Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved.

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How To Concentrate: Simple, Practical Ways to Increase Your Powers of Concentration

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................4 How To Use These Exercises..........................................................8 How To Relax ................................................................................9 Getting Control Over Your Body..................................................16 Applied Concentration...................................................................21 Conserving Your Energy...............................................................24 The Road to Good Health..............................................................31 Getting a Good Nights Sleep.......................................................35 Changing Habits............................................................................39 Concentration and Reading............................................................45 Controlling Your Environment.......................................................47 Conclusion.....................................................................................49

How To Concentrate

Introduction
Much has been written over the past few years about how to manifest your desires so that you can live the life you want. Dozens of self-help experts tell you that if you will only focus on what it is you want, you can have it. But in all the self-help books I've read and all the courses I've taken over the past ten years, there is one glaring omission. What if you don't know how to focus? What if you can't hold a thought for more than a few seconds before a million more come racing in to take its place? Since we know that in order to manifest successfully, we must first be able to concentrate on what it is that we want, why don't those experts teach us how to focus? I got so frustrated with not being able to get started because I couldn't concentrate on anything for long enough to see a result, that I decided to go searching for someone somewhere that would teach me how to concentrate. I finally found help in an old book written almost 100 years ago. It would appear that not being able to concentrate is not something that is new to our "I want it now" society. That book is The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont, and what follows in this book is a distillation of that old wisdom put in to practical form. About half way through the book, there is a section filled with exercises that will help you to learn to concentrate -exercises that are practical and easy to do, and that will, if practiced consistently over time, teach you how to develop your own powers of concentration so that you can manifest your desires into reality. This book started out as just a simple workbook of fifteen easy concentration exercises. It has grown into something much more. There are steps to learning how to
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concentrate, just as there are in any skill we learn. You can't just dive in to the deep end and expect to know how to do it right the first time. As with any other skill, it takes practice. After using these exercises for several months, I am confident that they will work as well for you as they have for me.

Why Learn to Concentrate? We all know that in order to accomplish any given thing we must concentrate. It is a skill that, once learned, will be of great value for the rest of your life. To make a success of anything you must be able to concentrate your entire thought upon the idea you are working out. There are many benefits to learning the art of conscious concentration. Stilling the mind, and allowing us to complete tasks we might otherwise never finish are only the beginning. The ability to focus consciously is also a key component in creating the lives that we desire. The reason for this is that we are continually acting on the mental images that we form. The old adage that thoughts are things is very true. If we dont concentrate on the thoughts we allow into our mind, we run the risk of creating things and circumstances we would really rather not have in our lives. Without concentration, our lives become little more than an existence which is ruled by the subconscious. Consider this... If you allow yourself to focus on negative images you unconsciously build a negative disposition. You will think of negative attributes such as poverty, weakness, disease, and fear. And, as surely as you think of these, your material life will express itself in a like way. What we think, we will manifest in the external world. Wouldnt your life be better if you could train yourself to only focus on health, wealth and happiness?

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Since this book is concerned with teaching you the mechanics of how to concentrate, a full explanation of how this works is beyond its scope. However, it is important to understand the basics In deep concentration you become linked with the great creative spirit of the universe, and the creative energy then flows through you, vitalizing your creations into form. In deep concentration your mind becomes attuned with the infinite, and registers the cosmic intelligence and receives its messages. You become so full of the cosmic energy that you are literally flooded with divine power. Once you achieve this desired state, you will realize the advantages of being connected with the supra-consciousness. When you become connected to your supra-consciousness, or your higher self, you become the controller of your human thoughts. That which comes to you is higher than human thoughts. It is often spoken of as Cosmic Consciousness. Once experienced, it is never forgotten. Naturally, it requires training to reach this state, but once achieved, it becomes easier each time. In the course of time you can tap into power which was unknown to you before. You are able to direct the expression of almost infinite power while in this deeper state of concentration. It is when you are in this state of deep concentration that the ability to manifest your desires is achieved. The exercises in this book are a practical means of helping you to get there. Are you ready? Lets get started...

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Chapter 1 How To Use These Exercises

The rays of the sun, when focused upon an object by means of a sun glass, produce a heat many times greater than the scattered rays of the same source of light and heat. The same is true of attention. Scatter it and you get ordinary results. Center it upon one thing and you achieve much better results. When you focus your attention upon an object, your every action, voluntary and involuntary, is in the direction of attaining that object. If you focus your energy upon a thing to the exclusion of everything else, you generate the force that can bring you what you want. When you focus your thought, you increase its strength. When you have learned to master your thoughts, you will be able to change them as easily as you change your clothes. The real requisite of centering is to be able to shut out outside thoughts anything foreign to the subject at hand. In order to control your intention, you must first gain control over the body. The body must be brought under control of the mind; the mind under control of the will. Your will is strong enough to do anything you wish, but you must realize this for yourself. The mind can be greatly strengthened by being brought under the direct influence of the will. When the mind is strengthened by the impulse of the will, it becomes a more powerful transmitter of thought because it has more force. The first exercise you will learn in the following pages is how to relax and center yourself. Following that, Exercises 1 through 5 focus on gaining control of your muscular movements, both voluntary and involuntary. These may make you feel tired at first, but it
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is important to keep practicing them so that you can train your attention. To get the most value out of them, you must concentrate your attention on each movement. The remaining Exercises will give you practical ways to apply your powers of concentration in order to gain more control of your thoughts with the aim of improving your health, controlling your senses, giving you a better nights sleep, and eliminating bad habits, just to name a few. When you first start these exercises, you will find that your attention does not want to be controlled, and will wander on to more interesting things. This is the main purpose for practicing them to control your attention and make sure that it stays focused on the task at hand. No matter what you may be doing, imagine that it is the most important thing in the world at that moment. You are not interested in anything else in the world but what you are doing. You should make it a habit to do at least one of these exercises every day, and to concentrate on something familiar and uninteresting -- the less interesting the better, as this requires much more concentration than if you choose an interesting object. After a little practice you will find that you can center your attention on any object at will.

