Developing Concentration/Mindfulness

Ric

What are ways you guys cultivate mindfulness and concentration outside of sitting practice?

I notice during the day I have a incredibly super duper strong reflex to go into mental formations and judging sensations. The only thing I found helpful as of now is to do things slower, making it easier to be more mindful of the actions you are taking.

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas and techniques to develop either of these qualities. Just as a side note I used to think I had ADD and even took medication for it. I dont really think I have a disease called ADD, I just think I need to cultivate awareness and concentration.

Jeffrey

Do a task with the intention of being mindful. Make the intention in the morning that you will take a moment to breath in the course of your day. Mindfulness doesn't mean that you are fixated on your body all the time. Mindfulness is the ability not to grasp onto one thoughtworld and open to another. Those moments of recognition of awareness are glimpses into a reality of your mind that is neither created nor destroyed. Linking into this nature creates the kind of karma we need to let go.

If we remembered and realized this at all times we wouldn't need to meditate or practice. So our lapses actually give a chance to practice and bring out the wish to enlightenment.

Sabre

Hi Ric,

One thing that really helped me a lot in daily life is to keep the basic 5 precepts strictly. Keep them in the back of your head, remembering their importance. This trains your basic mindfulness very well.

Apart from that you might want to try walking meditation when you are going from one place to another. Although a bit sloppy if you walk fast, this is still quite a good practice for both concentration and mindfulness.

When eating I try to do it in silence without any distractions (like TV / music / talking) as often as possible. Or mindfully taking a shower, drinking tea, doing toilet business :P etc. Basically you can use every moment of the day as a training.

With metta,
Sabre

buddhajunkie

Here's something I learned and like. I do it at the gym a lot.

I decided to try a small, five-minute-a-day mindfulness regimen recommended to me by the University of Washington psychology professor Marsha Linehan. One of the simple techniques Linehan uses to improve patients' mood and concentration is to ask them to sit on a park bench or at a street corner — any public place — and direct their eyes forward as strangers walk by. The idea is to avoid looking at the passersby even if they are interesting — you just let them walk by. You notice them, but you keep your mind focused on not watching them, not following them.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2008914,00.html

Ric

Cool, thanks for the tips. I just decided to wash my dishes without any entertainment...which is tough for me. But it actually was very nice, all the while trying to keep my mind from wandering too far off.

Tikal2012

When you do sitting meditation you do mindfulness of the breath right? And whenever a thought arises you recognize that your mind is distracted and you return your mind's attention back to the sensation of the breath as it passes through your nostrils. You feel calm from this usually after a while, however, sometimes it doesn't work, but for the most part you can develop quite serene mindstates. That's a good thing. But what you need to do is add one more step. You need to relax. You should notice that whenever your mind starts thinking about something that a tightness arises in your mind and in your body. This is called craving, the cause of suffering. What you need to do is recognize that your mind is distracted, you need to let go of the thoughts, you need to relax your mind and your body (relax on the in breath, relax on the out breath), and you need to smile (just a little one, to maintain the light heartedness of the meditation. When you do the relaxing step with the meditation, you develop a different mind that is not fully concentrated, yet is aware, tranquil, joyful, and able to rest on the object of meditation (the breath) very easily with out any effort. This kind of concentration is easier to develop, it stays with you longer, it can be developed all the time, and it leads to Nibbana, and you can cultivate it while you are doing your sitting meditation, and while you are doing whatever else you do in your daily life. By the way, it's probably worth telling you that when you let go of that tension caused by your mind's need to start thinking about things, your letting go of craving, which is the cause of suffering, and you experience the third noble truth, which is the cesssation of suffering, which is a mind that has no thoughts, is completely at ease, and peaceful, and as you cultivate it more and more, you will experience all of the Jhanas, and ultimately Nibbana.

skullchin

I'm reading _Buddha's Brain_ by Rick Hanson and here is what he suggests for building concentration:

* Establish a deliberate intention at the beginning of any activity that requires focus. Use statements such as "May my mind be steady." Or just call up a silent feeling of determination.

* Get a bodily sense of being someone you know who is extremely focused. That uses the empathy systems in the brain to simulate within yourself the mindful nature of that other person.

* Keep reestablishing your intentions. For example, if you're in a meeting, every few minutes you could resolve anew to stay focused. One of my friends uses a little device that can be set to vibrate at different intervals; he leaves it in his pocket and gets a discrete wake-up call every ten minutes.

* Make the intention to be attentive the default setting of your life by developing the habit of everyday mindfulness

fivebells

I notice during the day I have a incredibly super duper strong reflex to go into mental formations and judging sensations. The only thing I found helpful as of now is to do things slower, making it easier to be more mindful of the actions you are taking.

Depends where you are with your practice, but it can be helpful to block off some time in formal meditation to call to mind some situations which commonly degrade attention, and rest in the resulting experience. This is only really worth trying if you're doing at least 45 min of formal meditation a day, though.

AllbuddhaBound

I notice during the day I have a incredibly super duper strong reflex to go into mental formations and judging sensations. The only thing I found helpful as of now is to do things slower, making it easier to be more mindful of the actions you are taking.

Depends where you are with your practice, but it can be helpful to block off some time in formal meditation to call to mind some situations which commonly degrade attention, and rest in the resulting experience. This is only really worth trying if you're doing at least 45 min of formal meditation a day, though.

I can attest to the need for more time in formal meditation. As was discussed on another thread, I took your advice and increased my time meditating to over forty minutes and the result has been awesome. I had been meditating between 20 and 30 minutes a day and I felt stuck and unmotivated. The increase changes everything. Thanks for that.

Ric

Yea its def a time issue. I finally gave in and bought a meditation cushion so that it will be easier to extend the time. It seems like the only reason to go for 20-30 min is to get used to it.

I will try to go for 40 min. Ive noticed an interesting thing in my practice. That the first 5-10 min its a bit noisy up there, from 10-20 it can be very relaxed and calm but at about 25-30 mark it seems like a wave of disturbances arise. I have to put in some effort to get through that wave.

fivebells

The increase changes everything. Thanks for that.

Very happy to help. How has it changed things for you?

fedaalis

I notice during the day I have a incredibly super duper strong reflex to go into mental formations and judging sensations.

That is mindfulness, no? Just in the midst of more activity than you encounter in formal meditation practice. How do you react to mental formations and judging sensations in meditation practice?

Just like in meditation practice, if you try to be calm in daily life when you are not calm, either by trying to control things or searching for something elsewhere, you will create more problems for yourself.

You already have mindfulness. "This is a mental formation" "This is judgment".

Doing things slower limits your activity, so it may be easier to find your calm mind. Sometimes you can't do this, because life can be fast paced. Just make your best effort to be mindful and non-reactive.