How to build focus along the day ?

As a psychology student, being able to concentrate for many hours is crucial.

From classes to exams to lectures and everything that comes with the privilege of studying. Being able to focus on different tasks for a long period of time is inevitable. But not so easy!

With all the information that comes and goes, it can be challenging to pause and rewire our brains. But thanks to my Viniyoga training and the amazing wisdom and tools I learn, day after day I am building up some habits that change and improve my focus.

It’s tricky to explain a feeling or a mental state, so to illustrate my point here is the day that I realized how yoga changed the curse of my days.

As I was breathing in and out during my morning practice, I didn’t know how peaceful and ‘productive’ (the term productivity is here used as a continuum of the word concentration) my day would go.

As soon as I wake up, I make myself a hot cup of lemon and ginger infusion to drink after my yoga practice. My cup of tea has now been put aside while I do my practice, I set up my mat grab my Mantravallī book, and open page 91. As I start to chant the gāyatrī-mantraḥ my mind is going back and forth while my breathing is starting to match the Vedic chant. While doing my yoga practice, my body is starting to wake up, my muscles expand and contract. My mind is sometimes here and now, sometimes elsewhere, but my exhalation is one with the mantra.

My mind is focused.

It has to concentrate at the same time on the complexity and simplicity of my body movement and breathing, trying to coordinate both. After a succession of movements,I sit. Back straight, legs crossed, I observe.

I inhale and exhale while chanting the same mantra as earlier, now my mind is here and now. It feels like I could stay in that state forever. It feels like my body is transparent. Nothing and everything matters, It’s like I am an observer. It feels quiet and simple. My mind for that short period of time doesn’t have control over my thoughts or body, I trust. I don’t worry anymore, I’m not attached anymore.

When it feels like I can go on with my day I open my eyes sit on my bed and drink my cup of lemon and ginger infusion.

I have always believed that meditation, breathing exercises, and (well-taught) yoga practice could change people's lives or at least have a huge impact on them. However, I was quite surprised at how quickly small changes can appear if we can perceive them. For me, it was my concentration state (my mindfulness) that needed a helping hand for me to fully live the things that I was experiencing. Even though changes are gradual and happen over time. In the short term, you can feel such a deep sense of serenity.

But the facts were right under my eyes and I could experience it every single time I started my day with a moment of deep calm and concentration.

After stepping a foot outside my dorm room, this is how my day went.

I had to work that day before going to the university for a delightful schedule of 4 pm to 9 pm. I was in the tube around 10 am, and I was taking myself for a 30-minute ride to my student job where I dive myself into my book “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel Van Der Kolk. I then work for 4h30 before having another 30 min ride where I put myself into my book again. It was already half past three when I realized that I had the same level of focus (consciousness) since that morning. I was glad to be physically and mentally ready for my lectures at the university. I was in the auditorium at 4 pm and as the two hours of the class passed, not once my mind was elsewhere.

I have to admit that I quit the university around half past seven not because of my concentration but because the second class was not well taught at all (but here is not the place for that matter). On my way home, I was glad to see that I could still dive into my book as well as that 10 am reading session.

To resume, I was absolutely amazed to see how productive and calm my day went. I then repeated that routine over and over again to see if it was just a lucky day or if it was definitely linked to my yoga practice. I didn’t measure anything or put a team to study how much focus I gained, but sometimes there is no use for the obvious. I was able to keep reading, working, and studying for hours, all while keeping an immense sense of inner peace.

For the facts, people here is what the conference of Chee Chin, L. et al. (2020) said about meditation and concentration “Mindfulness meditation is a type of therapy for a psychological cure like depression and anxiety that can significantly increase peoples’ ability to concentrate and focus. The analysis of memory test produces higher memory test score (…) after mindfulness meditation compared to before mindfulness meditation.”

To conclude, I would say that meditation or any type of mindfulness momentum is crucial not only to appreciate the present moment but also to build up the next ones. Having a quiet and peaceful moment in the morning has helped me build up my focus during any day and reduce my anxiety drastically. I think small habits like having no phone first thing in the morning have also helped me a lot in my journey of building up more focus.

Don't hesitate to send me your comments on this article here or on our social networks.

See you soon.
INVEST IN YOURSELF, Clara.

 

References:

Chee Chin, L. et al. (2020, 20-21 december).« Effect of mindfulness meditation toward improvement of concentration based on heart rate variability » [Conférence].2020 International Conference on Innovation and Intelligence for Informatics, Computing and Technologies (3ICT), Sakheer, Bahrain.10.1109/3ICT51146.2020.9311986

Media Garuda: The Krishnamacharya healing & yoga fondation. (2019). MANTRAVALLĪ: An Anthology of Sacred Chants (Third print). Printed and bound in India by Sudarsan graphics, chennai.

Viniyoga: I am on my second year of four to become a viniyoga teacher (https://www.mitra-yoga.be/la-formation). All the yoga practice describe upwrads is teached and advised by Philip Rigo certifed Co-founder of Viniyoga International and Professional Member of the Indian Yoga Association.