Concentration meditation insights thread

[thestruggler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxtR4psOoQ

I would like to build a thread of peoples experiences improving their concentration from meditation.

I have personally been unsuccessful with this practice. This is specifically because I continually overthink and complicate it. For example:

- Following the breath, I struggle to simulate my breath as it travels to so many different parts of my body and I cant keep track of it from a moment to moment basis. Even with the edge of the nose practice I cant seem to focus on it since air travels through both my nostrils at different speeds

- With the mudra it feels as if the sensation in my finger is constantly changing and therefore I cannot seem to stay focused on one sensation that is being felt by my fingers

Anyone who has overcome obstacles with this practice or improving their concentration in general please leave some advice in the thread below. 

Thank you. 

[Moksha]

Any pure attention, even for a moment, is an awakening. If you are able to feel the energy in your hands, and notice that you are observing this, you are, in this moment, awake.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Moksha

[The0Self]

I recommend listening to (audiobook) or reading: Culadasa's The Mind Illuminated, if you want to have a very low chance of spinning your wheels. Practically required reading for a novice meditator.

Unless you can remain attentive to the breath sensations indefinitely, your main focus should be cultivating the readiness to emit appreciative joy upon noticing you're distracted - this positive feedback will cause your mind to associate "noticing you're distracted" with "good," and eventually you'll rarely ever get distracted (because as soon as distraction would arise, it instantly would turn into "noticing you're distracted," meaning there just is no distraction).

Doesn't matter if the air travels at different speeds in each nostril. The fact that you even notice that is a good sign. You don't even have to use the breath sensations at the nostrils as your object, though it has its benefits. Relax. Perhaps try Metta in the style of Bhante Vimalaramsi -- that is probably the method that can provide the fastest results for a rank beginner, due to its focus on pleasantness, but take that as a hint that you should always look for the joy, while practicing any method. Joy sets in motion a rather shockingly effective positive feedback loop of: joy -> stillness -> more joy -> more stillness -> holy fuck...