The nature of our minds is such that it does not want to stay concentrated. Myriad of thoughts will appear and seemingly interfere with your Prayer. Therefore, repeating liturgies, contemplating on the nature of Allah (SWT), His creations, and the natural phenomena are effective ways to reap benefits from this kind of exercise.

Contemplation whilst walking and performing our daily chores is another alternative.

If you are intelligent, then you should be of firm resolution and sincere intention before you set out for any place, for surely the self's nature is to overstep the bounds and encroach on the forbidden. You should reflect when you walk, and take note of the wonders of God's work wherever you go.

Lower your gaze from whatever is inappropriate to faith, and remember Allah (SWT) frequently. Those places where, and in connection with which, Allah (SWT) is mentioned will testify to that before Allah (SWT) on The Day of Judgment, and will ask forgiveness for those people so that Allah (SWT) will let them enter the Garden.

Gradually this meditation becomes stiffer and higher, and sometimes mean concentration on one's silence, or on one's self or on a higher truth, i.e. the names and the attributes of Allah (SWT). The following are the different types of meditation and relaxation exercises that will create in you mental alertness in Prayer.

ONE - Focused Meditation Exercise
Sit with a pencil and paper. Allow your eyes to rest gently on the blank paper. Pay attention to what you are experiencing. When something comes to mind (a thought, an emotion, a memory, a sensation), follow this direction very carefully:

Write down just enough that, if you wanted to, you could remember that what you just experienced. Then let that experience go, and your eyes rest gently on the paper. This is important: Do not think about what you wrote. Do not analyze it. Do not resist it or fight it or try to change it. Do not connect it with anything.

Simply accept it, note it, and let it go. To keep yourself from being drawn into the words on the paper, and the thoughts behind them, rotate the page around 15 degrees after writing, so that as you write more, the words appear on the page as a roughly circular series of jottings.

If a thought recurs, just put a check by it. If it keeps recurring, sit with it a while to make certain you have noted enough about this experience so that you could fully remember it if you wanted to. Then let it go and return to the open-ended focus on your present awareness.

Continue doing this for 10 minutes.

When you have the time, continue the exercise as long as the thoughts keep coming. Then continue the open focus for about 5 minutes after the last thoughts came to you.

Another form of this exercise is as follows:

An ancient technique is to use a candle as a visual focus. In that technique, you meditate with your eyes open. The candle is your focus. Whatever you think is OK. Whatever you imagine or feel is OK. Just keep bringing your focus back to the candle.
Do not JUDGE your meditation.

Whatever happens is okay. Keep practicing at least ten minutes a day, preferably in the early morning when there are very few distractions. After a while, when you sit down for these two exercises, nothing should come to your mind that can significantly distract you. Your mind will be as blank as ever.

Exercise two should be much easier for you – give it a try.

TWO - Blank Meditation Exercise
A blank form of Meditation equals a frozen mind (not even one thought should be entertained; one should play dead and should not think of anything - a blank mind throughout the exercise) and this act may be practiced for five to ten minutes each day, and within a few weeks, you may notice that your intuition and level of concentration on any given task will begin to increase.

THREE - Breathing Meditation Exercise
The Prophet (S) said:

True worship does not lie in engaging oneself constantly in supererogatory Prayer or in fasting frequently, but in contemplation of the creation and seeking to know the Creator through His works.

Indeed, if one were to lie down, eyes closed, all muscles relaxed, practicing very slow and deep breathing, and contemplate on the Creation and workings of Allah (SWT), this act would be considered not only an effective way to develop one's attention, but a form of worship. However, one should not entertain any other thought during this 5 - 10 minute exercise, except that which concerns the Creation of Allah (SWT).

During this process, you would learn to breathe slow and deep, provide enough oxygen to furnish and satisfy the brain and other major parts of your body.