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Chapter 2 How to Relax

Have you ever noticed how most self-help and personal development books put exercises of some sort at the end of each chapter? The main reason for this is that the best time to practice concentrating is after reading something that is inspiring. You have expanded your mind, are open to new possibilities, and are in a mentally and spiritually receptive state. Its a great time to relax and center yourself, and take action on the new things youve learned. Relaxation is the First Step To Improved Concentration True concentration of the mind means the ability to drop every subject except for the one you are centered on. But how can your mind be focused on the topic at hand, when the body is all tensed up? If, by definition, concentration means the focusing of a force energy, in this case then if tense muscles are also using energy to hold that tension, the force is not focused where we want it to be. Heres one simple exercise you can do to get started: Make sure that the room you are in has an adequate flow of fresh air, and then lie down flat on your back without a pillow. See all your muscles as being completely relaxed. Now, breathe slowly, filling the lungs full of fresh air. Hold this as long as you can without straining yourself, then exhale slowly in an easy and rhythmic way.

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Breathe this way for five minutes, letting the Divine Breath flow through you, cleansing and rejuvenating every cell in your body and your brain. Think about how quiet and relaxed you feel. Think of yourself as getting ready to receive knowledge that is greater than anything you have received before. Now relax and let the universe work in and through you, assisting you in manifesting your desires. Dont let any doubts or fears enter. Just feel that what you wish is going to manifest. Feel that it already has. In reality it has, for just the minute you wish a thing to be done, it manifests in the thought world. Whenever you concentrate, believe that you are successful. Keep up this feeling and allow nothing to interfere and you will become the master of your powers of concentration. More Relaxation Techniques Of course, this is not the only way to relax. Sometimes you arent in a situation that will allow you to lay down and stretch out. Sometimes even when you can stretch out, you may not want to take the risk of falling asleep during the above exercise. (Its happened to me. I get so relaxed, the next thing I know, its an hour later and Ive had a wonderful, but totally unintended nap!) Progressive Relaxation In the early 1920s, Edmund Jacobson developed Progressive Relaxation. Jacobson was one of the first to measure the electrical activity of the muscles. He believed that anxiety showed itself through tension in the muscles, and he believed that if we could reduce the muscular response, then we would also reduce the amount of stress in our bodies, as well.

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This is a relatively straightforward relaxation technique and is widely used today. It requires very little imagination or even willpower. Practicing this technique will quiet a racing mind or heart and will help you to focus better and concentrate better. This technique teaches the difference between tension and relaxation as many have come to associate the tension of every day life to be entirely normal. Many have forgotten what it is to truly relax. This relaxation approach involves tightening and then relaxing various muscle groups throughout the body, a little bit at a time. One group of muscles is worked on and then, slowly, the next. It does work best when you can your breathing: inhale as you tighten the muscles, and exhale as you relax them. For example: Tighten your left fist, slowly, inhaling as you do. Hold the tension now, about 5 seconds, continuing to inhale and focus on the feelings of tension. Really focus on what the tension feels like. Feel the burn, the lightness, the tightness and the restriction. Label how the tension feels in your mind. Now just let go, slowly, and relax, exhaling all of the stale tension and air. Notice any of the relaxation sensations, label those. Slowly exhale as you name those sensations of relaxation, utter relaxation. Whatever terms you can think of to label the feeling, and then relax, slowly, exhaling as you do.
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Repeat the same technique for the right fist. As you feel the change and are totally relaxed, move on to the next muscle group. Do this for about 15 - 30 seconds per contraction/relaxation cycle. Try doing one entire side of your body and then the other. If relaxation imagery appeals to you during this technique, go ahead and imagine what you can to the feelings of both tension and to extreme relaxation. It is important to compare and contrast the differences you feel from tension to relaxation. Still Your Mind Its all very well and good to relax the body as the above two exercises do. But what do you do when you just cant shut down your mind? Heres an easy way to still your mind, so that you are mentally, as well as physically relaxed: Relax your body completely. Take in 4 deep breaths, repeating 4 to yourself as you exhale. Then take 3 deep breaths, repeating 3 when you exhale. Now take 2 deep breaths, repeating 2 when you exhale. Finally, take 1 deep breath, repeating 1 as you exhale. At the same time, focus your mind on a pleasant image. Imagine that you are a passive observer of something very relaxing where there is repetitive motion. For example, visualize relaxing on the beach, watching the waves go back and forth or lying in the grass and watching as the clouds move by overhead.

