Concentration (the ability to stay focused on what you deem relevant at a particular time) is a fundamental skill of Mindfulness.  Just like at a gym, where we train to build our muscle strength, one of the things we do when we meditate is train to increase our concentration.

So to build on that analogy, here's some personal training tips to help you build your concentration muscle! 

For simplicity's sake, let's imagine that we're doing a classic "Mindfulness of Breath" meditation.  The instructions in this case are- Keep the attention on the breath as best you're able, moment by moment.  If and when you notice the attention has wandered off the breath, as soon as you notice it, bring the attention back to the breath.  With this example in mind, here are some tips:

Tip: SET AN INTENTION.  

Just like it can make your time at the gym more productive if you have a specific intention for the session (e.g. "Today I'm going to build strength, endurance, and flexibility through the following sets of exercises...") it’s helpful to set an intention for a period of formal mindfulness practice.  If I'm using a breath meditation primarily to build concentration I might say to myself- "In order to increase my concentration, for this period of practice, unless there's something truly urgent and important that comes up, (in which case, I'll deal with it appropriately) I'm going to keep my attention on the breath." 

Tip: IT'S OK IF YOU NOTICE THAT YOUR MIND WANDERS.

In fact, working with the tendency of the mind to wander is part of the exercise!  Back to the gym analogy- each time a person performs a cycle of an exercise is called a "repetition" or "rep" for short.  Some things a person could do to build muscle strength would be to hold the weight for a longer period of time, and/or to increase the number of reps.  Analogously, when meditating, we can build concentration by keeping the awareness on our breath, and by bringing the attention back to our breath when we notice that the mind has wandered.  Each time you notice that the mind has wandered IS a moment of mindfulness!  Intentionally bring the attention back to the breath, and there you go- another rep!

Tip:  IT'S OK IF THERE'S DISTRACTIONS GOING ON. 

Say for example, someone in the other room has the television on, and the attention keeps wandering to it.  And, it happens to be a real interesting episode... of a show that you watch... that you haven't seen yet!  That could be analogous to lifting some very heavy weights!  It might be quite challenging to bring the attention back to the breath and keep it there, and you might not be able to do so as easily as if the room were quiet, but there's productive work being done.  In fact, one of the things my meditation teacher suggests is intentionally doing "Challenge Sequences" in order to increase your mindfulness "strength."  The distractions could be internal as well.  There could be mental chatter, or mental images, or emotions or other body sensations as well- especially after a stressful day.  I find for myself that it's especially those times when there's a lot of mental and emotional activity going on that taking some time to sit and meditate can really pay off.

Tip:  KEEP YOUR OBJECT OF FOCUS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

When we practice mindfulness of breathing, we don't try to suppress thoughts, emotions, or sensations that may arise. One phrase that can be useful is "let them be there, but let them be in the background, keeping the breath in the foreground of your awareness."  The best analogy I can think of is the time I went to see my friend Tim perform in the national tour of "High School Musical". (It was fantastic, by the way, much better than the movie, and Tim's performance was amazing!)  As I sat in the audience with Tim's family, at one point during the show I looked to my right and saw Tim's mom.  Talk about concentration! It didn't matter who else was out there, or what else was happening, or whether or not Tim was the lead in a particular number- when he was out there, her attention was 100% completely focused on her son!  I'll grant you, watching the breath isn't nearly as interesting as watching my friend Tim perform, but you get the point!

 Tip: USE MENTAL LABELS.

For the example we're using, mentally saying to ourselves- "In breath... Out breath..." or simply "In... Out..." can be a good way to keep a baseline level of awareness.  There's another way that labels could be used, and that's to identify and dismiss distractions.  If the attention wanders to thought, one could make a mental label like "Thinking", then let go of thought and bring the attention back to the breath.  (I don't do a lot of dismissive labeling because my teacher prefers to use only the former type of labeling, so that one can develop the habit of really soaking the attention into whatever is labeled.)

Tip: USE SPOKEN LABELS.

People (including myself) tend to resist this option, but if the attention is really wandering, this is a GREAT way to keep on track!  I was about to write a disclaimer about how I didn't think this option would work well for a breath meditation, but I just tried it and found it was possible to say the word "IN" out loud to myself as I breathed in, and "OUT" to myself as I breathed out.  Try it yourself for one breath right now, and see if for that one breath you find that it's easier to stay focused on it! (Obviously, you'd only want to use this tip if you were meditating by yourself, otherwise people would think you were practicing your Darth Vader impression!)

Tip: NOTICE HOW DISTRACTIONS AFFECT WHAT YOU'RE CONCENTRATING ON

Say for example that as you sit down to meditate, the department of public works shows up with jack-hammers to replace the sidewalk outside your office.  Perhaps the noise creates a mental and emotional response (such as annoyance/agitation/irritation) and you find the attention is getting carried away by these distractions.  One thing you could try is to observe if the noise, or the internal response to the noise, has an effect on the breath.  I imagine in a situation like this I might notice my breath becoming more shallow, coarse, and frequent.  This not only helps to keep the attention on the object of focus (in this case, the breath) but it's an insight into the ways that external stimuli can affect one's physiology!

Tip: CONCENTRATION CAN BE RELAXING

In the previous examples I emphasized applying effort and technique to build concentration like a muscle.  But paradoxically, concentration can be viewed as something restful!  I've heard more than one senior mindfulness teacher give the instruction- "REST the attention on the breath..."  Some examples: "Rest the attention on the breath like resting your head on a pillow."  "Rest the attention on the breath as if it were a clear blue sky, letting thoughts and other distractions go like clouds drifting by."  "Rest the attention on the breath like observing a gentle stream, letting thoughts and other distractions be like leaves floating by."  It's important to stay balanced, focused yet relaxed when we meditate, rather than tense and goal-driven.  In fact, when people report the highest states of concentration they almost always report a sense of peace and calm.  One term commonly used in sports when an athlete is in an extremely high state of concentration is called being "in the zone".  Perhaps you've had a state of high concentration yourself and can relate.  If so, I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments section!