Ten, or even five years ago, if you told a colleague you were into meditation they may very well have considered you a bit New Agey.
If that was a bad and misled attitude then, it’s even more so now. Far from being something kooky to try on holiday in Koh Samui, or at a team-building workshop, meditation has entered the mainstream. Millions, including some of the world’s top business leaders, are openly committed to some sort of daily meditation and praise its life-changing benefits. Increasingly, it’s being mentioned in the same breath as healthy eating, exercise, reading and quality sleep as some of the vital components for professional and personal success.
Now, with Covid-19 plunging the world into crisis mode, there’s no better time to get into meditation and start reaping its benefits. A single 20-minute session each day can be effective.
And you don’t need incense, a yoga mat and a statue of Buddha to be serious about it—a quiet room, some earphones and perhaps an eye mask is all you need. Why earphones? Well, there are myriad tracks online (YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, to name a few) that provide guided meditation or simply soothing nature sounds that help put you in the mood and pull your focus away for a little while.
You may find it challenging at first—it’s not easy to turn off your thoughts—but if you commit to it daily you’ll find it becomes easier to slip into meditation mode. It can also become pleasingly addictive; your brain starts to crave those snippets of serenity and calm. When you emerge from a good session, your mind will feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.
Here are some other reasons to get your Om on, even when the world is back to normal:
Instil positive thinking
In his book ‘Evolve to Succeed’, Warren Munson dedicates a section to the perils of ‘limiting beliefs’. These are thoughts and thought patterns based on what we CAN’T do rather than what we CAN. Consciously or subconsciously, these limiting and negative beliefs are a huge stumbling block to achieving your full potential (and dealing with the current situation).
Whether it was a teacher at school, a lecturer at university or even a friend or parent, there has probably been a moment in your life when you’ve been told you’ll never be good enough and/or the goals you’ve set yourself are ‘too high’ or ‘unrealistic’. Once this seed has been planted in a mind that isn’t yet completely self-aware, it can be tremendously damaging and it takes a lot of effort and discipline to de-program. Daily meditation with an affirmative mantra (i.e. “I am more than good enough”, “I am successful in whatever I do”) will steadily eliminate your limiting beliefs and replace them with positive ones.
Incense: not necessary but can help set the mood…
Enhance creativity
Reducing stress and eliminating self-sabotaging thoughts will free up large portions of your mind for better things. Like raising sluice gates on a dam, regular meditation will unlock creative thinking. Inspiration will flood out so furiously that you’ll basically never be short on ideas again and, because you’re on the path to removing self-doubt, you won’t second guess your ideas either.
Mind yourself
Self-awareness is essential to success in all aspects of life. By striving to be fully cognisant of who we are, we enhance the respect and empathy we feel for ourselves and others. The side- effect is a heightened understanding of the needs and wishes of others and your own.
Too often, an ambitious, driven person is intent on professional achievement because they assume it will result in the success they’ve always sensed was their destiny. Aiming to be your best is fine, of course, but what often happens is that in the pursuit of this goal, one ends up skewing one’s priorities. Because of the false yet permeating idea that great professional and financial success requires flat-out dedication at the expense of all other ‘extraneous’ factors, the simple—but hugely important—life pleasures, such as quality time with family and friends and being outdoors, get pushed to the side. Sooner or later, a situation like this will only lead to one thing—self-destruction. This is where mindfulness comes in. It trains our brain to be more present and more aware of where we are, who we are and how we behave.