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Now you want to cause your mind to go completely blank. As you are focusing on this repetitive movement, begin to envision a blank form. Think of it as you are standing on the edge of an abyss where there is no form and all is void. Focus on the void and remain there as you continue to relax deeper and deeper. Hold this as long as you can. Mini Relaxation This exercise works well at any time. It works especially well if you work in a stressful environment, or when you need to be able to concentrate on the task at hand. It also works well if you happen to be standing in line at the bank or check-out, and it feels like everyone around you is stressed out. One thing Ive noticed when doing this exercise around other people is that as you relax yourself, your calm energy has a ripple effect on the people around you. Ive seen it happen when standing in line at a check-out counter, and the people in front of me had a screaming baby that they just couldnt get to settle down. By calming myself down, my peaceful energy radiated outward enough that the baby just suddenly stopped crying. Those parents were so proud of themselves! They had no idea what had happened to make the baby stop crying, and I just smiled to myself and paid for my groceries. Here it is: Take in three deep breaths. With each deep breath, imagine that you are inhaling feelings of calm and peace. You can also affirm to yourself: I am at peace in this moment. With each exhale, breathe out feelings of pressure and stress.
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Take time during your day to stop and focus on a pleasant thought or image (like a baby playing in the sand.) Do this many times a day. Allow your shoulders and jaw to completely relax. Do not focus on any stress. Close your eyes and feel any tension throughout your body. Picture this tension as water being held in a pitcher. Feel as the water begins to flow from the pitcher. You will begin to feel light and weightless. Stay in this for as long as you can.

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Chapter 3 Getting Control Over Your Body

In order to concentrate effectively, the first thing you must be able to do is shut out all other thoughts, sounds, and sights. Weve already seen the importance of being able to relax your body, so that your mind can focus on a single thought. Even so, physical relaxation is only the starting point. You also need to be able to control your body so that involuntary muscle movement doesnt get in the way of your mind doing what you want it to do. The body must be brought under the direct control of the mind. Then, the mind must be brought under the direct control of the will. In other words, the subconscious must be controlled by the conscious, which in turn must be controlled by the supra-conscious if we are to be successful at mastering our thoughts. These five exercises will get you started in the right direction. Exercise #1 - Sit Still Sit in a comfortable chair and see how still you can be. This is not as easy as it seems. Have you ever tried to really sit completely still? It takes a lot of concentration to control the body and not make any movement at all. Heres a hint. The key to this is to relax while youre doing it. Watch and see that you are not making any involuntary muscular movements.

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Try first to sit completely still for 5 minutes. Once you can keep perfectly still for 5 minutes, increase the time to 10 minutes. Your ultimate goal in this exercise should be to sit completely still and relaxed for 15 minutes at a time. Exercise #2 - Steady Hands Sit in a chair with your head up and your chin out, shoulders back. Raise your right arm level with your shoulder, pointing to the right. Turn your head to the right so that you are gazing at your fingertips. Hold your arm perfectly steady for one minute. Repeat with your left arm. When you are able to keep your arm perfectly still, gradually increase the time until you are able to hold it for 5 minutes. Tip: Turn your palm downward when your arm is outstretched, as this is the easiest position to hold it in. By keeping your eyes focused on the tips of your fingers you will be able to tell if your arm is perfectly still. Looks easy, doesnt it? This one is definitely not as easy as it looks. When I first started doing this, I thought I was doing great until I really began to concentrate on my fingertips. Youll be amazed at how many times your fingers twitch in the space of a few seconds.

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Exercise #3 - Be Aware of Yourself Watch yourself during the course of the day and see that your muscles do not become tense or strained. See how relaxed you can keep yourself. This is a good habit to get into, so that you always appear self-assured and confident. Notice whether you have any involuntary habits that would indicate a lack of selfcontrol. For example, do you drum your fingers on the table, tap your foot, rock backwards and forwards in your chair, bite your nails, chew your lip, etc. Any of these little nervous habits will make you appear nervous and unconfident. And thats definitely not a good thing, especially in situations where your visual appearance may mean the difference between success and failure. Once you acquire this control, you will notice how ill-at-ease others around you seem. Weve all dealt with the shifty salesman at some point in our lives. Its these nervous habits that make him or her appear shifty, and seem like theyre trying to scam you instead of sell you a legitimate product. Isnt it much easier to deal with someone who appears confident and in control? Thats the purpose of this exercise... To make sure you dont give the impression of being shifty or less than honest, just because youre nervous. Now that you know what involuntary movements you make throughout your day, what can be done to stop them? Why, concentrate, of course! You can stop them by centering on the thought, I am calm. I am confident. I am in control of my body. Controlling Voluntary Muscle Movement The first three exercises are intended to give you control over involuntary muscle movement. The next two exercises will help you gain control of voluntary muscle movement, so that you train your mind to control body completely.
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Exercise #4 Place your hands on the table, fists clenched. The backs of your hands should be flat on the table, and your thumbs doubled up over your fingers. Center your gaze and your thoughts on your fist for a minute or two, then gradually extend the thumb. Be sure to keep your attention centered on the act as if it were the most important thing you could be doing in this moment. Gradually extend your first finger, then your second, and so on until your hand is opened flat against the table. Reverse the process, closing each finger starting with the baby finger, until your fist is again closed. Repeat the process with the other hand. Do this exercise, alternating until you have done each hand 5 times, and gradually increase to 10 sets per hand. Exercise #5 Put your right hand on your knee, keeping your fingers and thumb closed, except for the first finger, which points out in front of you.

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Move the finger slowly from side to side, keeping your attention focused on the end of the finger. Do this for one to two minutes, always focusing on the movement of your finger. Repeat with your left hand. You can make up a variety of exercises like this for improving your control over your muscles. The two main things to remember when you are doing these are: 1) the exercise should be simple; 2) keep your attention focused on the moving part of your body.

