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The triad of Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana is what you need for "Concentration". See Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_(eight_limb

The triad of Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana is what you need for "Concentration". See Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_(eight_limbs_of_yoga) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_(eight_limbs_of_yoga) One simple but effective technique is to practice the above three stages by focusing at a point where the eyebrows meet the bridge of the nose. Do this completely relaxed with eyes closed and adjusting the focal point slightly forwards/backwards until you feel a sudden relaxation/jolt (slight but distinct) within the body. Its like a physiological trick but once experienced you will know it and can then use it to calm down and concentrate whenever and wherever as needed.

deleted 2y ago
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bovermyer 2y ago
I tried this and it just made me anxious. I'm probably doing it wrong.
- rramadass 2y ago
  It is very simple, don't overthink it. Go to a quiet place with no distractions, let go of everything mentally and physically, be totally relaxed, don't think of anything (i.e. Pratyahara) but just try to focus on a point within the blackness (i.e. Dharana) and hold your attention there (i.e. Dhyana) when you feel a distinct bodily sensation. Try and do this before falling asleep in your bed at night and your quality of sleep will improve greatly. You can also do this just after you wake up in the morning in your bed (but before looking at your phone, talking to your spouse etc.) and you will feel more refreshed than normal. Once you get the trick you can actually use a home blood pressure monitor and see the changes in physiological parameters yourself.
Handprint4469 2y ago
Any books you'd recommend for someone curious about this?
- rramadass 2y ago
  Are you asking about only the techniques or the whole subject of Ashtanga Yoga and its applications to practical Psychology?
  - Handprint4469 2y ago
    I was curious about the techniques, but if you have any introductory reading about the whole thing that'd also be cool
    - rramadass 2y ago
      Ashtanga Yoga is a practical everyday-use discipline based on Samkhya metaphysics/theory Worldview. Without both this background you will not understand the techniques; So i will start from there and give you the full picture; 0) For a general succinct overview of all the major schools of Indian Philosophy see An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Satishchandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta (read chapters on Samkhya and Yoga). 1) For Samkhya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya) metaphysics see the slim Samkhya Darshan: Yogic Perspective on Theories of Realism by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. See also my previous comments on Samkhya starting here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477432 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477432 2) For Patanjala Yoga Sutras (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali) which lays out the framework of Ashtanga Yoga first see Bon Giovanni's succinct translation here (pdf) - https://www.starcenter.com/patanjali.pdf https://www.starcenter.com/patanjali.pdf Then for a detailed study start with Edwin Bryant's translation The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (with insights from the traditional commentators). To get an idea of practical application see Geraldine Coster's Yoga and Western Psychology: A Comparison - https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189086 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189086 3) For a compendium of Techniques to use for Concentration (aka Centering) see Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tantra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tan...). It briefly presents around 112 Tantric meditation methods (yuktis) or centering techniques (dhāraṇās) in very compressed form. The most accessible translation is the one by Ranjit Chaudhri while the most scholarly is the one by Jaideva Singh.
musha68k 2y ago
Interesting, so you literally >focus< on the executive parts of your brain in order to focus.
- rramadass 2y ago
  In a sense, Yes; it involves Proprioception (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception) and Body Maps/Peripheral Space (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538392) and related biological/physiological mechanisms.
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 2y ago
Forward/backward in which dimension? There's at least three or four to sort out.
- rramadass 2y ago
  Nothing magical; just front and back of the midpoint between the eyebrows until you settle on a point where you get the sensation. That is why i called it a "physiological trick".
  - ulnarkressty 2y ago
    By focus do you mean with your eyes? Do you go cross-eyed?
    - TriNetra 2y ago
      To me focus means to not move the eyes but to bring the attention in that area and be aware of the sensations there. For example, just bring your attention on your left foot big toe at this moment and suddenly you are now aware of your big toe which was not in your awareness otherwise. Just keep your awareness here and you're focusing on it.
      - rramadass 2y ago
        There is a important point to be made here; viz. The physical activity leads the mental focus/attention. In your example, flexing and relaxing the left foot big toe makes it far easier to bring the focus initially on to the activity/sensation at that point and then expanding it to overall awareness. In the exercise i mentioned, you physically focus the eyes at a point in the blackness and the mental focus/attention follows it simultaneously.
