It seems that there is a new practice that is taking the corporate world and Silicon Valley by storm. It's the new "secret- success weapon" that Westerners are adopting on their journey towards professional and personal excellence.
What is this secret weapon that has been used for centuries by the most creative, intelligent and successful people in history?
It is a tool that many life-coaches and seminar leaders claim can lead you towards success your career by allowing you to focus and avoid distractions.
Many believe that it also helps you to achieve better health, more harmonious relationships and overall well-being.
The good news is that this practice is not difficult, it is not time consuming and it is not expensive. But, it does require consistency and discipline.
This secret weapon is MEDITATION.
So, what exactly is meditation?
Traditionally, meditation is simply a practice to focus your mind. Whereby an individual trains his mind or induces a state of concentration or light trance. Meditation is used for deep relaxation, to bring about personal change, or to attain higher states of consciousness.
Meditation is being used as a success tool, as many believe that it helps to unleash the incredible power of your brain. By slowing down your brain waves to the alpha and theta state, meditation helps you to enter your more creative, right brain. This is where many artists such as Sting and Madonna claim they access their "inner genius".
So why is meditation so powerful?
(I go into this in much more detail in my books and my seminars, where you can find all of this information referenced by scientific studies) but to keep it simple here is brief summary:
Meditation helps you to:
•Connect to your more creative self.
•Enhance your brain function by producing the brain wave states known as Alpha and Theta.
•Attain mental focus and clarity.
•Clean out negative thought patterns and toxic emotions.
•Re-program your normally locked subconcious mind for success, harmony and happiness.
•Master your right-brain left-brain balance.
•Gain access to the under-utilized 90% of your brain that some scientists claim we do not use properly.
•Combat the detrimental health effects of stress.
That is what many of todays "over-achievers" are claiming and why they are big fans of meditation. Here are some examples of famous and successful people who DO meditate on a regular basis...
First it's most appropriate that we start with STEVE JOBS - a famous innovator and technical genius. You may even be reading this on one of his devices! In his extensive biography, Walter Isaacson explained how Jobs credited meditation with opening his mind to access and execute his trail-blazing ideas. Silicon Valley seems to be influenced by this as Google has recently sent over 1000 employees through a company-sponsored meditation program and Facebook has added a meditation room to their headquarters.
According to Carolyn Gregoire on The Huffington Post, other Successful Entrepreneurs who use meditation in their daily routine are Oprah Winfrey, William Ford Jr. and the wealthy media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Meditation has been used by leading-edge scientists. Most famously, Albert Einstein.... who spent vast hours visualizing & mentally performing some of his most profound experiments ... while in the meditative dream like alpha- state.
Several leaders in the entertainment industry use meditation to connect with and channel their creative genius. This impressive list includes, but is not limited to, Tina Turner, Sting, Madonna, Gwenyth Paltrow, Oliver Stone, Harrison Ford, George Lucas & the comedian Jerry Seinfeld
Meditation is used by Peace Promoters such as The Dalai Lama.
Elite athletes such as Tiger Woods, Bruce Lee, and Magic Johnson use meditation to sharpen their skills and focus their mind.
And meditation is used by Paradigm Shifting authors such as Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer.
Meditation seems to be the new "Secret Weapon" used by Elite Athletes, Technological Innovators, Successful Entrepreneurs, and Social Change Agents.
In the Western World, it seems that meditation is much more than a way to "chill out" or reach Nirvana. Whether your goal is to decrease stress like Oprah, connect with your inner artist like Sting or gain that competitive edge like Steve Jobs, why not give meditation a try for yourself and see if you have a "creative genius" lurking inside your own mind!
Dr. Michelle Nielsen