This is the fourth in a series of articles about the relationship between success and happiness. You can find the first three here, here and here.
I have an uncle who is 92 years old. He is in excellent physical condition and mentally acute. He plays squash and tennis four times a week. He works every day in his business, producing and distributing educational films. He travels extensively for business and pleasure. His real name is Myron, but he’s never liked it. Everyone calls him “Mike.”
Mike has been meditating for as long as I can remember.
He has a mantra: “Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. We are only here for a short time.”
My mantra used to be the opposite: “Hurry. Worry. We don’t have enough time.” Wherever I was, I was thinking about where else I wanted to be.
I run every day. I live in a beautiful gated community in southwest Florida, where I am surrounded by the wonders of nature, including eagles, egrets, blue herons and a variety of other birds. My running route is a picturesque, but until recently I never saw any of it. When I started my run, I was focused on when it would be over. My brain was consumed with all the things I had to do when I returned to my office. I would even take my cell phone with me so I would not miss any calls. I could not enjoy the present because I was too intensely focused on the future.
The concept of “doing nothing” was alien to me. I always had more things to do than time to accomplish all the tasks that awaited me. I can’t remember any time when I was still and reveled in just living moment to moment, appreciating what was happening right now without wishing that I was working on my “to do” list.
Everything changed when I read a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn called Full Catastrophe Living, which led me to meditation. It was an eye-opener for me. I ordered four CDs, narrated by the author, which serve as a guide to meditation and to some simple, non-stressful yoga exercises.
How I meditate
I try to meditate every day. I started with five minutes and worked my way up to 20 minutes. Sometimes, when I use the CDs, I expand my meditation time to 45 minutes. I go into a room and close the door. I make sure I can’t be disturbed by anything, including the telephone or a beeping that indicates new emails have arrived. I put my iPhone in “airplane” mode and set the timer. I set the alert sound to “Harp,” which is a gentle and pleasing reminder that my allotted time for meditation has ended.
I dim the lights in the room. I sit upright and gently close my eyes. I focus on my breathing, paying particular attention to the rise of my stomach on the in-breath and how it falls on the out-breath. Every time a distracting thought pops into my head, I just observe the fact that this thought exists and go back to being aware of my breathing. I don’t change my breathing. I just remain intently focused on it. No matter how many times other thoughts intrude, I repeat the process of observing them, letting them go and going back to being aware of the repetitive process of breathing in and out.
I don’t try to achieve anything, and that attitude is critical to meditation. Having goals – like trying to relax or lowering blood pressure – creates stress, which is the antithesis of meditation. I just follow the simple plan of sitting quietly and focusing on my breathing.
How meditation benefits me
From my very first meditation session, I had an immense feeling of relief and relaxation. I could feel the muscles in my face relax. I reveled in the luxury of “doing nothing.” I experienced an involuntary smile within the first minute of meditating. I understood for the first time that it was okay to take a few minutes of every day and focus on myself, without that nagging feeling that I should be doing something else.
The carryover effects were immediate and profound. I became more conscious of the present and less focused on the future. When I run, I am no longer preoccupied with finishing. I see what is around me and appreciate the raw beauty of nature. Sometimes I stop to take a look at something particularly stunning, such as a wood stork or an eagle. In the past, I would have barely noticed either. All the colors of nature seem brighter.
Beginner’s mind
There is a concept in meditation called “beginner’s mind.” It describes having the same view of the world that a child does. The goal is to look at everything as if you are viewing it for the first time.
In his book, Kabat-Zinn gives a practical example of beginner’s mind. He performs an exercise in which he hands people three raisins. Instead of consuming them all at once, they view each raisin like they have never seen or tasted one before. They examine it carefully, noting its unique characteristics. They chew each one slowly, appreciating its texture and flavor.
Beginner’s mind is the best way to describe the effects of meditation. It slows everything down and permits me to enjoy and appreciate “what is” instead of “what should be.”
Evidence-based benefits of meditation
Of all the subjects I researched for The Smartest Sales Book You'll Ever Read, the data on the beneficial effects of meditation were the most compelling. More than five million people worldwide practice meditation. It’s discussed in more than 600 research studies. The results of these studies have been published in more than 100 journals. Here are some of the research findings about the benefits of meditation:
Empathy. There is ample evidence that meditation acts to stimulate the area of the brain responsible for empathy and compassion. Genuine listening and empathy play critical roles in making you a successful investment advisor and in increasing your level of happiness. One study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the brain circuits used to detect emotions and feelings. It found that meditation changed these brain circuits, making the participants more empathetic and compassionate. Another study found that the portion of the brain associated with empathy was more strongly activated in people who meditated than in those who didn’t.
Health. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation reduces stress by giving you a new perspective, increasing your self-awareness and reducing negative emotions. The clinic also notes research indicating that meditation may help a number of medical conditions, including depression, fatigue, high blood pressure and insomnia.
One study found that blood pressure dropped significantly in those practicing meditation compared with those who did not.
Another study found that among African-American patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease, those who regularly meditated reduced their risk of heart attacks, strokes and mortality from all causes by 43%, compared with those who received education about diet and lifestyle without meditation training.
Intelligence. Meditation may make you smarter. One study found that the hippocampus area of the brain, which is associated with learning and memory, increased in density after participants engaged in 30 minutes of meditation each day for eight weeks. Similar changes did not occur in a control group that did not meditate. A study done at UCLA found that participants who engaged in long-term meditation experienced changes in their brains related to the ability to process information more quickly.
Creativity. Another study looked at how meditation techniques affect “divergent thinking” and “convergent thinking.” Divergent thinking permits you to come up with new ideas. Convergent thinking permits you to choose the single-best answer to a given problem, such as identifying a common link in a number of different words. Both types of thinking can be positively affected by meditation.
Reduction in pain. It’s difficult to succeed in sales or to achieve any level of happiness if you have chronic pain. This is another area where meditation may be helpful. One study tested participants who were given only one hour of meditation training. In a controlled experiment, meditation increased activity in areas of the brain that reduce the perception of pain. Researchers found that meditation produced a greater reduction in pain than did morphine.
Happiness. Given these benefits, it is not surprising that those who have followed a meditation regimen seem to be calmer and happier than those who don’t. There is a scientific basis for this difference. Brain scans demonstrate that meditators’ brain activity shows a significant shift in activity to the left frontal lobe and less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.
Conclusion
These are just some of the benefits of meditation. In my case, I found that meditating made me calmer and more patient. Once I understood it was okay to be mindful of the moment – instead of reliving the past or projecting the future – I became more focused and analytic. I saw things with greater clarity. I gained perspective. I felt more empowered and in control of my life. I learned that “doing nothing” can be much more powerful than “doing something.”
If you want to increase your level of happiness, I highly recommend you begin to practice meditation in your daily life.
Dan Solin is the director of investor advocacy for the BAM Alliance and a wealth advisor with Buckingham. He is a New York Times best-selling author of the Smartest series of books. His latest book is The Smartest Sales Book You'll Ever Read. He consults with corporations and advisory firms on ways to improve their sales.
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