    - advael 2y ago
      Well, it was specified that your eyes should be closed, so I think this is supposed to be sort of a proprioceptive attentional spotlight
rablackburn 2y ago
Oh neat, I do exactly this and thought it was just another instance of neurodivergent self-soothing behaviour. Turns out I’m just practicing my yoga ;)
- rramadass 2y ago
  Yoga is not something magical but merely a empirical discipline with an accompanying metaphysics developed over a long period of time within a cultural context. Tease out the essentials from the cultural context and you have a practical discipline relevant for everybody today. For example, Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga gives an all-encompassing framework to learn to focus/concentrate and if needed, experience a distinct supra-normal mental state (i.e. Samadhi). But the last is not necessary and you could use the framework to do and feel better in the everyday activities of life. Here is how to do it; 1) Yama - We are embedded in an environment which influences us. Thus we have to practice restraints w.r.t. the environment to settle on a equilibrium state where we can have some control over how we react to external factors. 2) Niyama - We are active living beings with certain essential everyday needs. These need to be automated away using personal discipline so that we don't have to think and waste precious mental energy on them. 3) Asana - Because "we" are housed in a material Body we need to take care of and maintain the body so that it is healthy, strong and free of diseases leaving us free to work on our mental aspects. 4) Pranayama - The Body and the Mind are linked through the Breath. Hence to control the Mind one needs to learn to control the Breath first. The above are the four "external" aspects, the four "internal" aspects follow; 5) Pratyahara - In order to focus and concentrate on one thing we first need to "withdraw" our Mind from other things and this is the practice of such withdrawal. 6) Dharana - Now we focus on one thing; it will be momentary at first but with repeated practice becomes easier. 7) Dhyana - Now we hold our attention for long periods of time on one thing. This is commonly known as Concentration/Contemplation. For all normal everyday activities we can stop at this stage. 8) Samadhi - This is the state where the distinction between subject and object does not exist and the individual has "dissolved himself" (called "Laya" in Sanskrit). A good common example is when people laugh and cry (literally) with the protagonist when watching a emotional movie. The key here is to be completely permeated by the experience itself with no other thought/emotion/feeling (Classic example - Orgasm). In modern psychology this can be approximated by the "Flow State" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) As you can see, the framework given by Ashtanga Yoga is eminently practical.
noduerme 2y ago
I realize that this is ancient cultural knowledge, and what I'm going to say is very crude and sounds utterly stupid. But I stumbled upon a similar technique wherein I close my eyes and remember my best bowling game ever. That is, a moment which lasted 15 minutes that took place 20 years ago when my body and mind did exactly what I wanted in sync with each other, and performed almost as perfectly together as they ever have. Closing my eyes and re-living it for a few seconds gives me an endorphin rush and releases seratonin that I can feel elevating my mood almost immediately. I only honed in on this one experience in a bowling alley as my escape after years of trying to replicate various high feelings with drugs. Somehow, finding it has become a natural way to re-frame my mind in almost any situation. Although I'm afraid of over-using it, because the chemical effect is pretty powerful. To anyone searching for something like this, I'd recommend thinking of a peak moment in your life - it could be something totally unexpected, like bowling (and listen: I'm not much of a bowler!) Just a moment when everything worked perfectly and you couldn't make a mistake. And try to re-live that moment behind your eyes. Sounds totally cheesy and ridiculous, I know.
- wslh 2y ago
  If you go really mystic, there are infinite yogas, so not surprising that you found a different way.
- danuker 2y ago
  Bit of a tangent, but I recently learned of "quiet eye" and how it is studied to improve aiming in sports.
  - rramadass 2y ago
    Quiet Eye - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_eye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_eye Actually not tangential but very relevant here. In the technique i mention you have to physically focus your eyes for the mind to focus its attention there. In traditional Martial Arts it is said; "Wherever the Eyes go, the Mind follows" and the highest stage is "When the Body becomes all eyes" i.e. an all-encompassing awareness. Philip Zarrilli wrote a book with the above name on the South-Indian Martial Art of Kalarippayattu - https://archive.org/details/when-the-body-becomes-all-eyes-paradigms-discourses-and-practices-of-power-in-ka https://archive.org/details/when-the-body-becomes-all-eyes-p... It is not a book of techniques but deals with traditional philosophies/principles/practices which can be learnt from for use with any sport.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

bovermyer 2y ago

I tried this and it just made me anxious. I'm probably doing it wrong.