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Chapter 4 Applied Concentration

In the first section, we looked at beginning to concentrate, and some of the reasons why it's important to be able to focus your mind and gather your energy so that you are consciously able to direct its flow toward what you want. In this section we will begin to apply what you learned to such ordinary tasks as falling asleep, feeling good, and breaking habits. As I stated at the beginning of this book, its purpose is to teach you how to concentrate. By putting the theory and physical exercises into practical applications, it is much easier to see your results and to know that the process works. The practical exercises are straightforward and easy to do. I have broken them down into step-by-step instructions, and added more detail to the originals wherever possible. A Beginning Exercise Now that you are starting to learn just how powerful focusing and concentrating on controlling your body can be, this simple exercise will get you started on the mental side as well. This is a really good way to mark your progress, as you work through the rest of the exercises in this book. You should use clock or even a kitchen timer at first so that you can keep track of your results. The second thing you should have is a notebook to record things in. You might want to record not only the length of time you are able to do the exercise for, but any insights that come to you during the time that you are concentrating. (Note: I know some people really dont like to write things down, so its not mandatory that you do this.)
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Exercise #6 Select a thought and see how long you can hold your mind on it. For example, if you decide to think about health, you can get a great deal of good from your thinking besides developing concentration. Think of health as being the greatest blessing there is, in the world. Dont let any other thought drift in. As soon as a different thought starts to come into your mind, make it get out. Make it a daily habit of concentrating on this thought for approximately ten minutes. Practice until you can hold it to the exclusion of everything else. Continuing on with our example of thinking about health, see yourself as you would like to be, regardless of your present condition. At first, you may find it hard to forget your ailments, if you have any, but after a short while you will be able to shut out these negative thoughts and see yourself as you want to be. Each time you concentrate, you will form a more perfect image of health, and, as you come into its realization, you become healthy, strong and whole.

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Chapter 5 Conserving Your Energy

One of the great benefits of improved concentration and focus is that you will find yourself wanting to save your energy so that it can be directed towards fulfilling your desires. When you are able to eliminate the useless waste of energy that goes along with nervous habits you will find that not only is it easier to focus on what you really want to achieve, but you will also be more relaxed as you go about it. The whole process of concentration and relaxation works in a circular pattern. The more relaxed you are, the easier it is to concentrate; and the easier it is to concentrate, the more relaxed you become. This is why it is so important to gain control over your body in the beginning stages, and to apply that control to all of your physical movements. The following exercises will help you to gain control over any nervous habits you may have. Examples of nervous habits include nail-biting, drumming your fingers on the table, and tapping your foot (when theres no music to keep time with). Even frowning could be considered a nervous habit in some cases. These nervous habits arise not only from feeling nervous or ill-at-ease, but also from fear and worry. Now, I know that telling you not to worry is like trying to tell the sun not to rise, but if you can set your worries aside it really does help. The energy that we spend worrying about things can be put to so much better use.

