We all know that meditation can make us calmer, but did you know that it can also boost your productivity?
Just ask brain surgeon and neuroscientist Rahul Jandial, who’s written a book called Neurofitness: A Brain Surgeon’s Secrets to Boost Performance and Unleash Creativity. Jandial says meditative breathing twice a day helps calm the neurons in your brain, allowing you to think more quickly and have more original thoughts.
“Before you pull into that parking spot at work, just find a place to slowly breathe in through your nose for a count of four, and then hold your breath for a few seconds and then exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of four,” he says.
A recent study outlining how meditative breathing helps increase performance supports Jandial’s experience.
The study finds that “just 11 hours of learning a meditation technique induces positive structural changes in brain connectivity by boosting efficiency in a part of the brain that helps a person regulate behavior in accordance with their goals.”
The technique, called Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT), has been the focus of researchers and students at the University of Oregon.
According to Science Daily, using this meditation technique helps “control thought, relying instead on a state of restful alertness, allowing for a high degree of body-mind awareness.” A coach helps you adjust your breathing and create mental imagery, while soothing music helps keep you focused.
Another review, which examined the current state of neuroscience research on mindfulness meditation, found that while meditation research is still in its infancy, “there is emerging evidence that mindfulness meditation might cause neuroplastic changes in the structure and function of brain regions involved in regulation of attention, emotion and self-awareness.”
It’s just another example of how mindfulness plays a role in shaping our brain and something we’ve incorporated in our own online course, Your Brain on Productivity™.
Noesis delivers neuroleadership consulting and training to organizations handling everyday change and major transformation initiatives. We help our Fortune 500 clients scientifically improve leadership.
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