentration
We have all been there when at a moment of weakness, our mind wanders to something other than what we are doing and disaster strikes. This could be while driving a car, installing a new light switch or it could be in the middle of a perfectly good solo.
The lack of concentration can be caused from many reasons but the most common is shear laziness. Concentrating on anything takes practice and concentration. To become more proficient, we need to spend some time practicing it as much as any other ability.
What do the Yoga’s say?
Yoga is a practice which can take seven major directions. Of the seven major branches of yoga, Hatha (or forceful), Raja (or classical) and Mantra yoga are the best known and most widely practiced forms. Both Hatha and Raja yoga emphasize specific postures (asanas), including both active and relaxation poses as well as breath control (pranayama), concentration (dharanas) and meditation (dhyana).
One exercise practiced in the Raja Yoga is called the candle exercise which is used to gain greater concentration. The instructions say to sit in a dark room with a lit candle. Concentrate your attention on the flame of the candle. After a few seconds, blow out the candle and continue to concentrate your attention on the lingering image of the candle flame. Relight the candle after the image has disappeared. Again concentrate on the flame and repeat the previous instructions. Gradually you will be able to prolong the extinguished flame’s image. This is a very good exercise for the improvement of your concentration.
Another practice which will improve your concentration is meditation. There are many forms of meditation and the one my wife and I have continued to practice from 1976 to the present is Transcendental Meditation. This method requires a person to sit quietly for a few moments in order to clear one’s mind of distracting thoughts. Slowly the practitioner begins to silently repeat a word (mantra) which has no meaning and as this mantra is repeated over and over, the person’s mind is cleared of distracting thoughts which enter the mind. The act of clearing one’s mind of distracting thoughts begins to bring the practitioner down to a level of great peace and tranquility.
While performing with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, I asked our piano player what he did to keep his focus when performing several shows in one day. His response at the time seemed a little strange until I tried it myself. He suggested that I take a shower before every show to help with concentration problems when performing multiple shows on the same day. The difference was very striking for every time I need to sharpen my focus on a show or concert, I take a shower before leaving the house to perform. It works every time.
If you have a suggestion as to how we can improve our concentration, please include them in the comment section of this blog.
