In almost all Western esoteric schools, training begins with two faculties: concentration, the ability to hold attention on a chosen object, and will, the ability to carry through what has been decided. Without the first, every meditation scatters; without the second, every resolution stays on paper. In the classical yoga of Patañjali, concentration, dharana, is one of the eight limbs of the path and comes before meditation proper.
The exercises that follow are simple, almost trivial. That is exactly why they are difficult: there is nothing fascinating about them to sustain interest, and they test only consistency.
Exercise 1: the dot
Draw a black dot about a centimetre across in the centre of a sheet of white paper. Hang it at eye level, a metre away.
- Sit down and gaze at the dot for three minutes.
- Each time you notice you are thinking of something else, make a small mark on a sheet beside you without looking away for too long.
- At the end of the exercise, count the marks.
Repeat every day for two weeks. The number of marks is not a grade: it is information. Usually, with practice, it goes down.
Exercise 2: the ordinary object
Choose a simple object, for instance a pencil. For five minutes think only about that object: its shape, its material, where the wood and graphite came from, who made it, how it is used, how it wears down.
There is only one rule: every thought must concern the pencil. When the mind slips onto something else, bring it back to the object. This exercise trains an "active" concentration, one that moves but without leaving the chosen field.
Exercise 3: counting backwards
Close your eyes and count backwards in your head from one hundred to one, slowly, visualizing each number. If you lose the thread, start again from one hundred.
A harder variation: count backwards in threes (100, 97, 94...). The effort of calculation occupies the mind and makes each distraction more obvious.
Exercise 4: the useless act
This is a classic exercise for training the will, found in several twentieth-century schools. It consists of performing every day, at the same time, a gesture deliberately devoid of practical use:
- moving an object from one spot on the table to another and then putting it back;
- turning the ring on your finger three times;
- getting up from your chair, walking once around the room and sitting down again.
The gesture serves no purpose. And that is the point: you perform it only because you decided to. The will is exercised in its pure state, without the support of an advantage or a pleasure. Choose a precise time, for example 6 pm, and keep to it for thirty days.
Exercise 5: the small renunciation
Every day give up one small, harmless thing you would normally do without thinking:
- not sweetening your coffee;
- not checking your phone during the first quarter hour of lunch;
- taking the stairs instead of the lift;
- leaving a TV series unwatched for one evening.
The renunciation must be minimal and sustainable. It is not about mortifying yourself, but about showing yourself that habits do not decide for you.
Exercise 6: the given word
For a week, each morning make a small commitment to yourself that is specific and verifiable: "today I answer that email", "today I walk for twenty minutes". In the evening check whether you kept it. What matters is not the size of the commitment but the consistency between word and action.
A thirty-day plan
| Week | Concentration | Will |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the dot, 3 minutes | useless act at 6 pm |
| 2 | the ordinary object, 5 minutes | useless act + small renunciation |
| 3 | counting backwards | useless act + given word |
| 4 | the dot, 5 minutes, and the ordinary object | all three together |
Note in a notebook every day what you did and what you skipped. If you forget the useless act, do not double it the next day: simply resume.
Why such simple exercises
The temptation is to consider them too trivial to be useful. But concentration and will are like muscles: they grow stronger through the repetition of small, regular efforts, not through occasional feats. Studio Esoterico Cornelio regards them as the foundation of every other practice: anyone who can hold their gaze on a dot for five minutes and keep a minimal commitment for a month has already changed their relationship with their own mind.
In short
- Concentration and will are the foundations of every meditative and esoteric path.
- The dot, the ordinary object and counting backwards train attention.
- The useless act, the small renunciation and the given word train the will.
- Follow a thirty-day plan, recording every session.
- The exercises are deliberately simple: the difficulty lies in consistency.