Concentration Problem, Any Tips?

[Viking]

I recently changed my meditation from dissolving thoughts to focus on breath meditation after a month break from meditation due to army stuff. It was relatively easy to do then, I would get sucked into stories, but not as often as I do now, focusing on my breath. I feel like the intention to focus on the breath is not set properly at the start of the meditation. is that difference in sucking into stories in different types of meditation that huge? is there anything I could do?

Beside that, I started a semester and overall my concentration is extremely bad, I extremely often forget stuff, cant seem to understand the meaning of words when they are written/lectured or even my words (thoughts or talking to myself), being pretty disorganized when sitting to study, etc. 

 

 

also, leo always talks about how meditation is the most important habit to have, but how much 30 minutes a day really do? I do them right after a cold shower after I wake up and I feel as though I didnt sit there those 30 minutes. how much progress could be really had with daily medtation?

I also do 1 minute intense concentration on a metronome, still my focus feels random, as though no progress, still cant concentrate 1 min, any tips for that too?

p.s. I dont ask this to get away from meditaiton, just feeling like I could use some help to sharpen and obtain more motivation to do it.

[Nahm]

@Ilya Abe has this analogy that comes to mind, where she’s driving from Uma (?) to Phoenix. We type the Pheonix address in our gps and get on the road. What we we don’t do, in the physical world, is get half way there and say “Phoenix is an impossible dream”, and turn around and go back to Uma. That would be ridiculous. So, do that in the nonphysical, inner you, world.  Set your destination of inner peace. Meditate daily. Don’t stop half way there and ask if it’s possible. It is. IT IS. You are doing the world a service by being. It takes a few days of consistent meditation. If you get impatient, sit, relax your body. Then relax it a little deeper. Breath from your diaphragm, and relax yet a little deeper. All those tiny little muscles right upside your entire vertebrae, relax those.  KNOW you are on your way to Phoenix, and your dream is not impossible. 

I know you’re busy serving your country, so here’s something you can be doing 24/7...

 

Why is it important to engage the diaphragm for breathing?

Five advantages of using the diaphragm are:

1)      Efficient gas exchange –the bottom third of the lungs is where about two thirds of the gas exchange takes place, so oxygenation is more efficient when you use the diaphragm

2)      Less tension and tightness in the neck and shoulders as the muscles here can relax

3)      Diaphragmatic breathing rebalances the autonomic nervous system, reducing heart rate and breathing rate and changing from sympathetic fight or flight to parasympathetic calm and relax

4)      Diaphragmatic breathing gently “massages” or moves the abdominal organs, aiding digestion and helping lymphatic drainage; much of the lymphatic system is located just below the diaphragm

5)      The diaphragm contributes to good posture and core muscle strength, so needs to work properly. In fact overdeveloped abs and sucking the stomach in can hinder proper movement of the diaphragm, and promote upper chest breathing

http://www.breathingremedies.co.uk/2014/07/23/five-health-benefits-of-breathing-with-your-diaphragm/

 

[Viking]

@Nahm thanks for the answer, I finished for now the army btw and now I meditate daily, about a week already and not stopping nor pausing.

regarding the abdominal breathing (every breathing is engaging the diaphram, as you made me research about now) I feel like Im not breathing fully when I do that. when I get full belly and cant breathe through the belly anymore, I can continue inhaling with chest breathing, making my belly breath feel not satisfying. in a word im confused as fuck as to know how to breathe. I just researched for about an hour and couldnt find any conclusive way to breathe because every source says something different. If you could provide me with some technique to improve my breathing it would be greatly appreciated.

[Space]

@Ilya If you really want to improve your concentration you're gonna have to do more than 1 minute a day. Try doing 2 hours a day for a year.

You've also got to throw out any ideas of what you think is 'progress'. Give up any ideas of what you think 'good' concentration is, because otherwise you'll just be judging your meditation and likely give up when it isn't going the way you think it should.

Also give up any desire to not have any thoughts, or for the mind to wander during your concentration practise. Realise that it is completely natural for this to happen, and it will happen a lot. It will take many many hundreds of hours of focused practise to get to a point where thoughts don't distract you.

Don't criticise yourself in any way when your 'focus feels random'. Just accept it and re-focus back onto the meditation. See it as an inevitable part of the process. 

You may want to try a different meditation object as well (for concentration). The sensations of the  breath at the nose, the sensations of the abdomen or the sound of your breath are all good objects. The metronome works well too. Find what is easiest for you and stay with that object like a rabid dog.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Space

[Viking]

@Space Thank you. I had the knowledge of your comment but not quite the wisdom. Your comment translated a bit of that knowledge into wisdom

What do you mean by 2 hours a day? in leo's vid regarding access concentration he says that the concentration should be extreme sharp concentration and be increased with time 1 min , 2 ,5 ,10, 20 like that.

the breath awareness is something I do after the 1 minute, as a casual meditation (an insight one) and not as a concentration one.

[Space]

23 minutes ago, Ilya said:

What do you mean by 2 hours a day? in leo's vid regarding access concentration he says that the concentration should be extreme sharp concentration and be increased with time 1 min , 2 ,5 ,10, 20 like that.

When I say 2 hours a day I mean do two 1 hour sessions of concentration, or 4 sessions of 30 minutes if you find that easier. You can break it up however you want really, but doing just 1 minute a day isn't going to get you anywhere. What Leo reccommended is definitely a good approach, but I wouldn't start with 1 minute. I'd start with atleast 10 minutes, maybe more. The whole point of concentration is to just keep bringing your attention back to the object again and again and again. The longer you spend doing that the better.