Concentration of Attention
[This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Previous article: Observation]
The previous article was about observation as one of the tools of intellect that helps us move towards intentional, positive action in life. This article is about a second tool of intellect: concentration of attention. Concentration of attention is advanced observation: where observation is paying attention to something, concentration of attention adds the idea that we can work to concentrate or focus our scattered attention where it matters and will be useful or joyful to us.
Focused attention is difficult because our supply of attention is limited. We are also bombarded with demands for it from family, friends, work, hobbies, news, chores, etc. The ease with which we communicate and interact with the world, through our ubiquitous mobile phones and social media makes these demands constant. This is why we need to ensure that we can focus our attention where it matters; where it helps us identify goals to move towards, rather than sweeping us away in an empty tide of media and social consumption.
“Grasp is what a bull dog has in his jaw. We actors must have the same power to seize with our eyes, ears and all our senses. If an actor is to listen, let him do it intently.” (Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares)
The concept of grasp shows that concentration of attention is not an idle activity. It is a way to make your inner thoughts active. You are not passively consuming your surroundings; you are grasping them and, in doing so, engaging, reflecting, interacting, and acting to focus and make something of this connection. Stanislavski recognises that it may seem impossible to focus attention at that level while engaging in normal life. His solution is to practise it:
“You feel powerless in the face of such a task… and yet any simple juggler in a circus would have no hesitation in handling far more complicated things, risking his life as he does it. The reason why he can do this is that attention is built in many layers and they do not interfere with one another. Fortunately, habit makes a large part of your attention automatic. The most difficult time is in the early stages of learning.” (Ibid)
As with learning anything, we get better at it as we practise controlling and focussing our attention. If we practise enough, much of the activity becomes habitual, which means we don’t have to devote conscious thought and energy to it. Think of learning to drive, learning a new language, or anything else you have spent time developing.
“‘Choose some one object,’ said the Director to us today... ‘Suppose you take that embroidered cloth over there, since it has a striking design.’
We began to look at it very carefully, but he interrupted. ‘That is not looking. It is staring.’ We tried to relax our gaze, but we did not convince him that we were seeing what we were looking at. ‘More attentively’, he ordered. We all bent forward.
‘Still a lot of mechanical gazing,’ he insisted, ‘and little attention…. To be attentive and to appear to be attentive are two different things…I shall select an object for each of you to look at. You will notice its form, lines, colours, detail, characteristics. All this must be done while I count thirty. Then the lights will go out, so that you cannot see the object, and I shall call upon you to describe it. In the dark you will tell me everything that your visual memory has retained. I shall check up with the lights on, and compare what you have told me with the actual object.’” (Ibid)
Following Stanislavski:
He began by using points of light to highlight objects for students to concentrate on, much like the focus exercise above. Then he expanded the size of the light to a Small Circle of Attention, for example, the contents of a small table. He required students to keep their gaze within the lit space. Here, he indicates the value of this exercise: helping one to concentrate amid chaos by creating a circle of attention for oneself.
“In such a small space as this circle you can use your concentrated attention to examine various objects in their most intricate details, and also to carry on more complicated activities, such as defining shades of feeling and thought…Make a note of your mood; it is what we call Solitude in Public. You are in public because we are all here. It is solitude because you are divided from us by a small circle of attention…you can always enclose yourself in this circle like a snail in its shell.” (Ibid)
One can still work with circles of attention without lighting, but it is more difficult to maintain the discipline of attention held within the area:
“When you have a spot of light surrounded by darkness all the objects inside of it draw your attention because everything outside it being invisible there is no attraction there. When the lights are on you have an entirely different problem. As there is no obvious outline to your circle you are obliged to construct one mentally and not allow yourself to look beyond it. Your attention must now replace the light, holding you within certain limits, and this in spite of the drawing power of all sorts of objects now visible outside of it.” (Ibid)
Stanislavski then describes how to use objects to outline a circle of attention and separate it from everything else. We can create a Small Circle of Attention around ourselves, with our own body as its centre. Here, Stanislavski talks about how to grow and maintain circles of attention, to practise concentration:
“As the circle grows larger the area of your attention must stretch. This area, however, can continue to grow only up to the point where you can still hold it all within the limits of your attention, inside an imaginary line. As soon as your border begins to waver, you must withdraw quickly to a smaller circle which can be contained by your visual attention. At this point you will often get into trouble. Your attention will slip and become dissipated in space. You must collect it again and redirect it as soon as possible to one single point or object, such as, for instance, that lamp.” (Ibid)
“‘We have had to do with arbitrary attention, intellectual in its origin (making use of objects in a mechanical, photographic, formal way)... It is particularly useful in collecting attention which has strayed. The simple looking at an object helps to fix it. But it cannot hold you for long...You must have something which will interest you in the object of your attention, and serve to set in motion your whole creative apparatus. It is, of course, not necessary to endow every object with an imaginary life, but you should be sensitive to its influence on you.’