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Think of it this way if we spent as much energy focusing on achieving our desires as we do on worrying and what-ifs, we would have what we want and there would be no need to worry! Exercise #7 This goal of this exercise is to stop yourself from habits that arise out of nervous energy. Watch yourself to see if you are in the habit of moving your hands, tapping your feet, drumming your fingers, twirling your hair, etc. Practice by standing in front of a mirror and observing yourself. Take notice of any unconscious movements you make. Also, watch your face to see if you are in the habit of frowning or making other facial movements such as biting your lip. When you find yourself worrying about little things, focus on the thought for a moment or two, see how needless it is, and then release the thought. An easy way to release a negative thought or worry, is to quickly state its opposite. For example, if you find yourself worrying whether you have enough money to pay the bills, quickly tell yourself, I have plenty of money. If you find yourself easily bothered by little things, take a deep breath and tell yourself: I am strong; I am the master of my self. Or, you can use the affirmation from the Mini Relaxation exercise, I am at peace in this moment. Keep telling yourself this until you actually do begin to feel strong and at peace. It wont take long until you will find yourself becoming calm again.
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You should find that by saving the energy that you would otherwise spend on these subconscious actions, you will have more energy to use toward fulfilling your desires. A Personal Story About a year ago, I found myself in the position of being near eviction. The notice had been served, and I had ten days left to come up with five months worth of rent. I had gotten myself into the situation by not trusting my instincts, and continuing to work for a client who suddenly decided he had no reason to pay me for six months worth of work I had done for him. An opportunity for a new contract came up, and I had to travel about 400 miles for the interview. I borrowed the money for a bus ticket, arranged to borrow a friends apartment, and set off for the interview. All the while, in the back of my head was the knowledge that if I didnt get the job, my family would be living on the streets, and I would have no choice but to send the dogs to the shelter. As I was walking down the street on my way to the interview, I kept telling myself, I have plenty of money. The rent will get paid. When I got home that night and turned on my computer, there was a message waiting for me. Some friends got together and raised the funds to cover my rent, and get all the bills caught up. I had no idea they were planning this, so it was a great surprise and a big relief. The contract eventually fell through, but just by stopping the worry and focusing my thoughts on what I wanted to happen, it did. A week later, we started Ritchie Media, Exercise #8 - Controlling Your Temper Another great way to conserve energy is by controlling your temper. If you are a person who flares up at the slightest provocation, stop for a moment and consider whether or
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not losing your temper does any good. Do you gain anything by it? Chances are, when you really stop and think about it, you will realize that when you blow up at someone or something, you are again using up valuable energy that could be better used to find a solution to the problem and to focus on a more desirable outcome. This is a two-step exercise that will help you notice when you tend to lose your temper, so that you can apply the concentration and relaxation techniques youve learned in order to regain control of your energy and emotions. Step 1. In the morning use this affirmation: I am going to try today not to make a useless gesture or worry over small things. I intend to be calm, and I will control myself regardless of the circumstances. I resolve to be free of all signs that show lack of self-control. Step 2. In the evening, review your actions during the day and see how well you did. Write down any instances where you felt like you were losing your cool, what happened, how you felt about it, and what you did about it, if anything. At first you will, no doubt, see instances where your self-control could use some work, but after awhile you will notice an improvement in this area. Becoming More Self-Confident As you develop your focus and energy conservation techniques you should find yourself becoming more self-confident in any given situation. Its inevitable that as you gain control over your thoughts and actions, you become more self-assured, simply because you know yourself better, and you can now control your own reactions.
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This is an especially important skill to have when you are dealing with others. It doesnt matter what the situation is whether youre dealing with co-workers, customers, your boss, your significant other, or even your children the more self-confident you appear to the people you are dealing with, the more confident they will feel dealing with you. And the more confident others are in your abilities, the more confident you will feel within yourself. Its that whole circular thing again. Even on the Internet, its important that you feel confident when you are writing and email or responding to someone in a forum or a chat room. The Internet is nothing if not a gigantic transmitter of energy, so even without the visual clues that you would pick up in a traditional face-to-face interaction, your energy comes through loud and clear. And when you add in the fact that the most efficient human way to transmit energy is through the hands, its no wonder that many people believe that your energy and intentions are even more pronounced when theres no other body language to confuse the issue. If you are feeling less than confident when you type, the other person will be able to sense this. One of the key components to being self-confident is peace of mind. Its another reason why staying calm and relaxed is such an important part of mental concentration. When you have peace of mind, you will not feel timid, anxious, fearful, or any of the other negative emotions that can make you appear less than confident. It helps to think of this in a spiritual sense. Think of yourself as a spark of the Divine. When you see yourself in this way, you cant help but feel more confident in your self and your ability to accomplish whatever you set out to do. Like everything else we have talked about so far, this also takes practice. If you need a more focused course in gaining self confidence, Unlimited Confidence by Jason Johns is really good. (Jason's my confidence coach, so I'm not just saying that. If he wasn't I wouldn't
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have even had the nerve to write this book!) Then, for those times when you need a quick boost to your confidence levels, you can use this exercise: Exercise #9 - The Confidence Booster Stand in front of a mirror, and make two marks on it at eye level. Think of them as the person you about to interact with looking back at you.. Your eyes will probably blink a bit at first. Stand erect and do not move your head. Center your attention on keeping your head perfectly still. To help with this you can use the Tai Chi visualization of your head being suspended by a string. This keeps your head and neck aligned, avoids building up tension in the neck area, and allows for an improved flow of energy throughout your body. Keeping your head, eyes, and body still, focus on the thought that you are a person who inspires confidence. Still standing before the mirror, practice taking deep breaths. See that there is plenty of fresh air in the room, and that you are literally feasting on it. Feel the fresh air filling up your body as you inhale, and as you exhale, feel all the tension and anxiety leaving your body. You will find that as the fresh air permeates every cell in your body, any sense of nervousness or timidity will disappear, and will be replaced with a sense of peace and power. You can also use the following affirmations to help: I am at peace in this moment.
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Absolutely everything goes my way. The second one is very helpful if you are unsure of the outcome of the meeting, such as a job interview, medical appointment, first meeting with a client, etc. I have used this one very successfully at the doctors office when Im waiting to get my blood pressure taken. Thats one time when its absolutely essential to feel as peaceful as possible!

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Chapter 6 The Road to Good Health

If it is true that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then the road to good health certainly begins with a single thought. Namely, I Am Healthy. But, before we begin this section, I want to be absolutely clear on one thing: This is not medical advice, and you should always consult with a qualified medical practitioner if you have any health issues. With that being said, there are ways to use concentrated thought to improve your health. Louise Hays Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Ways to Overcome Them deals with this topic much better than I ever could, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the relationship between disease and thought patterns. I can say, however, that this does work because I have used it successfully on more than one occasion. The most recent experience was about a year ago, when I was told that if my white blood cell count didnt go back to normal within three months, I would have to have a bone marrow scan done to test for leukemia. I was so determined that I was having no part of either a bone marrow scan or leukemia, that every day for those three months, I focused as intently as I knew how on the thought that I am Healthy. My white blood cell count is normal. The result of this was that when I went back after the three months were up, the doctor said to me, I dont know what youve been doing, but its back to normal. I just smiled, and didnt say a word, because I know he wouldnt have believed me. These next two exercises will show you how to scan your body, and give yourself an energy boost so that you improve your overall feeling of well-being.
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Exercise #10 - Taking Inventory This exercise is designed to help you take inventory of your body, and to focus on its inner workings: Lie down and thoroughly relax your muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Picture the blood leaving your heart and traveling through your torso and legs down to your toes. Picture another stream of blood going through your arms down to your finger tips. After a bit of practice you will be able to actually feel the blood moving through your system. Did you notice as you were focusing on the blood flowing though your body, whether or not there were aches and pains, or places where the flow seemed blocked? Did any part of you feel more weak or tired than the rest? One of the benefits of doing this exercise is that you will become attuned to how your body feels when it is at its best, and how it feels when something hurts or is tired. To take away the tired feeling, all you need to do is will that an extra supply of blood flows to that part of your body. For example, if youve been typing all day and your fingers feel like theyre about to fall off, you can visualize the blood flowing out from your heart, down through your arms, bringing extra energy to your hands. The example in the original exercise was that if your
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eyes are feeling tired simply visualize the blood coming from your heart, up through your face and head, into and out through the eyes. However, when I first envisioned that, all I got was one of those images from the Friday Night Freak Show of the pasty white face with the blood pouring out of the eye sockets. Not pretty! I shall find another way to deal with tired eyes! . If blood makes you squeamish, you can focus on the following affirmation twice a

