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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Go with the Flow

Salam

Bismillah

I have had a problem concentrating during salah. I would fidgit, my mind would wander, and sometimes I would just go through the motions without a lot of feeling or meaning.

I tried a lot of techniques to help me try to concentrate but I still always felt like I was sort of impatient with my salah overall.

But finally alhamdulillah I found something that has been working for me.

I love being in water. To me there is nothing more relaxing or comforting than moving through water. SubhanAllah it feels like a hug and a pat on the back and a pillow around your body taking the stress from your bones and your muscles. When I am in the water my mind is free to concentrate on anything.

So I decided that when I made salah I would pretend I was in the water. When I am standing or sitting I can feel weightless and natural, when I'm moving I can feel the resistance and support of the water and my movements are less rushed and jerky and impatient.

SubhanAllah when I take care of the motions of my body in this way, my mind is free to concentrate on what I am saying and meaning. Its like when I started slowing down my body movements and relaxing all of those muscles, my mind was so much more focused. I feel so much more comfortable in salah this way, and I feel like I am using my time in salah much more productively alhamdulillah.

How do you keep your concentration in salah? Do you have techniques that help you?

4 comments:

Banana Anne said...

I usually just remind myself to take it slow and really savor all the words I'm saying. I usually like to say the Arabic words/phrases and then pause and internalize what they mean in English. Another thing that really works, although I often forget to do it, is to pray the prayer as if it's the last one you'll ever be able to do.

Um Zakarya said...

Assalamu Aleykum,

I've been reading your blog for a while but I don't think I have ever commented.
I usually do just like Banana Anne, I concentrate on the meaning of the words, and think this is my last prayer, I might die anytime.
But subhanALLAH I often have distraction problems as well, or I sometimes forget how many Rakats I've prayed!

Um Zakarya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NeverEver said...

Banana Anne: i tried the pretending thing, but i'm not very good at it really. Have you ever noticed a connection between your physical composure and mental composure? I really didn't think it would have as big an effect as it did.

Umm Zakarya: wa 3alaikum salam, thanks for commenting! Sometimes I loose track of the rakat too... but mostly this happens when i get so concentrated on one rakah that i forget how many i already did. Hope to hear from you soon inshaAllah and I will stop by your blog!

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