MEDITATION: WASTE OF TIME? UNDERSTAND MINDFULNESS.

Mindfulness is a state in which you are completely aware of the impulses, thoughts and feelings that are affecting you.

The power that this brings is immeasurable, since by understanding and creating a mindset for each of these aspects, we can achieve Emotional Balance, also known as the Emotional Intelligence soft skill.

But is this really possible? If so, how long until can we acquire this skill? And how can this help me in the work environment?

THE MINDSET FOR MEDITATION

In my quest for meditation, I came across several promises about it being something miraculous, which will make you a successful person, among others. However, these ideas are just myths.

Okay, so meditation doesn’t help? Well, that’s not what I said. Meditation is simply not a miracle that will solve any and all problems, it is a tool to be used. The effectiveness of using this tool comes with practice, and technique.

So, understand that meditation can, and probably will, help you. How and where that help will be applicable, well, that depends on you.

MEDITATION TECHNIQUES

If the possibilities of achieving emotional well-being through meditation are interesting to you, I am almost certain that you must have come across several techniques, just like me. So, how to choose?

The choice of technique has a lot to do with the purpose of the experience, such as reaching spirituality, connecting with someone, arousing emotions, reflection, among others. Thus, you must choose the technique that most closely aligns with your goal.

The focus of this article is on reaching the state of mindfulness. What makes this technique attractive is that there is no need to feel “an energy”, or “connect” with the Earth, or understand your “chi.”

These are some stereotypes that are often seen as negative, and that can prevent someone from trying to use meditation as a tool to achieve the benefits it can bring.

ACHIEVING MINDFULNESS

Now, let’s go to the technique I use and I think it’s great for anyone thinking about starting with meditation. This technique is used by Sam Harris in his Waking Up course, available in an app for several smartphones, which aims to achieve the benefits of meditation in a simple way.

Remember, this is a simplified version of the technique in order to represent the idea as a whole.

So first set aside 5 to 10 minutes of your day and let’s go:

1. Sit comfortably with your spine straight, relax as much as you can, leaving your body weight in the seat and close your eyes;
2. Focus on your breathing from the moment the air touches your nose until it reaches your lungs and returns;
3. Focus where the sensation is most noticeable;
4. Your body will have other movements and sensations, whether your hands are moving or your legs are restless. Realize this, and return your attention to your breathing whenever it occurs;
5. Thoughts and feelings will also occur, again perceive them, do not judge them, just turn your attention to the sensations of breathing;
6. Continue until the time runs out, or until you can notice each new sensation the moment it starts to appear until the moment it disappears.

Perfect, this was your first meditation session. Remember: having feelings, sensations, thoughts is not bad, do not judge them, just notice that they are occurring and revert your focus to the sensations of breathing.

APPLICATIONS

You may be asking yourself: “Cool, but what about the moments when I can’t separate those 5 or 10 minutes, won’t I receive any benefits?”

And here’s the answer: you can still receive the benefits.

Assuming you are at your job, performing a repetitive operational action and start thinking: “Look, how boring” or something like that, do the same process, notice the feeling, focus on the sensations of breathing for up to 3 sighs and go back to action.

The focus on breathing is just a suggestion, it can be replaced by the sounds of the keys when typing text, for example. The use of breathing is suggested as it is something that you will always have with you.

As soon as you finish the 3 breaths, you will have just a little more energy, mostly because the “how boring” thought has appeared and disappeared, leaving only your task in your mind.

CONCLUSION

If you are trying to develop Emotional Intelligence, Focus, or even raise the quality of your productivity, I hope that this text has shown how meditation can be a powerful tool to achieve this goal.

With little practice, about 3 to 5 sessions, you will already see results. Some people, including myself, claim to start seeing results by applying these techniques from the first time it’s used.

If you want a new article detailing any other part of the process or the benefits that meditation can bring, leave your suggestion in the comments.

And if by chance you want other resources on the subject, I recommend two personalities to follow: Tim Ferris and Sam Harris, both require that you have a good understanding of the English language.

TRY IT YOURSELF!

If you are having issues with the technique, or you don’t believe it can help you. I urge you to try this: using a guided meditation. Here’s a short, guided meditation by Sam Harris.

Try it! Believe me, it will be worth it.