day when you wake up in the morning, and just before you go to sleep at night: Every cell in my body is filled with life. Every part of my body is strong and healthy. Another way that you can take inventory of your body is through the process of scanning for energy blocks. I recently started learning Tai Chi and this is one of the first things that we learned to do. Rather than looking for actual places of pain, this exercise teaches you to look for blockages in your energy flow or Chi. Exercise #11 - Standing Inventory Stand in a relaxed position, feet slightly apart, with your head, neck and shoulders aligned. You should have a feeling of being suspended by the head. This keeps your head straight, and avoids building up tension in the neck area. Focus your mind, and starting with the top of your head, scan down your body taking note of what feels good and what doesnt. You should work through the parts of your body in this order: head, neck, shoulders, torso, arms, legs, and feet. When you come across places that feel tense or strained, these are the spots where your energy is blocked.
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Note: I am not a doctor or medical practitioner of any sort. If you have any sort of medical issues you should consult with your doctor or other professional. Likewise, if you feel during your self-inventory, that you have uncovered something that feels seriously wrong to you. To go any further into non-traditional medicine and its practices is beyond the scope of this book. However, the above two exercises will start you on the road to better health simply by making you more aware of your body and how it should feel when everything is working properly. If you're interested in learning more about Tai Chi and its health benefits, I highly recommend you check out Tai Chi Breathing by C. Guan Soo. It's a great resource for learning how to use Tai Chi not only to improve your health, but also your memory and concentration.

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Chapter 7 Getting a Good Nights Sleep

Many people experience the occasional night of sleeplessness without any consequences. It is when the occasional night here and there becomes a pattern of several nights in a row that you are faced with a sleeping problem. Repeated loss of sleep affects all areas of your life: physical, mental, and emotional. Sleep deprivation can affect your overall daily performance and may even have an effect on your personality. If your insomnia continues for a long period of time it can cause problems in your relationships, compromise your productivity, and perhaps lead to other health problems. It can become a relentless cycle of worry and anxiety as night after night you toss and turn, wondering when sleep will come, wondering what is wrong with you. Insomnia and sleeplessness generally fall into three categories: 1. "Initial" insomnia: where you have difficulty in falling asleep, generally taking 30 minutes or longer to fall into a sleep state. 2. "Middle" insomnia: where after falling asleep you have problems maintaining a sleep state, often remaining awake until the early morning hours. 3. "Late" or "Terminal" insomnia: where you awake early in the morning after less than 6 hours of sleep.

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Insomnia can be the symptom of some medical conditions that may require your doctor's advice and medical care. In those cases the cause will be treated, not the insomnia. If, however, your sleeplessness is due to a pattern of not sleeping, or because your body and mind find it difficult to settle into a state of relaxation necessary for sleep, this exercise will help you to relax and concentrate on falling asleep easily and effortlessly. Exercise #12 - Calm Water Visualization Put a full glass of water on the table beside your bed. Gaze at the glass of water and think about how calm and still it is. Then picture yourself getting into that same state of stillness. Do this for 5 to 10 minutes and you will find yourself becoming relaxed enough to fall asleep. Keep in your mind the thought of easily falling asleep. Push away any thoughts of insomnia as they appear. Focus on Breathing There are many breathing and relaxation techniques that you can learn to use to promote relaxation and relieve stress. The deeper and slower that you breathe the more relaxed and sedated you will become. In both of these exercises, focus on your breathing. This will slow your mind down enough that you should be able to fall asleep easily.

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Exercise #13 Try this breathing technique when you first get into bed: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Take a deep breath. Breathe in through your nose and visualize the air moving down to your stomach. As you breathe in again silently count to four. Purse your lips as you exhale slowly. This time count silently to eight. Repeat this process six to ten times.

The results of this breathing technique are immediate. You will feel your shoulders and arms relaxing. Your chest will feel less constricted and you will feel less stress and tension. Practice this breathing technique on a daily basis so that it becomes a natural routine for you and helps to induce natural sleep. As well as using breathing techniques to encourage natural sleep you can try several relaxation exercises. The goal is to relax your mind and let your body unwind and surrender to sleep. Exercise #14 1. 2. 3. 4. Lay on your back on the floor with your feet slightly apart, your hands by your sides, and your palms turned upward. Close your eyes and concentrate on every part of your body. Begin at the top of your head and work your way down to your toes. Start by feeling your forehead tense, then your eyes, face, and jaw.
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5. 6.

