Steve Jobs: 6 exercises to train the brain

A person whose work has much to do with their intellectual abilities will always feel that your brain may be more flexible, faster but really already have capabilities that anyone would envy. Even the most developed geniuses sometimes have the impression of being complete fools.

Steve Jobs and he described the effects of meditation biographer Walter Isaacson her.
A special type of meditation is mindfulness meditation that has its origins in Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Shortly before his death, Jobs told Isaacson that several years practicing meditation. Witness this was the journalist and writer Jeffrey James with whom Jobs and early in the 1990s arguing about the relationship between Zen philosophy and computer programming.

That time was something exotic, she says James, still was a crucial moment in the life of Jobs. Today the positive effect of meditation has been proven by neuroscience and giants like Google, General Mills, Target and Ford have special courses to teach employees the same kind of meditation that Jobs recently discovered more than a decade .

Judging by what Isaacson suggests in his appointment, he practiced meditation Jobs was very similar to what the teacher Yang Ming Jin teach him to James (journalist and writer). It's about the following:

Step 1:

Sit in the lotus pose in a secluded and quiet. Try to do it on a flat pillow to avoid back strain. Begin to breathe deeply.

Step 2

Close your eyes and listen to the thoughts that come to mind: work, home, the TV ... this is nothing but a banal chatter of your so-called "monkey mind". Do not try deternlo, at least not now. Limit yourself to see how your mind goes from one thought to another. Repeat this exercise 5 minutes a day for a week.

Step 3

Without attempting to abate or contain the course of your thoughts, try to direct your attention to your "Mind ox", ie the part of your mind thinking calmly and slowly. "Mind ox" only observes the world around her . Do not judge, does not seek to find meaning, only sees, hears and feels. Most people do not even suspect its existence someone can reveal himself at a time of tribulation when the "monkey mind" is forced to be silent. Even while we are completely at the mercy of our "monkey mind", their orders ( "soon", "do it" and jolts, the "mind ox" continues its silent, patient and meticulous work.

step 4

As you begin to be aware of your "mind ox" ask her to stop for just the comings and goings of the "monkey mind". A Jeffrey James, for example, he helped the following technique: imagine an ox calmly went one way and the monkey, as bewitched, he fell asleep. Do not feel bad if occasionally the monkey on your mind awake monkeys are. You will find that more and more often the monkey rest instead of jumping through your mind wandering.

step 5

Brain

After having calmed your "monkey mind" continues to focus your attention on your "mind ox", your breathing will slow. Your skin will feel the rush of air. You may feel how blood flows through your veins. If you open your eyes you will see the world around you will seem something different, new and even strange. You will see that for example the window will be nothing more than a light-filled square, not something that needs to be open or closed, repaired or cleaned. Simply exists here and now. Like yourself, here and now.

step 6

To achieve this state you need some time. But if you've done everything correctly will not feel the passage of time you will have passed from the time when you started until now. Little by little, day by day go increasing the duration of meditation and even if it seems amazing no matter how long, you will not feel the passage of time. You can check with a stopwatch.

Regular practice of meditation mindfulness has three major advantages:
you will get rid of stress. Even if you face great difficulties most likely never become major concerns.

Insomnia is something from the past: Jeffrey James is witness that through the regular practice of meditation requires only 2 or 3 seconds to fall asleep at will.

You begin to think more clearly and more accurately assess what is happening in your life.