Concentration Techniques
Everly
and Rosenfeld enumerate four common concentration techniques
used to calm the mind:
Many meditators choose the technique that works best for
them (including others not listed here) and may vary it as
they find necessary from day to day or as their practice evolves
over time.
Move your mouse over each technique
to learn more. When done, click the forward arrow to continue.
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These are four common ways to concentrate,
but there are others.
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| In mental repetition, the person concentrates on a
word or phrase, commonly called a mantra or a simple
chant.
It can be particularly helpful to use a phrase that
the modern mind cannot immediately attach meaning
to (e.g. Sankrit/ Latin) since it takes more concentrated
focus to repeat.
Some traditions will also claim that the use of sound
in and of itself has an independent mechanism of facilitating
meditative awareness.
Examples of mantras include Om, Hail Mary, Alleluia,
etc.
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| Concentration on breathing is frequently the focus
in physical repetition techniques.
With this technique, a person concentrates on the
breath entering and flowing from the tip of the nostrils
or observes the rise and fall of the chest or belly
with each breath.
Physical movement and dance, which often incorporates
conscious breathing, can also be the object of concentration.
Yoga, qigong, and tai chi are examples, as is trance
dancing.
Jogging, with its repetitive physical activity, breathing,
and the sound of one's feet hitting the ground can
become a meditative experience for some people.
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| In problem-contemplation techniques, an attempt is
made to solve a problem that contains paradoxical components,
which Zen calls a koan.
"What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
is an example of a koan.
This specific practice is not a usual starting place for a beginner because it demands a more conscious examination of limiting thoughts in order to expand the possibilities of understanding and awareness.
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| Visual concentration techniques are akin to imagery.
Some people find it easier to focus on an image or
a color than the breath, sounds, movement, or the
contemplation of paradoxes.
In some traditions, the meditator visualizes the
face of a deity in great detail. In other traditions,
there are specific instructions to build symbolic
images that do not exist in physical manifestation,
since this requires another level of sophistication
in concentration and builds another faculty for higher
perception.
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| Everly, G., & Rosenfeld, R. (1981).
The nature and treatment of the stress responses. New
York: Plenum Press. |
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