Tense and release each muscle group, such as your shoulders and neck. Give attention to each area of your body from the top of your head, down through the trunk of your body, down along your legs, and ending at the tip of your toes. Stay in this relaxed condition for a few minutes. Concentrate on your breathing and let all worry and stress dissipate from your mind and body. Make sure that your breathing comes from deep in your stomach and flows slowly and evenly. Stretch slowly before standing.

7.

8.

This exercise will tell your body and mind that it is okay to settle down, leaving behind thoughts of worry, fear, and stress.

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Chapter 8 Changing Habits

Habits make or break us to a far greater extent than we like to admit. They can be both a wonderful ally (good habits) and a powerful enemy (bad habits). The trick is to overcome the bad ones while cultivating the good ones. When we do something out of habit, we are not concentrating on it. It has become a reflex action that we do without even thinking about it. All habits are governed either consciously or unconsciously by the will. Most of us are forming new habits all the time. If you repeat something several times in the same way, you will have formed the habit of doing it that way. And the more often you repeat it, the more entrenched it becomes in your nature. Humans are nothing if not creatures of habit. As we grow older, most of us become more and more like automatic machines. The habits we have formed during our lives increase in strength unless we do something to change them. The intellect and the will are spiritual functions, but they are attached to the body, and every thought that comes from them corresponds to a movement in the brain. All physical impressions are the carrying out of the actions of the will and the intellect. How can learning to concentrate help in changing or breaking bad habits? Changing a habit is a two-step process. The first step is to train your will to do what you want it to. The stronger your will, (i.e. the more concentration you

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focus on breaking the habit), the easier it will be to break. The second step is to resolve that you will do the opposite, so that the new, good habit replaces the old, bad habit. Easy to do right? Just replace the old habit with the new one, and were done. If that was the case, wouldnt everyone keep their New Years Resolutions? Lets break it down into manageable pieces and see just how we can do this, with the maximum concentration, and minimum stress. For this I will use the example of quitting smoking since thats a cause near and dear (or maybe that should be nerve-wracking and detrimental) to my heart. You can substitute whatever habit youre trying to change in here. Step 1. Know why you want to change the habit. I cant stress this enough. If you dont know why you are doing something, your mind wont put the consistent energy needed into it. So for our example of quitting smoking, we would decide why we want to quit, and write down reasons such as: It makes me feel sick. Id rather save the money I spend on cigarettes and use it for a vacation. Id like to be able to walk up the stairs without stopping to catch my breath every few steps. The one thing to make sure in this step is that the reasons you choose are going to be powerful enough to motivate you when your focus starts to waver. And believe me, it will waver in the beginning while youre training yourself to swap the old habit for the new one.

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Step 2. Identify the Pattern It really helps to know what the pattern is for the habit that youre trying to break. The best way to do this is to really watch yourself for about a week. Write things down and watch how often the same things appear. For example, if you have a smoke within 10 minutes of waking up in the morning, after every meal, as soon as you get in your car, etc. These are all patterns which need to be identified. In Heal Your Body, Louise Hay says that if you think to say something more than 3 times, its a pattern. Shes talking about thoughts and words, but the process is the same. So our smoker should be looking for the things he does 3 or more times the same way. I can tell you from experience, smokers have a lot of patterns. Why is writing this down important? It shows you exactly what you are thinking while you are using your bad habit. The whole relation between thoughts manifesting into things is easy to see when you actually stop and record whats going on in your mind that leads to the negative behavior. You will be amazed at how many times you engage in the habit without even realizing what youre doing, until you stop and recognize that youre doing it, and write it down. So now that youve identified the habits and patterns that you want to change as well as the thoughts behind them, whats next? Step 3. Breaking the Habit This is where the power of concentration comes into play. Once you know why you want to change or break a habit, and you have identified the patterns that make up that habit, it will take all your focus to train your mind and body to follow new instructions.
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For example, our person who wants to quit smoking decides that the new behavior that will replace reaching for a cigarette is going to be to reach for a glass of water instead. Heres a couple of easy things he can do to make the change easier: 1) Train the body to reach for the glass of water by putting it in the same place where the pack of cigarettes and the ashtray used to sit. That way when he reaches for a cigarette his hand comes into contact with the glass instead. This will trigger the mind to remember, I now have a drink of water instead of smoking. The mind will now begin to transmute the desire for a cigarette, and the corresponding physical action of reaching for a cigarette with the new behavior of having a drink of water (which is much healthier for you). 2) Talk to yourself. If you find yourself having a hard time, you can use this easy visualization to help you: Close your eyes and imagine that your real self is standing before you. Give your self a pep talk. You can say something like: You are a strong person. You can stop this habit if you want to. This habit is bad and you want to break it. You can also insert your reasons for wanting to break the habit it here, as a means of reinforcing them to yourself. If it helps, you can also imagine that someone else is giving you this advice. One important thing to remember when doing this is to not give in to the temptation to replace the water with a cigarette. Every single time you resist the temptation to revert back to the bad habit you are strengthening your control over the subconscious, and improving your ability to concentrate.

