Students are easily distracted in the classroom for an assortment of reasons. Students talking, the humming of the air conditioner, students outside the classroom, the clock and much more distracts the students and makes it difficult for them to concentrate in the classroom. It is best to teach your students some concentration exercises to learn how to block out the annoying noises that attract their attention.
Concentration exercises are a tool to help students to learn better in the classroom. Students waste too much time in the classroom looking out the window because they are unable to stay focused on the task at hand. Students can learn to block out Sally's toe tapping and stay focused on their work. It is best to incorporate these concentration techniques on a daily basis as they only take approximately 5-10 minutes a day. Incorporate curriculum into the concentration exercises to teach the students two things at once.
Concentration Exercises
•Have students spell words backwards and forward. Students are not allowed to write down the word.
•Have students as a class spell the word, each student does one letter in the word. Have them spell them backwards and forwards as well.
•Students count words in a paragraph without pointing to the words.
•Students count common words such as 'the' or 'and' on a page in a novel without pointing to the word.
•Students count vowels in a paragraph without pointing to the vowels.
•Place an object at the front of the class and allow the students to observe it for 3-5 minutes. Remove the object and have them describe it in detail.
• Students calculate numbers mentally. Begin with a simple calculation and all other calculations are based on the previous answer. Have students write the final answer on a piece of paper and have them all show their answer to the class at once. Interesting to see how many students have the same answer.
•Play the game; I went shopping and bought ice cream. Each student adds something new to the list but must also name all of the previous items on the list.
by Acharya Shree Dhruv
Dhotirvastistatha Netishtratkam Nowlikam Tatha Kapalbhatischetani Khastkarmani Prachate — Hathayog Pradipika
According to Hathayog Pradipika, there are six types of hathayoga: dhauti, vasti, neti, nauli, tratak and kapalbhati. These are all yogic processes (shat karma) which apart from imparting physical and mental peace also provide spiritual power. The first four, i.e., dhauti, vasti, neti and nauli are related to purification of the body, while the last two, tratak and kapalbhati, are related to spiritual achievements.
How does tratak sadhana affect us
The flow of thoughts in our brain is an on-going process. Due to this, 80 per cent of our energy is wasted and our central nerve system loses its balance. But when we attain tratak sadhana, gradually we start experiencing peace of mind, and thereafter we start getting rid of unwanted thoughts. With this process we start gaining more and more energy. And a time comes when we are able to perform an unusual feat.
But what is tratak sadhana? It is defined as focusing your attention with concentration on a point or on the flame of a lamp continuously, without blinking.
Three types of tratak sadhana
(a) Inner tratak Sadhana
(b) Middle tratak sadhana
(c) Outer tratak sadhana
Inner tratak sadhana is closing the eyes and focusing your attention on the middle of your forehead, where Lord Shiva’s third eye is located. In the beginning you may feel some pain or heat in your head but do not worry, as it will normalise gradually. Try to keep your entire attention on this point.
Benefits: With this yogic action you can hypnotise any person who is very far from you. It will also help in building your confidence, intelligence and patience. It will even take away negative thoughts and desires from your mind and will give you peace.
In Middle tratak sadhana, focus your eyes and attention on either the flame of a lamp (which is lit by the oil of black sesame) or on a crystal shivlinga. If you get a burning sensation in your eyes, close your eyes for some time and then again repeat this kriya (process). For this kriya, keep the lamp or shivlinga at a distance of 20 inches at eye level so that there is no strain or pressure on your neck.
Benefits: Improves concentration, memory and mental power. Besides, you get foresight, hypnotic and spiritual power. It also increases your working efficiency and the ability to read others' mind.
Outer tartak sadhna can be performed at anytime of the day or night, by focusing your eyes and attention on any object like the sun, moon, stars. Those who have a weak eyesight cannot perform this.
Benefits: Helps in getting rid of mental disorders and improves motivational power and foresight.
Do suksham pranayam before practising tratak because this sadhana requires mental peace. If your mind is not peaceful or comfortable, you cannot be successful. With suksham pranayama you can control your mind.
