Subject about which the speech – concentration of attention will go today. As the attention and will power are closely interconnected, working on concentration, you will develop thereby and strong-willed qualities. For a start let’s check how the situation with concentration is at you.
Take hours with a second hand. Relax. Now you watch closely the movement of a second hand and be not distracted by foreign thoughts. As soon as switch to something else – look what is the time you held on. Good result – 2 minutes.
If there are no hours with a second hand – it is possible to take electronic. Choose there the timer with an hour hand and to put it for 2 minutes.
If the result does not suit you – it is possible to work over itself. For this purpose, I publish a number of the exercises recommended by the American psychologist John William Atkinson.
The first condition of concentration consists in ability to eliminate foreign thoughts, sound and visual impressions, to destroy a carelessness and to receive complete control over a body and reason. The body surely has to be under direct control of reason, and reason – under direct control of will. As I already spoke above, these two concepts are very closely connected.
The first exercise – it surely should learn to be done in perfection before passing to the subsequent – it is expressed in monitoring muscular movements. It, at first sight, can seem very simple, but if you try to execute it, then you will understand that you have to still much learn. The following exercises will render you huge advantage at acquisition of complete control by you over muscles. Lets go to exercises that will help for sure.
Exercise 1. Quiet sitting. Not the lung put it. It is first of all test of your ability to concentrate, detain the involuntary muscular movements; after small practice you will be capable to sit quietly, without moving muscles, fifteen and more minutes.
The best way for this purpose is as follows: sit down in a convenient chair, reach a comfortable position, weaken all muscles and try to keep the total calm throughout five minutes.
Continue to make this exercise until you are capable to carry out it very easily; then increase time up to ten minutes; after you learn to keep calm within ten minutes, prolong time up to fifteen minutes; there will be quite enough this time.
You should not overstrain yourself as it, and any other exercise. It is the best of all to practice gradually, but as often as possible. Keep in mind that you should not sit in numb situation at all; there should not be no slightest tension of muscles; you should relax them absolutely.
The similar way of relaxation is very useful when you want to have a rest well after tiresome tension. Treatment by rest which can be made consists in it ideal sitting in a chair or lying in a bed, or on a sofa.
Exercise 2. Sit down directly (having become straight) in the chair, raise the head, expose a chin forward and remove shoulders back. Extend the right hand in the horizontal direction to the right flush with a shoulder. Turn the head and direct a stare to the hand; you keep it in the straightened situation within one minute. Do the same with the left hand. When you are capable to carry out this exercise in perfection, increase time up to two minutes, then to three and so on until you are capable to keep similar situation within five minutes. The hand palm at the same time has to be turned from top to bottom as it is the easiest situation. Directing a view of finger-tips, you will be always able to define whether your hand keeps quite quiet situation.
Exercise 3. Fill a shot glass with water to the brim and take it fingers; extend the right hand directly before yourself. Direct eyes on a shot glass and try to hold so quietly a hand that it was impossible to notice water fluctuations. Begin this exercise since a minute and gradually increase it up to five minutes; there will be a border; practice alternately right and left hand.
Exercise 4. In the everyday life whenever possible avoid tense, tension of muscles when you feel friendly to rest. Try to get balanced manners and gait. Develop the pleasant address and self-control instead of nervousness and extremely anxious look.
Intellectual exercises will bring you benefit at development of ability to behave and manage with people around. Stop to knock “on a step” fingers on a table or a chair; similar actions show lack of control over by itself. Do not stamp legs and do not stir them when you speak or you sit. You should not be shaken in a rocking chair like the piston in the car or to a pendulum in hours.
Do not gnaw nails and do not bite the lips, do not click language during reading, occupations or the letter; do not blink eyes, eliminate a habit to shudder or pull some part of the body; habits ordinary become the second nature. You can easily destroy them by means of “transferring of a thought” and exercises in concentration.
Accustom yourself quietly and to treat coolly sounds which until now forced you to shudder, for example a door clap, fall of the book or some other thing, etc.
I am familiar with cases when athletes increased concentration, just training to concentrate on the movement of an arrow – what we spoke right at the beginning about. At the same time concentration very favorably affected both study and other spheres of life.
Try to carry out regularly at least the first 2 exercises few weeks and you are surprised, changes in your life are how serious. And concentration during the official matches – in general one of the key moments of success of the basketball player. Therefore, you are not lazy. 15 minutes of exercises a day can bring you to qualitatively new level!