According to yoga psychology, the mind is a reflection of energy. And that energy has a quality. Understanding the quality of your mind is a key component in spiritual evolution and the progress an aspirant is able to make while on the path. Mental strength is equal to the ability to concentrate.
In our modern culture where we click-click-click, watch hours of videos and TV, prefer to read bullet points than text - our concentration is naturally reduced. We see this with the rise of ADD and ADHD in children and adults. This is a direct reflection of the impact of technology on the quality of the mind.
When one's mind is "weak," will power will also be weak. It will be challenging to complete projects and also to see your path clearly. A weak mind is one that cannot concentrate well and therefore will take longer to complete any task.
Luckily, yoga gives many wonderful tools to improve mental power through its varied and scientific practices.
As Swami Niranjanananda explains "A concentrated mind is a powerful mind and a dissipated mind is a weak mind. In order to develop mental power you must first develop a concentrated mind. A strong mind is one which can carry out its own decisions. In contrast, a weak mind is one which decides one thing but does another.
"If you want to do something or become something in your life, the quality of your mind has to be improved. If you have a low quality of mind then your performance in all spheres will be poor. If the quality of your mind is high then your performance will be correspondingly very great. To develop a higher quality of mind, you will have to analyze yourself and your aims, and you will have to give some time to the practice of concentration in the morning and evening."
3 TIPS TO A FOCUSED MIND:
1. Mono-tasking - Yes that's right... Mono-tasking is a wonderful tool that can quickly help you stay on point and on track during anything that you are doing. By keeping the mind on the task at hand, you are better able to develop the "mental muscle" of concentration.
2. Repeating a Mantra - By repeating a mantra, sacred sound vibration, you can lift the frequency of the mind. When the mind's frequency is low, the mental function is low. If the mind's frequency is too agitated, the mind cannot focus. But when the mental vibration is just right, the mind is focused, centered, and stable. A mantra lifts the mind's frequency to its optimal state.
3. Yogic Concentration Practices - Yogic concentration practices are a wonderful way to build mental strength. There are numerous practices such as pranayama, trataka, concentration on a focal point, yantra, etc.