rramadass 2y ago
It is very simple, don't overthink it. Go to a quiet place with no distractions, let go of everything mentally and physically, be totally relaxed, don't think of anything (i.e. Pratyahara) but just try to focus on a point within the blackness (i.e. Dharana) and hold your attention there (i.e. Dhyana) when you feel a distinct bodily sensation. Try and do this before falling asleep in your bed at night and your quality of sleep will improve greatly. You can also do this just after you wake up in the morning in your bed (but before looking at your phone, talking to your spouse etc.) and you will feel more refreshed than normal. Once you get the trick you can actually use a home blood pressure monitor and see the changes in physiological parameters yourself.

Handprint4469 2y ago

Any books you'd recommend for someone curious about this?

rramadass 2y ago
Are you asking about only the techniques or the whole subject of Ashtanga Yoga and its applications to practical Psychology?
- Handprint4469 2y ago
  I was curious about the techniques, but if you have any introductory reading about the whole thing that'd also be cool
  - rramadass 2y ago
    Ashtanga Yoga is a practical everyday-use discipline based on Samkhya metaphysics/theory Worldview. Without both this background you will not understand the techniques; So i will start from there and give you the full picture; 0) For a general succinct overview of all the major schools of Indian Philosophy see An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Satishchandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta (read chapters on Samkhya and Yoga). 1) For Samkhya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya) metaphysics see the slim Samkhya Darshan: Yogic Perspective on Theories of Realism by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. See also my previous comments on Samkhya starting here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477432 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41477432 2) For Patanjala Yoga Sutras (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali) which lays out the framework of Ashtanga Yoga first see Bon Giovanni's succinct translation here (pdf) - https://www.starcenter.com/patanjali.pdf https://www.starcenter.com/patanjali.pdf Then for a detailed study start with Edwin Bryant's translation The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (with insights from the traditional commentators). To get an idea of practical application see Geraldine Coster's Yoga and Western Psychology: A Comparison - https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189086 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189086 3) For a compendium of Techniques to use for Concentration (aka Centering) see Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tantra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tan...). It briefly presents around 112 Tantric meditation methods (yuktis) or centering techniques (dhāraṇās) in very compressed form. The most accessible translation is the one by Ranjit Chaudhri while the most scholarly is the one by Jaideva Singh.

musha68k 2y ago

Interesting, so you literally >focus< on the executive parts of your brain in order to focus.

rramadass 2y ago
In a sense, Yes; it involves Proprioception (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception) and Body Maps/Peripheral Space (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538392) and related biological/physiological mechanisms.

q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 2y ago

Forward/backward in which dimension? There's at least three or four to sort out.

rramadass 2y ago
Nothing magical; just front and back of the midpoint between the eyebrows until you settle on a point where you get the sensation. That is why i called it a "physiological trick".
- ulnarkressty 2y ago
  By focus do you mean with your eyes? Do you go cross-eyed?
  - TriNetra 2y ago
    To me focus means to not move the eyes but to bring the attention in that area and be aware of the sensations there. For example, just bring your attention on your left foot big toe at this moment and suddenly you are now aware of your big toe which was not in your awareness otherwise. Just keep your awareness here and you're focusing on it.
    - rramadass 2y ago
      There is a important point to be made here; viz. The physical activity leads the mental focus/attention. In your example, flexing and relaxing the left foot big toe makes it far easier to bring the focus initially on to the activity/sensation at that point and then expanding it to overall awareness. In the exercise i mentioned, you physically focus the eyes at a point in the blackness and the mental focus/attention follows it simultaneously.
  - advael 2y ago
    Well, it was specified that your eyes should be closed, so I think this is supposed to be sort of a proprioceptive attentional spotlight