Rules of suksham pranayama:
Sit in sukhasan without any body movement and take in and release long deep breaths slowly. This has to be done for 21 days regularly for 15 minutes a day. It will be better to start trarak sadhana after this.
For tratak sadhana:
1. Sit on a blanket in sukhasna or sidhasna and keep back, neck and spine straight.
2. Keep negative thoughts and lust away from your mind.
3. Do tratak with dedication, patience and concentration.
4. Always practise in a closed room and be by yourself.
5. It is effective if practised at a fixed place and time.
6. Out of the three ways of practising tratak, choose the one with which you feel comfortable.
7. Try to spend more or equal time in this sadhana as you spend on the first day.
8. Leave all addictions.
9. Those suffering from tuberculosis, heart diseases, leprosy and eye diseases should not practise tratak.
10. While practising, do not move your body. Sit like a statue.
11. Practice after taking bath and wear loose clothes, preferably white.
12. Choose any one of three kriyas and practice it continuously for three months.
TRATAK is a meditation which when practiced increases the magnetic vibration in the practitioner. It also keeps the body in good condition. The mind also gets refreshed. The eyesight becomes very powerful and the practitioner gets a very sharp eyesight.
TRATAK is required to be practiced in two sessions a day, each session lasting for atleast 30 minutes and the practice should go on for a minimum of 60 days.It is practiced only in such time when the lunar vibrations of earth are higher ie in between 4.30 AM and 6.00 AM and 7.00 PM tp 8.00 PM.
PROCEDURES :
- After taking a cold bath, sit in a secluded place, free from disturbance of any kind.
- The practitioner may sit either crossed leg on flooror may even sit on a chair which surface is flat. Keep the spinal column vertical and legs at right angle. Hands should be rested on the laps, palms facing upwards.
- Keep a small object in front of your eyes and fix a gaze on it. You may make a small black point on the the wall in front of your eyes and make a gaze on it. The object or the black dot should be at a distance of about 1 to 2 feet away from your eyes.
- Keep on staring the object with one point concentration. Have no ideas and thoughts in mind.
- Do not blink, even if tears flow out of your eyes. Maintain one pointed concentration on object all the time.
- Practice gazing continously for atleast 30 minutes each time and in the evening.
- Continue to practice without break for 60 days
- By the end of 60 days, or sometime even before, you will experience special magnetic vibrations entering your eyes and spreading all over the body. Keep on practicing and see the difference.
This is a complimentary extract from the State Chapter of the Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual. Attentiveness is one part of sixteen parts of Memletic State - the best state for learning.
Attention and concentration are fundamental to learning and memorizing. If you don't pay attention when you see a new fact, it's unlikely it even makes it into your memory. If it isn't in there, you don't have much chance of recalling it.
Nearly all the other good state principles influence your attention and concentration. For example, a distracting environment affects your concentration. Not eating well or failing to follow natural body rhythms also negatively impacts concentration. You may also find it hard to concentrate if you don't believe the material you are studying contributes to your overall goals.
If you find your concentration wandering or staying attentive is difficult, scan through the state layers and see if there is an obvious problem somewhere.
You may also want to try some specific concentration techniques during study, or try some longer-term exercises to improve your overall concentration. Let's look at these two in more detail.
Concentration techniques during study
Some specific techniques can help you stay focused on your material. These include:
- "Be here now." Every time you find yourself distracted, say "Be Here Now." Say it aloud if possible, otherwise just repeat it in your mind. Then bring your attention back to your task. In the beginning, you may find that you do this a lot. Over time, you gain more focus and your mind stays where you want it.
- The spider approach. If you hold a vibrating tuning fork next to a spider web, the spider usually comes to see what's happening, thinking it may be an insect. Do it a few times and the spider eventually chooses to ignore the distraction. You too can train yourself to ignore distractions. The sensations from your ears and eyes are simply sensations you can choose whether to react to or not.
- Paragraph marking. If you are reading a book or article, tick each paragraph as you read it. Use a pencil in case you want to re-read parts of it later.
- Keep a distraction log. Every time you find yourself distracted, draw a tick or write the current time on a separate piece of paper. This is your distraction log. Initially the number of distractions may surprise you. By highlighting your distractions, you can begin to control and reduce them.
