Focus

How to sharpen our focus

Focussing in the modern world can feel like an uphill battle. Whether it’s our smartphones buzzing or the endless temptations promising instantaneous entertainment, keeping focussed on an important task takes effort. Generating mental discipline takes practice, and meditation can be the perfect environment to build up the mental muscles that maintain our grip on a task.

Mantra meditation, a technique we have a course on, is particularly effective in improving focus due to its emphasis on concentrating on the one chosen present thought in your mind, rather than the myriad of stimuli we are faced with every day. Once we get accustomed to focusing on the mantra, we can call upon that mental atmosphere of deep focus whenever we require it.

The wide range of effects

One study [1] which looked into the relationship between meditation and mental training said: ‘Our findings suggest that 4 days of meditation training can enhance the ability to sustain attention; benefits that have previously been reported with long-term meditators.’ The exciting connotations of this study illuminate how malleable and responsive our minds can be in generating the qualities we desire.

But the length of our focus isn’t the only positive effect that meditation can have on our mental capacity. One concentration-based study which showed an increase in the meditators to focus and, importantly, it also showed evidence that at the same time the memory retention and problem solving abilities were significantly increased in too.

The real perk of meditation is that when we teach mental discipline, we don’t just improve focus, we improve all areas of mental performance at the same time.

"Practising meditation every morning has given my life structure. The discipline that I cultivate with just 10 minutes every morning spills into every other aspect of my life. I undertake tasks and challenges with a new sense of focus and confidence."

"10 years ago, I was suffering from extreme anxiety. I was recommended mindfulness from a friend. At first, I was unsure, but being at breaking point, I thought I'd give it a try. With a few weeks of practice, I was sleeping again and had a skip in my step. For me, it was a game-changer."

"After two decades of dealing with insomnia, never being able to achieve a restful nights sleep, I knew there had to be a better way. Meditation allowed me to feel like someone who can sleep through the night and approach the new day feeling restored and full of energy."

And here’s for the science, take a look in full:

[1]www.sciencedirect.com/

[2]journals.plos.org/plosone/