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The second thing to remember is to give yourself time to make the change permanent. Some experts say that you should do the new habit consistently for at least 30 days to make sure it becomes ingrained in your subconscious. They say that if you do give in to the temptation to backslide before then, you will undo all the good work you have done up until that point. It helps to think of it like the one day at a time process that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous use. Count the days that you have been successful at using your new habit, and if you do give in to temptation, you will have to start over again at day one. Seeing that success of going for 30 or 40 or even 300 days without indulging in your negative habit will also strengthen your will to go for just one more day. If you do give in engage in your negative habit, there is something you can do to help you start over. When you absolutely must give in to temptation to have that cigarette, or that drink, or whatever the habit is that youre trying to break, stop what youre doing at really concentrate on the habit. If its a cigarette, do nothing but smoke the cigarette, and focus all your senses on the act of smoking. For instance: Notice how the cigarette tastes. Focus your taste buds on the tobacco. Visualize the smoke filling up your lungs. See the tar and all the other nasty stuff sticking to the sides of your throat and your arteries on the way down. Focus your sense of smell. Notice how awful your breath, your clothes, your hair smell when they are covered in smoke. This exercise works really well for quitting smoking. When you focus all your senses on the act of having the cigarette, and really notice how awful it tastes, smells, and makes you feel, it makes it much easier to not give in the next time.
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Chapter 9 Concentration and Reading

Reading is an excellent way to improve your concentration. By the same token, improving concentration is an excellent way to get more out of your reading. Its important not only to be able to concentrate on what youre reading, but also that you be able to comprehend and retain it as well. This is especially useful when your work or education involves a lot of reading and research. In this section I will give you three easy ways that you can use your reading to improve your concentration, and vice versa. Exercise #15 Read a short story, and then write an abridged statement about it. Im probably dating myself here, but do you remember reading comprehension exercises from public school? They were short stories on little cards, with the story on one side and the questions on the other side. The idea was to read the story without looking at the questions, and then the teacher would come along and ask you the questions, and to rephrase the story in your own words. This exercise works in a similar way, and still comes in handy for me when doing research of any kind. Read a page or a section, and then close the book and write about what you just read.

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Exercise #16 Read an article, and then see how few words you can use to capture its essence. Reading an article to get only the essentials requires excellent concentration. The object of this exercise is to distill the article down to as few words as possible. I remember having to do this in university. We would be told to summarize a 40-50 page article in no more than 10 sentences, and still be able to capture the authors thesis, main arguments, and evidence in as short a space as possible. Exercise #17 Read a book for 20 minutes, and then write down what you have read. The object in this exercise is to recall as much detail as possible. Instead of just capturing the essence, write down as much as you can of what you read verbatim. At first, you may find that you will not remember much, but the more you do this, the more detail you will be able to recall. The better your concentration, the more accurate your recall will be. These exercises may seem simple at first, but they can be used to great effect when you are studying and researching.

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Chapter 10 Controlling Your Environment

Using your newfound powers of concentration to control your physical environment is a very rewarding accomplishment. And its not as far-fetched as it sounds! We have seen throughout this book how controlling and focusing our thoughts enables us to attract that which we desire to have or accomplish. If this is true for material things, it makes sense that it is also true for our non-material sensations as well. And it is these sensations how you react to your physical surroundings that you can control by focusing your thoughts. (You didnt really think I was going to tell you that you could make it snow in July did you?) Think about the sensations you feel on a regular basis. How do you feel when youre hot? How do you feel when youre cold? When youre hungry? When youre thirsty? Each of these sensations has thoughts attached to it. Those thoughts determine how our body reacts to them. Have you ever noticed how when you check the weather outside and the thermometer reads 100EF (38EC) and you know you have to go outside, youre already sweating before you even get out the door? Wouldnt it be nice to feel cool, while everyone around you is complaining of the heat? Heres how you do it:

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Exercise #18 First, think of how you would feel if you were cool, then how you would feel if you were cold, and finally, how you would feel if you were freezing. Construct these images in your mind as vividly as you possibly can. Now, when you step out into the heat, hold this image of how you feel when youre cold in the front of your mind. I guarantee if you try this, it will work. You will be looking and feeling so cool, that people around you will wonder what your secret is. You can do this for any sensation that you can think of. Another example is when youre hungry, and dont have time to stop and eat at that moment. If you visualize yourself as just having finished a big meal, and focus on the feelings of fullness that accompany it, you will find your hunger disappears. Keep in mind that this is not the proper way to diet, and is not recommended as a weight loss method. It does work really well however, if youre feeling hungry and have to stop at the supermarket on the way home from work. Once you train your imagination to do this you will be able to make seemingly unbearable conditions bearable at will. This will give you an incredible control over the things that affect your physical comfort.

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Conclusion
Now that youve read this far, you are aware of all the possibilities of concentration and the important role it plays in your life. And, you also have a variety of easy ways that you can improve your concentration and focus no matter what youre doing. By using these exercises, you will already be seeing an improvement in your ability to concentrate over when you first picked up this book. So lets take a moment here to review what youve learned so far: how to relax how to use concentration to control your physical movements how to conserve your energy for better focus how to use concentration to become more self confident how to scan your body for energy blocks how focus and relaxation can help you sleep better how to change or eliminate habits how to use concentration when reading for improved study and research how to concentrate and control your reactions to your physical environment Putting all the pieces together, you now have a powerful ally in creating the life you choose your mind! When you apply the power of concentration to your thoughts you can achieve anything you desire. It is in the application of the processes that you will achieve your successes. As with anything else, you will get out of these exercises only in relation to what you put into them. I
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could give you a thousand pages of exercises and explanations, but its only in the doing of them that you will achieve results. And the doing has to be your choice. What will you choose?

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