As an example of the distinction between attention based on intellect, and that based on feeling, he said: ‘Look at this antique chandelier. It dates back to the days of the Empire. How many branches has it? What is its form, its design? You have been using your external, intellectual attention in examining that chandelier. Now I want you to tell me this: do you like it? If so, what is it that especially attracts you? What can it be used for? You can say to yourself: this chandelier may have been in the house of some Field Marshal when he received Napoleon. It may even have hung in the French Emperor’s own room when he signed the historic act concerning the regulations of Theatre Francais in Paris. In this case, the object has remained unchanged. But now you know that imagined circumstances can transform the object itself and heighten the reactions of your emotions to it.’” (Ibid)
This describes the move from intellectual outer attention to internal emotional attention, which is more powerful and can keep us focussed better and longer – if the object of attention is important to us. To focus on things that we want, to achieve what we want, we need to endow them with emotional attachment and foster that. Then we will be more likely to remain attentive.
The exercises in this article work to improve our focus and concentration, and help us to mould our attention so that we spend it on worthwhile objects, internal or external, rather than meaningless distractions. If we can focus our attention on realistic goals in the external world; and pay attention to triggering and playing with our internal intellectual and imaginative resources, we can have fun with our purposeful journey by introducing an open creative sense of play. We are much more likely to maintain the emotional capacity and will to accomplish our goals if we can enter this state.
In the next article, Imagination Part 1: The Magic If, I discuss how to foster and harness our imagination to help us envisage the possibilities of a future enhanced by positive, intentional action. As part of this, I introduce a powerful concept at the heart of Stanislavski’s system, the Magic If.
The previous article was about observation as one of the tools of intellect that helps us move towards intentional, positive action in life. This article is about a second tool of intellect: concentration of attention. Concentration of attention is advanced observation: where observation is paying attention to something, concentration of attention adds the idea that we can work to concentrate or focus our scattered attention where it matters and will be useful or joyful to us.
Focused attention is difficult because our supply of attention is limited. We are also bombarded with demands for it from family, friends, work, hobbies, news, chores, etc. The ease with which we communicate and interact with the world, through our ubiquitous mobile phones and social media makes these demands constant. This is why we need to ensure that we can focus our attention where it matters; where it helps us identify goals to move towards, rather than sweeping us away in an empty tide of media and social consumption.
Grasp
Stanislavski advocates paying full attention to tasks at hand. The exercises in this chapter are about learning to develop and use that focus. Stanislavski uses the concept of grasp as a metaphor for this:“Grasp is what a bull dog has in his jaw. We actors must have the same power to seize with our eyes, ears and all our senses. If an actor is to listen, let him do it intently.” (Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares)
The concept of grasp shows that concentration of attention is not an idle activity. It is a way to make your inner thoughts active. You are not passively consuming your surroundings; you are grasping them and, in doing so, engaging, reflecting, interacting, and acting to focus and make something of this connection. Stanislavski recognises that it may seem impossible to focus attention at that level while engaging in normal life. His solution is to practise it:
“You feel powerless in the face of such a task… and yet any simple juggler in a circus would have no hesitation in handling far more complicated things, risking his life as he does it. The reason why he can do this is that attention is built in many layers and they do not interfere with one another. Fortunately, habit makes a large part of your attention automatic. The most difficult time is in the early stages of learning.” (Ibid)
As with learning anything, we get better at it as we practise controlling and focussing our attention. If we practise enough, much of the activity becomes habitual, which means we don’t have to devote conscious thought and energy to it. Think of learning to drive, learning a new language, or anything else you have spent time developing.
Exercise: focus
This exercise is a simple one that works on concentration and recall. Stanislavski describes it in a class exercise:“‘Choose some one object,’ said the Director to us today... ‘Suppose you take that embroidered cloth over there, since it has a striking design.’
