If you look back at your life, there must have been many moments when somebody remarked, "That was very intelligent of you", "Smart thinking!", or "You are an intelligent person". These moments fill us with pride, admiration, and confidence about ourselves. Don't you want this to happen more often? How would you like to approach your day-to-day activities with more dexterity, be a defter person, and be seen as a moon among stars? We are all sure that we want this to happen to us. The route to this upgrade is indeed a short one. The cheat code is to meditate regularly. Regular meditation lubricates your mind to be more efficient and reflective.
#1 – A Crystal-clear Mind
Our mind is a mirror of our past thoughts and experiences, future anticipations, and present interactions. It is wholly tedious to keep it at work and keep it effective. Meditation helps you drop these tendencies. It helps you connect to the source and be natural. Meditation is quite simply mental hygiene: clear out the junk, tune your talents, and get in touch with yourself. As a consequence of regular meditation, you'll feel less burdened and see things with greater perspective. When you are clear of mind and unaffected by your tendencies, it is much easier to align your mind to situations and be more perceptive to what is required. Meditation helps improve the quality of your thinking.
#2 – Focus and Concentration
We have all felt at one time or another that there is a powerful source of unlimited energy within our body. We all know there is a quiet strength within us that is unmatchable. The more we experience this, the stronger we become. Meditation establishes this strong connection with your source. It helps maintain inner peace and tranquility, thereby unleashing your mind as a sturdy asset. Practicing regular meditation helps you keep your mind sharp. It endows you with ample focus, keeping your mind relaxed and helping you achieve your tasks better. "The quality of our life depends on the quality of our mind," says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. We can't control what happens in this world, but we can control the quality of our thinking through meditation.
#3 – The Intuitive Mind
In some moments of idyllic harmony, there is a voice within us that springs unique thoughts, ideas, and opinions. It sparks our perception and blossoms our understanding. It is elaborate yet natural at the same time. The thoughts come right out of your gut. You feel your gut is doing all the talking. Referred to as "gut feeling", intuition is regarded as a blessing to the human mind. Research supports the fact that an intuitive mind helps you be more thoughtful, astute, and incisive. Meditation is to intuition what carrots are to Vitamin A. They fuel your ability to think more originally and stay more connected.
An independent research by Sara W. Lazar and team at National Institute of Health, USA, reveals that meditation aids in increasing cortical thickness, which helps you increase focus. Another research by Eileen Luders concluded that meditation fuels an increase in the growth of grey matter, a key source of thinking ability.
#4 – The Creative Burst
Have you observed when creative bursts occur? While walking by the lake, in the middle of a shower, while hiking, or when you are swinging to your favorite tunes on your iPod. The trick to creativity actually lies in the loss of control: effortlessness, relaxation, and well-being. "Control is fatiguing, while brain-imaging research shows that relaxation is not only restorative, but actually leads to enhanced memory and facilitated intellectual understanding," says Emma Seppala, a renowned scientist and researcher at Stanford University, CA. The more creative you are, the more unique and indispensable you are at work. Meditation helps you relax and in turn be more creative.
#5 – Middle Path
A well-baked pizza you enjoy at the joint at the end of your street is one that has the right bread, well cut veggies at the right proportions, yummy cheese, and luscious sauces with that tinge of oregano and chilly flakes you enjoy. Unique and discerning thoughts are also the same. They need to be balanced and harnessed well. They have a distinct style to themselves. Meditation helps you strike that style and balance of thinking. It creates a marked balance between your left-hand side and right-hand side brain, thereby inducing the right kind of emotion, objectivity, logic, and analysis, making you not only think right but also think cool. "I was introduced to meditation 3 years ago. I meditate regularly since then. I am a designer by occupation, and with the serious competition in our profession, where you need to reinvent yourself every day to keep up with the pace, meditation helps me keep my balance while meeting the expectations of my clients," says Prakash.