rablackburn 2y ago

Oh neat, I do exactly this and thought it was just another instance of neurodivergent self-soothing behaviour. Turns out I’m just practicing my yoga ;)

rramadass 2y ago
Yoga is not something magical but merely a empirical discipline with an accompanying metaphysics developed over a long period of time within a cultural context. Tease out the essentials from the cultural context and you have a practical discipline relevant for everybody today. For example, Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga gives an all-encompassing framework to learn to focus/concentrate and if needed, experience a distinct supra-normal mental state (i.e. Samadhi). But the last is not necessary and you could use the framework to do and feel better in the everyday activities of life. Here is how to do it; 1) Yama - We are embedded in an environment which influences us. Thus we have to practice restraints w.r.t. the environment to settle on a equilibrium state where we can have some control over how we react to external factors. 2) Niyama - We are active living beings with certain essential everyday needs. These need to be automated away using personal discipline so that we don't have to think and waste precious mental energy on them. 3) Asana - Because "we" are housed in a material Body we need to take care of and maintain the body so that it is healthy, strong and free of diseases leaving us free to work on our mental aspects. 4) Pranayama - The Body and the Mind are linked through the Breath. Hence to control the Mind one needs to learn to control the Breath first. The above are the four "external" aspects, the four "internal" aspects follow; 5) Pratyahara - In order to focus and concentrate on one thing we first need to "withdraw" our Mind from other things and this is the practice of such withdrawal. 6) Dharana - Now we focus on one thing; it will be momentary at first but with repeated practice becomes easier. 7) Dhyana - Now we hold our attention for long periods of time on one thing. This is commonly known as Concentration/Contemplation. For all normal everyday activities we can stop at this stage. 8) Samadhi - This is the state where the distinction between subject and object does not exist and the individual has "dissolved himself" (called "Laya" in Sanskrit). A good common example is when people laugh and cry (literally) with the protagonist when watching a emotional movie. The key here is to be completely permeated by the experience itself with no other thought/emotion/feeling (Classic example - Orgasm). In modern psychology this can be approximated by the "Flow State" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) As you can see, the framework given by Ashtanga Yoga is eminently practical.

noduerme 2y ago

I realize that this is ancient cultural knowledge, and what I'm going to say is very crude and sounds utterly stupid. But I stumbled upon a similar technique wherein I close my eyes and remember my best bowling game ever. That is, a moment which lasted 15 minutes that took place 20 years ago when my body and mind did exactly what I wanted in sync with each other, and performed almost as perfectly together as they ever have. Closing my eyes and re-living it for a few seconds gives me an endorphin rush and releases seratonin that I can feel elevating my mood almost immediately. I only honed in on this one experience in a bowling alley as my escape after years of trying to replicate various high feelings with drugs. Somehow, finding it has become a natural way to re-frame my mind in almost any situation. Although I'm afraid of over-using it, because the chemical effect is pretty powerful. To anyone searching for something like this, I'd recommend thinking of a peak moment in your life - it could be something totally unexpected, like bowling (and listen: I'm not much of a bowler!) Just a moment when everything worked perfectly and you couldn't make a mistake. And try to re-live that moment behind your eyes. Sounds totally cheesy and ridiculous, I know.

wslh 2y ago
If you go really mystic, there are infinite yogas, so not surprising that you found a different way.
danuker 2y ago
Bit of a tangent, but I recently learned of "quiet eye" and how it is studied to improve aiming in sports.
- rramadass 2y ago
  Quiet Eye - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_eye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_eye Actually not tangential but very relevant here. In the technique i mention you have to physically focus your eyes for the mind to focus its attention there. In traditional Martial Arts it is said; "Wherever the Eyes go, the Mind follows" and the highest stage is "When the Body becomes all eyes" i.e. an all-encompassing awareness. Philip Zarrilli wrote a book with the above name on the South-Indian Martial Art of Kalarippayattu - https://archive.org/details/when-the-body-becomes-all-eyes-paradigms-discourses-and-practices-of-power-in-ka https://archive.org/details/when-the-body-becomes-all-eyes-p... It is not a book of techniques but deals with traditional philosophies/principles/practices which can be learnt from for use with any sport.