How to Improve Your Focus and Concentration

This week’s Better You, Backed by Science is about improving your focus and concentration – given there’s so much to distract us these days and concentration is suffering.

These days, lots of people meditate. Things have come a long way in just a few short years.

Not so long ago, meditation was dismissed as “woo-woo,” but now we know it offers powerful, science-backed health benefits — from supporting mental health and lowering blood pressure, to boosting immune function, slowing biological ageing, and more.

And yes… it can also significantly improve your focus and concentration.

Training the Brain

One of the simplest forms of meditation is to breathe — and to notice that you’re breathing.

That means becoming mindfully aware of your breath: the sound of it, the feeling of air passing through your nostrils, and the gentle rise and fall of your chest or tummy.

If you had your brain scanned while breathing normally — letting your mind wander — you’d see activity scattered across many areas of the brain in what looks like quite random patterns.

But if you then shift your attention to noticing your breath, the picture changes dramatically.

Now, activity becomes concentrated at the front of your brain, just above your eyes. This is the part of the brain involved in attention, focus, and conscious awareness.

In other words — the very act of noticing your breath is exercising your brain’s focus system.

Like a Gym Workout for Your Brain

Think of it like going to the gym.

When you train your muscles, they become stronger, more toned, and more capable.

Something very similar happens in the brain — except neuroscientists call it neuroplasticity rather than muscle growth.

It simply means that your brain is not fixed or hard-wired. Its networks change in response to how you use it.

So when you repeatedly bring your attention back to the breath, you are literally strengthening the brain circuits responsible for focus and concentration.

Stronger focus circuits = better focus in everyday life.

Not quite rocket science… but I love that when we understand how things work, we can then use that knowledge in simple, healthy, and empowering ways.

Try This (A simple focus-training practice)

There are many forms of meditation, and different styles influence the brain in different ways.

To specifically train your concentration, try this short practice:

1. Follow your breath from the very beginning of the inhale all the way to the top. Keep your attention on it the whole way.
2. Pause gently for a second or two.
3. Then follow the breath all the way down to the end of the exhale.
4. At some point during the exhale, silently say the word “TEN.”

Then begin again:

• Closely follow the next inhale all the way up. Pause. On the exhale, silently say “NINE.”
• Then “EIGHT,” on the next breath, and so on… all the way down to “ONE.”

That’s ten focused breaths. It usually takes just 2–3 minutes.

Your aim is simple:

Be gently but clearly determined to stay focused for all ten breaths.

Try this once or twice a day for the next week — and notice what happens to your ability to concentrate.

You are quite literally changing your brain.

Want to Explore More?

🎥 If you’d like to explore more of the science behind meditation, and specifically how you can use it to improve focus and concentration — along with three simple practices you can use straight away (including one using sound) — you can watch my YouTube video here.

References (if you’re curious)

Meditation increases cortical thickness. Link here

Review of neurobiological effects of meditation. Link here

Meditation and improvements in attentional function. Link here

More

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