- Write down distractions. If something important comes up as a distraction, simply write it down so you can deal with it later. Better yet, set a distraction time. Agree with yourself to take a break and deal with those distractions at that time.
- Switch topics. Rather than spending a long time on one particular topic, switch between various unrelated topics if possible. The brain loves variety and rewards you with better concentration.
- Make it interactive. If studying with others, plan some time to get together and discuss the material you are learning. Even if you are not at the same stage in the course, simply agree to spend ten minutes listening to one another talk about their current study topic.
Longer-term improvement of concentration
The previous techniques are good for keeping up concentration while you study. Some longer-term techniques can improve your overall concentration as well. These include:
- Games. The old card game of "Concentration" is still effective in improving concentration. If you have not come across it, the basic idea is to lay down a set of playing cards in a grid, all face-down. You then turn over a pair of cards. If they match number and color (if using playing cards), then you take them out of the grid. If they don't match, you place them back face down and pick another pair. Better concentration, through practice, results in a shorter time to clear the grid. You can also play with a friend for competition. The one with the most pairs at the end of the game wins!
Many expensive software packages claiming to improve concentration still use this principle in many guises, often with pictures instead of playing cards. There are also free computer games, based on Concentration, available on the Internet. Using these and some notes in a spreadsheet to track progress can be just as effective as the more expensive packages. - Meditation. Meditation is an effective way of improving your concentration. See my comments in "Mental Relaxation" for more comments on meditation.
- Other exercises. Many other exercises can help you increase your concentration. From simply staring at a fixed point or candle, to martial arts, these can all help improve your overall concentration.
Environment and concentration
When possible, choose a place for learning that is relatively free from external distractions. This helps attention and concentration. Let family, friends, or colleagues know that you are studying and would prefer no interruptions for a while. Use a do not disturb sign-but don't overuse it!
Be aware of unwanted noise in your environment, including noise from overhead lights or electrical equipment. Consider using light background music to mask this noise if you are unable to control it.
Also, be aware of visual distractions, even if they are only in your peripheral vision. For example, while in a library sit facing a wall in a secluded area, rather than near a passageway or door.
Even in the best-planned environment, you may still have interruptions. Train yourself to pause for a moment before responding to an interruption. During that pause make a note, mentally or on paper, of where you are. It's then easier to regain your concentration when you return. How do you train yourself? An idea is to ask someone to help you. Role-play the interruption and your action!
The issue of lack of concentration is not limited to young children only. Many adults complain about it and look for advice on how to increase concentration. During coaching sessions, I have come across many such requests and here are some tips that I found to be most effective.
MAKE A TIME PLAN - Set up a schedule for the jobs to be done. The key is to balance, to allocate time appropriately to serious, difficult tasks like study, as well as to recreation... and stick to it. Avoid keeping very similar tasks together, so that your schedule has in-built variety to avoid boredom.
IDENTIFY YOUR PEAK TIMES - We all have our times of peak alertness in 24-hours cycle. However, it is not the same for all. Find out yours and use it for more difficult or less interesting tasks.
GO SLOW; BUILD UP OVER TIME - Start with sticking to your study / project for 10 to 15 minutes to start with. Build up slowly. While it is important to discipline yourself, more important is to put the time to effective use. So start small, but stick to it even if you are not able to concentrate easily.
TAKE BREAKS IN BETWEEN - On an average, the attention span for a serious task is no more than 20 minutes or so. Therefore, while studying for longer stretches, it is advisable to take a break for may be five minutes after 20-25 minutes and get back to the job.
MIND THE SURROUNDINGS - The location, direction, lighting - all make a difference to your attention span. You should be reasonably comfortable in a quiet place with proper lighting etc.
DO AWAY WITH DISTRACTIONS - While TV and radio are more obvious distractions and can easily be avoided, there are others like telephone calls, or friends and relatives dropping in to chat for a while. There are no general rules for them and you will have to devise your personal rules to take care of such issues.
MANAGE REQUIREMENTS - Make sure that you have pre-arranged all your requirements before you get set. This may include your study material, notes, pen, pencil, calculator, highlighter or whatever you might need during your study / task.