We began to look at it very carefully, but he interrupted. ‘That is not looking. It is staring.’ We tried to relax our gaze, but we did not convince him that we were seeing what we were looking at. ‘More attentively’, he ordered. We all bent forward.
‘Still a lot of mechanical gazing,’ he insisted, ‘and little attention…. To be attentive and to appear to be attentive are two different things…I shall select an object for each of you to look at. You will notice its form, lines, colours, detail, characteristics. All this must be done while I count thirty. Then the lights will go out, so that you cannot see the object, and I shall call upon you to describe it. In the dark you will tell me everything that your visual memory has retained. I shall check up with the lights on, and compare what you have told me with the actual object.’” (Ibid)
Following Stanislavski:
- Choose an object.
- Set a timer for 30 seconds.
- Examine the object carefully for the given time - noting its form, colours, and specific characteristics.
- When the time is up, close your eyes and recall everything about the object. Imagine you want someone to draw or sculpt a completely life-like version of it. Describe it in words so that they will be able to do so.
- Open your eyes and compare what you remembered with the actual details of the object.
- Repeat steps 2-5 until you are satisfied that you have captured the object.
- Now choose a different object and cut the time down to 20 seconds. Repeat steps 3-6.
- Repeat the exercise, reducing the time until you examine the object for only 5 seconds. This will likely take some time, and multiple sessions to achieve. When your eyes and attention become tired, stop the exercise and come back to it when you are fresh.
- Concentrate on the object in private, then hide it.
- Now invite the other person into the room and describe the object to them in as much detail as possible. It must not be an object with which they are already familiar.
- Bring out the object. Your partner should examine it and indicate how your description differed from reality.
Circles of attention
One of Stanislavski’s most powerful concepts for training concentration of attention is that of circles of attention. This began as a way for actors to learn to focus on the stage rather than into the auditorium and the audience. Stanislavski used theatre lighting to train his students.He began by using points of light to highlight objects for students to concentrate on, much like the focus exercise above. Then he expanded the size of the light to a Small Circle of Attention, for example, the contents of a small table. He required students to keep their gaze within the lit space. Here, he indicates the value of this exercise: helping one to concentrate amid chaos by creating a circle of attention for oneself.
“In such a small space as this circle you can use your concentrated attention to examine various objects in their most intricate details, and also to carry on more complicated activities, such as defining shades of feeling and thought…Make a note of your mood; it is what we call Solitude in Public. You are in public because we are all here. It is solitude because you are divided from us by a small circle of attention…you can always enclose yourself in this circle like a snail in its shell.” (Ibid)
One can still work with circles of attention without lighting, but it is more difficult to maintain the discipline of attention held within the area:
“When you have a spot of light surrounded by darkness all the objects inside of it draw your attention because everything outside it being invisible there is no attraction there. When the lights are on you have an entirely different problem. As there is no obvious outline to your circle you are obliged to construct one mentally and not allow yourself to look beyond it. Your attention must now replace the light, holding you within certain limits, and this in spite of the drawing power of all sorts of objects now visible outside of it.” (Ibid)
Stanislavski then describes how to use objects to outline a circle of attention and separate it from everything else. We can create a Small Circle of Attention around ourselves, with our own body as its centre. Here, Stanislavski talks about how to grow and maintain circles of attention, to practise concentration:
“As the circle grows larger the area of your attention must stretch. This area, however, can continue to grow only up to the point where you can still hold it all within the limits of your attention, inside an imaginary line. As soon as your border begins to waver, you must withdraw quickly to a smaller circle which can be contained by your visual attention. At this point you will often get into trouble. Your attention will slip and become dissipated in space. You must collect it again and redirect it as soon as possible to one single point or object, such as, for instance, that lamp.” (Ibid)
Exercise: circles of attention
This is an exercise in circles of attention, adapted from Stanislavski by Bella Martin in The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit.- Lie on the floor and close your eyes
- Focus your attention on yourself. Focus on your breathing. Don’t change the pattern, just note the in and out of breath. Note the sounds and feelings within your body, e.g. bones creaking, tummy rumbling.
- Gradually expand your attention to encompass the room you’re in. If there are other people or animals present, listen to their sounds. Note the ambient sounds of the room, e.g. air-con, fan, clock. Allow your attention to take in the whole of the room. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the sounds in the room. Begin to let your imagination join. If the floor is creaking, imagine what is making that sound. If someone coughs, let your attention go to them and imagine what they are doing and what they are wearing.
