Hello Nick,
Developing concentration can take time and diligent practice. But it also takes
a mind at ease. By this I mean setting up the correct condition for the development of deeper concentration skills. Developing concentration isn't a "one size fits all" affair. So, you may have to experiment a while to learn what works for you.
At one point in your post you mentioned that: "However, I tend not to remember to turn my attention inward while working because of high stress." By "high stress" do you mean "restlessness and worry" about worldly matters going on in your life? If so, it is this restlessness and worry which has become the hindrance to your ambition to develop concentration.
Yet, one of the first things you need to do is to provide the mind with the right condition for concentration to take place. That means putting aside the world and worldly matters during your time of practice. This can be difficult to do sometimes because often the only time you have to think about things that are on your mind is during periods of time that you've set aside for meditation, and these worldly concerns invade the mind and distract you from your practice. There are different ways to handle this, and you may have to experiment to find a way that works for you.
One thing I used to do was not to fight the invading worldly concerns, but to use them as an object of my meditation. If there was a problem in my life that I needed to figure out, I would use my time during meditation to contemplate that problem to see if I could come to a resolution. Sometimes I was able to find a resolution, and other times I didn't. But that didn't hamper my development of concentration because I had made the worldly concern my object of meditation. And my mind never wandered while I was contemplating that worldly concern.
Once you've been able to resolve the worldly concern, at least for the moment, you can then turn toward developing a calm mind while taking up a different meditation object to focus upon. Once you're able to set the mind at ease (that is, set up the right condition for concentration to arise and develop) then you can focus on developing deeper states like absorption (
dhyana). But never overlook providing the mind with the right condition in which to develop an attribute, or you will just spin your wheels without going anywhere.
Nick Andrew Ludvigson:
Yet even with consistent 2+ hours a day my concentration is terrible. I can rarely keep my attention on my breath for more than a few breaths. I tried using the tip of my nose as my concentration object which seemed better for a couple weeks (despite causing much tension) before going back to being lost in thought for extended periods of time.
You say 2 hours a day, but is that divided up into two sits of one hour a piece? When you're first beginning to increase concentration, the best progress comes when you're able to sit for longer periods. That is, periods longer than just half an hour, meaning 45 minutes to an hour (or more). Sometimes it can take 45 minutes just to calm the mind down, to go through all the things that are causing restlessness so that the mind can become at ease. Make sure you give yourself enough time to create the condition of ease for the mind.
Nick Andrew Ludvigson:
My goal after the retreat was to be able to consistently access first or second jhana and then return to practicing vipassana with these skills (to hopefully gain stream entry). I read in Ian And's concentration thread that focusing on the rapture would aid in concentration, however it almost seems that focusing on the rapture aspect makes my already poor concentration even worse. I very consistently experience rapture but if I try to move the rapture to the center of my focus then my mind has wandered within a minute.
Piti or rapture / elation is not something you want to spend
extended time focusing on when attempting to use it to enter into
dhyana. Note the rapture, and let it subside naturally, but don't become overly fixated on it. You can note the rapture by gently continuing to follow the breath, making the breath your meditation object and just observing the rapture on the periphery if you observe it at all. The reason for this is because
piti is a somewhat excited state for the mind (meaning that there is mental movement), and what you ideally want is for the mind to calm down from the excess movement created by
piti. In other words, ideally at this point, you will want to docus on
calming the breath. This is why it is pointed out that
piti subsides as the mind enters the third
dhyana which in addition to the joy or pleasure of
sukkha is composed of clear awareness, equanimity, and mindfulness. The third
dhyana is more peaceful, and there is less movement going on in the mind. And as joy or
sukkha subsides from the third
dhyana, one enters the fourth
dhyana which is composed of equanimity and mindfulness and is very, VERY peaceful, and clear when practicing tranquility meditation (
samatha). This is where the clarity of mind arises when developing insight practice. It is that clarity of mind which provides the condition for insight to take place.
The following is a bit advance for where you are now, but it's always good to know ahead of time. Once you are able to access the fourth
dhyana you will notice a marked difference in your ability to concentrate. That concentration ability will continue to develop and become stronger the more often you are able to practice entering the fourth
dhyana. The fourth
dhyana might be described as
appana samadhi or fixed concentration.
When you have mastered being able to practice and enter
dhyana at will, you may notice that the mind may naturally gravitate toward this kind of
appana samadhi all on its own very quickly, because it has become accustomed with how to achieve it. That's when you will know that you have mastered it.
Nick Andrew Ludvigson:
I can keep more focused practicing the body sweeps I practiced at the Goenka course than with my breath. Even though I have been primarily practicing samatha in my sits I am able to sense the subtle vibrations nearly any time that I turn my attention to my body throughout the day. However, I tend not to remember to turn my attention inward while working because of high stress.
Good! Then use your practice in body sweeps to help you increase concentration once you are able to put the mind at ease. Use whatever works for you. And don't give up. You can do it if you keep at it, through thick and thin.
Good luck to you.
In peace,
Ian