Week 11: Mind & Body Connection - Mind
KEY POINTS:
1. Meditation is one of the most powerful tools to help improve attentional control, problem solving, concentration, and creativity.
2. There are also many health benefits to mindfulness, including lowering stress and blood pressure.
3. This week, we encourage you to take up a meditation practice, if you’re not already doing so. There are many apps and tools that can help them get started such as Headspace, Calm, the Muse headband, or the Breathe app on Apple Watch.
“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness”
Mindfulness can be just as important as physical activity. Even five minutes a day spent controlling your attention and allowing your mind to relax has incredible benefits. It can lower stress, anxiety, depression, and incidence of chronic disease; it can also increase focus and concentration. It is one of the most powerful things humans can do to improve mental health and performance.
Many of the leaders who are revolutionizing the business world right now practice some form of meditation. There are many resources available for those looking to introduce meditation into their daily lives. I recommend Headspace, Calm (both also available as smartphone apps), the Muse headband, or the Breathe app on Apple Watch.
Meditation has direct benefits on both the structure and function of the brain. Just as you would lift weights to build and strengthen your muscles, you can use meditation to build and strengthen your brain. This will allow you to control and sharpen your mind, ultimately making you more creative.
Mindfulness can also be used to help deal with stress and find confidence in the most intense situations. If you feel your body beginning to experience the effects of stress, STOP: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, and Proceed. Become aware of the present moment. Take a breath (or two or ten) very slowly, a few seconds in, a few out. Observe your body and scan it for any tensions you can work to release. Then proceed, or carry on with your life. Set an intention guided by what’s most important and move forward.
This kind of mindfulness can be very powerful in bringing you into the present moment and raising your awareness, allowing you to perform at a higher level with greater focus. Just 60 seconds of taking deeper breaths is a very effective way of regulating stress because it activates the parasympathetic response in the body, which signals to the emotional centres of the brain that it’s time to calm down.
By incorporating this into your life, you can expect a decrease in duration of your workday by another 30 minutes or so. By practicing mindfulness, your ability to control your attention for the rest of the day improves dramatically. You will be distracted less and able to focus more deeply. A little bit of training results in an exponential return in terms of productivity.
Last week’s exercise was about the body. This week is about the mind, where you’ll be learning to meditate (or practicing if you already do!). See page 49 of The Focus Effect Workbook or click Here to download the exercise. With the process laid out in 7 simple steps, and only 5 minutes of your day needed, you’ll learn how to meditate and reap the various mental benefits that come with just a few minutes of this practice.
Bonus Podcast with Ariel Garten, neuroscientist & entrepreneur
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.