- Expand the circle of attention to include the rest of the building. Hear doors slamming, lifts whirring, telephone conversations, footsteps in corridors, a radio. Allow your imagination to work. Whose footsteps? Which floor is the lift going to? What’s being said on the other end of the phone?
- Now increase the circle to the immediate neighbourhood. Cars, traffic lights, dogs barking, cash tills, sirens wailing, lawnmowers. Imagine the details of the people involved even if you can’t hear them - cashier in post office, barman in pub, paramedics in ambulance, gardener in park.
- Expand the circle of attention to its maximum - the whole town and the sky above in your awareness. By now your imagination is doing most of the work, rather than hearing. Be aware of how each sound in the distance creates a narrative in your head. Give your imagination free rein.
- Slowly reduce the circles one by one until you’re back in your own body. Be aware of how your perspective on yourself has changed through the experience.
Inner and outer attention
In the previous exercise, I introduced the idea of concentrating attention internally, on one’s imagination, as opposed to externally, on material objects. Stanislavski writes of this being a valuable discipline, but more difficult than focussing externally:“‘We have had to do with arbitrary attention, intellectual in its origin (making use of objects in a mechanical, photographic, formal way)... It is particularly useful in collecting attention which has strayed. The simple looking at an object helps to fix it. But it cannot hold you for long...You must have something which will interest you in the object of your attention, and serve to set in motion your whole creative apparatus. It is, of course, not necessary to endow every object with an imaginary life, but you should be sensitive to its influence on you.’
As an example of the distinction between attention based on intellect, and that based on feeling, he said: ‘Look at this antique chandelier. It dates back to the days of the Empire. How many branches has it? What is its form, its design? You have been using your external, intellectual attention in examining that chandelier. Now I want you to tell me this: do you like it? If so, what is it that especially attracts you? What can it be used for? You can say to yourself: this chandelier may have been in the house of some Field Marshal when he received Napoleon. It may even have hung in the French Emperor’s own room when he signed the historic act concerning the regulations of Theatre Francais in Paris. In this case, the object has remained unchanged. But now you know that imagined circumstances can transform the object itself and heighten the reactions of your emotions to it.’” (Ibid)
This describes the move from intellectual outer attention to internal emotional attention, which is more powerful and can keep us focussed better and longer – if the object of attention is important to us. To focus on things that we want, to achieve what we want, we need to endow them with emotional attachment and foster that. Then we will be more likely to remain attentive.
Exercise: imaginative attention
This exercise is inspired by a similar one from The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit by Bella Martin.- Be comfortable and calm your mind. Close your eyes.
- Turn your attention to something you want to achieve or accomplish, but haven’t yet. Choose something that you have a chance of accomplishing. This exercise does not work if the achievement is impossible.
- Imagine that you have accomplished this thing. Consider what will be different about you, and what it is that draws or lures you to this desire. Try to be realistic.
- Find a phrase or statement that sums up that lure or trigger.
- Word that phrase so that it can become an objective: I want to…
- As you concentrate your attention on the objective and what you imagine about being that person, imagine the path that would take you from here to there. Allow your imagination to visit scenes along the journey, meet with various characters along the way, and interact with various props or objects that will be useful or important.
- As you imagine various scenarios, examine how you adjust your objective according to the details you come up with.
- Change the path.
- Change the achievement.
Practise the above exercise to work on concentrating positive imaginative attention on your goals. Visualising how your goals might be achieved supports a positive emotional state and empowers your will to do the necessary work.
What is the point?
Concentration begins as an inner process - observation of or thought about a person, object, or event. With appropriately directed attention, it can prompt you toward action. Turn your attention outwards more than inwards so that you can find a path in the external world towards those goals you have chosen and on which you focus.The exercises in this article work to improve our focus and concentration, and help us to mould our attention so that we spend it on worthwhile objects, internal or external, rather than meaningless distractions. If we can focus our attention on realistic goals in the external world; and pay attention to triggering and playing with our internal intellectual and imaginative resources, we can have fun with our purposeful journey by introducing an open creative sense of play. We are much more likely to maintain the emotional capacity and will to accomplish our goals if we can enter this state.
In the next article, Imagination Part 1: The Magic If, I discuss how to foster and harness our imagination to help us envisage the possibilities of a future enhanced by positive, intentional action. As part of this, I introduce a powerful concept at the heart of Stanislavski’s system, the Magic If.
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