JOIN THE YOUNGER ONES - If you have young children, sit for your study along with them. It will motivate you to discipline yourself and concentrate.
PUT YOUR HEART WITH MIND - Applying your mind to the work is a prerequisite in any case; however adding curiosity and positive attitude makes the real difference. When you become inquisitive and start enjoying the study, assimilation and understanding is much faster, much better.
USE PENCIL EXTENSIVELY - Do underline frequently and use white space in the margins to make your own short notes. While writing adds to your pick-up, it helps tremendously during future references.
EXERCISE YOUR MENTAL FACULTIES - Games such as crossword puzzles, sudoku and word jumbles are good relaxation tools as well as help you improve memory and concentration. Keep some time for them.
MEDITATE - Meditation is a wonderful tool to keep your mind calm and relaxed, thus improving your concentration and memory. There are hundreds of meditation techniques. It is advisable to learn and practice one or two from an expert instead of experimenting with many and get confused.
LIVE A BALANCED LIFE - Nutritious eating habits and regular sleeping hours help you to lead a healthy life with better memory and concentration.
And, here is a destructive one!
TEAR IT APART - You have a nicely bound new book; but the size is so dreadful that you hardly touch it; so it remains new for years together. Total wastage! Remove its binding, convert it into small manageable pieces, may be 5, 10 or 15 pages. Pick up one at a time and handle it with a smile. At the end of it, even though short of a showpiece in your book shelf; you will be happy about this loss, I am sure!
Concentration is your ability to work without letting
people, feelings or activities get in the way. There are
three steps to developing your concentration abilities:
• Establishing concentration
• Increasing concentration
• Developing the concentration habit
This fact sheet provides tips on how to
develop each of these abilities.
ESTABLISHING CONCENTRATION
Be aware of external distractions and
separate yourself from them. For example,
give yourself permission to let your answering
machine pick up calls and not to check your
email while you’re working on a task. Or, ask
your family for an hour of uninterrupted
quiet time.
Try to recognize these distractions and take care of them. Internal
distractions such as thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, hunger
and tiredness can interrupt your ability to focus. Do something
about the things that are bothering you before you start the task at
hand. For instance, if you know that you are hungry, eat before you
start a task.
Stop distracting thoughts that pop into your mind as soon as you
are aware of them. You can do this by “noticing” the thought, and
then consciously bringing your attention back to the task at hand.
Keep a reminder pad handy. If something that you have to do pops
into your head, jot it down to get it off your mind.
INCREASING CONCENTRATION
Plan to concentrate. How interested are you in what you are doing?
If the answer is “not much,” then try to come up with reasons for
developing an interest. Will the project give you a chance to learn a
new skill? Or might finishing it give you a sense of accomplishment?
Use a pencil or highlighter. Taking notes or highlighting
key points are ways to keep yourself actively involved in
a task such as reading.
Divide tasks into manageable parts. You will feel a sense
of accomplishment more often, which can help you stay
motivated and on task longer.
Plan breaks according to your concentration span. You
are not a machine. Taking a walk or a lunch break will
help clear your head.
If you find yourself losing focus, stand up. The physical
act of standing up brings your attention to the fact that you’re losing focus. It lets you
stop the process and bring your thinking back to the task at hand.
Vary your activities. Change is often as good as a taking a break.
DEVELOPING THE CONCENTRATION HABIT
Like any other skill, concentration must be learned, practiced and developed. Here are some
questions to help you get in a regular pattern of concentrating.
How long is your concentration span? Find out by recording your start time for a task
like reading, and as soon as your mind begins to drift, record this time. Try this several
times until you can gauge your average concentration span.
When is your concentration level at its best? Find a consistent time during the day when
you know that you won’t be interrupted and that your energy level meets the demands
of the particular task. Then, try to use that time slot each day to work on that task.
What are the conditions that best allow you to concentrate? Allow yourself to be
removed from distractions for set periods of time to try and accomplish work. A clearedoff
desk, good lighting, some light music in the background – figure out what works for
you. Make the atmosphere as inviting as possible for you to concentrate better.