A Note on RESPIRATION
To continue with breathing, normal respiration begins with a slow calm exhalation carried out by relaxing the muscles. The chest is depressed by its own weight, expelling air. This exhalation must be as silent as every other action involved in breathing (you should not hear yourself breathe), and because it is silent, it will also be slow.

At the end of the expiration the abdominal muscles help the lungs to empty to their fullest extent, by means of a contraction, which expels the last traces of polluted air. The spongy make-up of the lungs does not allow them to be emptied completely, so there is always a residue of impure air in the lungs.

We must attempt to minimize this residue because with the fresh air provided by inhalation it makes up the actual air we breathe. The more complete the exhalation, the greater the quantity of fresh air enters the lungs, and the purer the air gets into the lungs.

The Stages of Breathing - Meditation Exercise
This method works best while you are lying on your back. Here is a brief description of the various phases:

1) Empty the lungs entirely by breathing out all the air in your lungs
2) Slowly lower the diaphragm allowing air into the lungs. The abdomen swells filling the bottom of the lungs with air.
3) Expand the ribs without straining.
4) Allow the lungs to completely fill by raising the collarbone.

Throughout this procedure, the air should enter in a continuous flow, without gasping. It is essential to breathe silently! It is of great importance to concentrate the mind entirely upon the action of breathing in the first few minutes before filling your mind with thoughts concerning the Creation of Allah (SWT).

Inhalation, like exhalation, must be silent, slow, continuous and easy. Do not blow yourself up like a balloon! Breathe easily without straining. Remember that the ideal respiration is deep, slow, silent, and easy.

As we all know, Oxygen plays a vital role in the circulatory and respiratory systems. As you breathe, oxygen that is inhaled purifies your blood by removing poisonous waste products circulating throughout your blood. Irregular breathing will hamper this purification process and cause waste products to remain in circulation.

Digestion will then become irregular, leaving tissues and organs undernourished. Improper oxygen consumption will thus ultimately lead to fatigue and heightened anxiety states.

Irregular breathing elicited during stressful situations not only makes it hard to cope with them but also contributes to a general deterioration of health. By careful control of your breathing pattern, you not only rejuvenate your system, but you also counter the unhealthy effects of stress.

Although this exercise can be practiced in a variety of postures, the following is recommended for beginners, at night before sleeping:

Lie down on a blanket or rug on the floor. Bend your knees and move your feet about eight inches apart, with your toes turned outward slightly. Make sure your back is straight. Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose into your abdomen to push up your hand as much as feels comfortable. Your chest should move only a little and only with your abdomen.

Continue until your breathing becomes rhythmic and comfortable. Now, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth, making a quiet, breezy sound as you gently breathe out. Your mouth, tongue and jaw will be relaxed.

Take long, slow, deep breaths raising and lowering your abdomen. Hear the sound and feel the texture of breathing as you become more and more relaxed.

When you first begin this technique, do it for five minutes. When you become more comfortable with it, you may extend it up to 20 minutes. Upon ending a session, stay still for a few minutes and try to keep the entire body relaxed.

The purpose of this technique is to develop a good, relaxing breathing method and developing and maintaining attention during any given task, in particular the Five Daily Prayer.

CONCLUSION

As you utter the takbir (ALLAHU AKBAR), regard small all creatures in relation to the greatness of Allah (SWT). Examine your heart during the Prayer. If you tasted the sweetness of the Prayer, and if in your soul you felt pleased by it, and your heart enjoyed the supplication to Allah (SWT) and conversing with Him, stow that Allah (SWT) has approved your takbirs.

Otherwise, without feeling pleasure in supplication, and being deprived of tasting the sweetness of worship, you should know that Allah (SWT) has denied you and dismissed you from His Threshold.'


My God, grant me the utmost absorption in You and illuminate the vision of our hearts with the light of Your Vision, until the sight of the hearts can penetrate the curtains of light and reach the source of Greatness and until our spirits get anchored to the threshold of Your Sanctity.

Ahsantum...

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