Steve Jobs: six exercises to train your brain. Mindfulness Meditation: Brain Training Using the Steve Jobs Method

Every now and then you just have to let some things fall out of your sight.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the desire to constantly be busy no matter what is a disease that needs to be treated.

Think about your own life, and the lives of people close to you. Most of us have an unhealthy tendency to always do as much as we are physically capable of, and even beyond, filling every free minute with events, work, entertainment, tasks and responsibilities.

We believe that going out of our way to get more done in the same amount of time will make us happier, more successful, etc., when in most cases the opposite is true.

In the long run, being less busy can only be good for us... But we are so ossified in our beliefs that we simply don’t see it.

And therefore…

• When we work, we quickly switch from one task to another, or even multitask, struggling to successfully juggle five things at once before the end of the workday... and we still constantly feel like we're not doing enough of what we need to do. need to.

• When we finally decide to take a break from work and do some useful physical exercise, we try to push ourselves to the limit of our physical capabilities in this short period of time... until we are completely exhausted, we realize that everything hurts everywhere, and we decide What the heck, such entertainment.

• When we find ourselves in a good restaurant, we try to immediately try everything that is delicious - from appetizers to main courses, drinks and desserts, ordering everything in a row, and then trying to finish everything we ordered, because there’s not much to waste... In the end, we we tumble out of its doors with a stomach full to capacity, and even beyond that, and we don’t feel well for another couple of hours.

• When we go on a tourist trip to new town, we want to see it completely, from beginning to end - every monument, museum and a nice place for photographs, and we struggle to complete our plans, returning home tired and exhausted.

How can we tame our desire to try to do too much?

Just focus on doing a little less every day, every step of the way.

Pay attention to your desire to do more than necessary, and stop it in time.

It took me quite a long time to start changing myself in this direction, but I am much closer to the goal...

• When I work, I only do one thing at a time, but I give it my full attention. And if I find myself starting to multitask again, I stop for a minute, stop doing everything, and then make a list of no more than three key tasks that I really need to get done before the end of the day. And yes, often this list consists of just one item, because it helps me focus on what is most important without feeling like a juggler in the arena.

• When I decided to go to the gym the day before yesterday and train, I first wanted to give it my all and show everything I was capable of. I noticed this desire and decided not to give in to it. I worked on the machines for 45 minutes, but did not bring myself to complete exhaustion and fatigue. Yesterday I returned to the gym and worked out for another 45 minutes at the same pace. I could have done the same thing this morning, but why? Instead, I took myself for a short run along my usual route. My workout schedule is flexible and the exercises are interchangeable, so I rarely overexert myself or miss a day.

• When I allow myself to visit a good cafe or restaurant, I don’t try to try everything I can or eat to my heart’s content. Instead, I try to leave the table feeling full, but not over-stuffed. I try to eat less than before. Yes, sometimes it is not easy, since it is sometimes very, very difficult to get rid of long-standing and established habits, and yes, in order to achieve results, a lot of practice is needed. However, in the end, each time I feel better and better, and my waistline is shrinking literally before my eyes.

• When I go to a new city, I don't try to see it all at once. I'm making myself a list of several interesting places, and I try to spend enough time on them so that it’s not just “for show.” And when I leave this city, I know that I will have something to see on my next visit, and there will be something to return there for.

And I hope you will join me in this endeavor.

Let's start doing less... and let's make that less be so much more for us than before.

So here are five signs that it's time for you to do just that:

• You feel like you have too much going on. – Remember, by loading and filling all your time with important and not so important tasks, you are making exactly the mistake that causes most people to constantly feel stressed and uncomfortable. Yes, sometimes the idea of ​​filling all your free time so that it doesn't go to waste with important tasks, events, responsibilities and entertainment so that it doesn't go to waste may seem very attractive... but in reality it is not so at all. Don't do this to yourself. You cannot grab onto everything that comes into your head and catches your eye. You have to let go of some of what you are holding on to!

• You are trying (consciously or subconsciously) to behave like a superman. – Another harmful belief that drags many people into an endless spiral of over-busyness is the belief that we can supposedly be everything to everyone, be everywhere at once, and be everyone’s hero. But, of course, this has nothing to do with reality. The reality is that we are not Superman or Wonder Women. WE ordinary people, and we have our limitations. This is why we must give up the desire to do everything and please everyone around us. You will either do a little, but well, or everything, but equally bad. And it is true.

• You don't have enough time to appreciate the spaces between your deeds and actions. – Your life consists not only in what you do, but also in the free intervals between your actions. You need these intervals and are no less valuable to you than all these deeds and actions. So if, for example, you spent that morning reading and meditating, your morning was valuable not only because of the reading and meditation, but also because of everything that surrounded them. The time you spent laying out your meditation mat, or finding your book, or turning its pages, or pouring yourself a cup of tea, or simply admiring dawn... these small gaps between important, not so important, and not at all important matters are no less important to you than anything else. Try to arrange your daily routine in such a way that you don’t have to, having finished one thing, immediately rush headlong to another. Try to notice and appreciate the gaps between your activities, because they are worth it.

• You've lost sight of your priorities. – Your priorities, what is really important to you, will not take care of themselves without your participation. You yourself must free up enough time for what is really important to you - time for your “other half”, for your children, for your hobbies, for learning something new, for playing sports, and so on. And everything else can be pushed aside for a while. How to do it? Just say no to most of the things that seem exciting but aren't doing you any good, and say yes to the things that really matter.

• Your physical space is overloaded and cluttered. – If you don’t have time to clean up your workplace and your home, then you are doing too many unnecessary things. Dot. And the chances that you buy a bunch of extra and unnecessary things are also high. By clearing the physical space around you of junk, you also get rid of the junk in your mental space - after all, the chaos around us captures a fair part of our perception, and distracts us much more than we think possible. So try to always remember that what you want your workplace and your home speaks about how you want your life to be.

And finally, I want to introduce you to two quotes from our book good friend Joshua Becker's "More of Less" because I really like them and think they complement this article perfectly:

“Our excess possessions (and responsibilities) do not make us happy. Moreover, all this distracts us from what could bring us happiness. Once we let go of the things that don't matter at all, we have the freedom to go after what really matters."

“Sometimes getting rid of property (and responsibilities) means that we have to personally, with our own hands, kill some of our dreams. But this is not always something bad. Sometimes we have to give up the dream of the person we would like to be in order to appreciate the person we really can be.”

I hope these quotes help make your life easier!

And now it’s your turn...

Think about how exactly you can start doing less? What area of ​​your life do you most need to simplify?

Sunday, February 17, 2019

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Get out of your mental cocoon

“Progress is impossible without change, and if a person is not able to change his mind, then he is not able to change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw

We want to change without trying. We want to learn lessons without leaving our mental cocoon.

This is why people fail—they look for fixes rather than real transformation.

Take meditation, for example. People want to conquer anxiety but not train their mind. Breathe easily; confronting your own thoughts without judging them is more difficult.

Some people want to become more productive, but don't want to give up bad habits. Others want to lose weight without giving up their favorite desserts. Managers want their teams to take initiative, but they don't want to relinquish control.

People wrap themselves in a mental cocoon — they isolate themselves in a personal oasis. They want to change without increasing pain.

You can't expect any significant results if you don't change your thinking first. You must get out of your mental cocoon.

Attachment is mental slavery

The first step is to stop looking for solutions from outside. As Epictetus said: “Do not look for good in external things; look for it in yourself."

To accept new behavior, you must let go of old habits. As the Zen proverb goes, “empty the cup”—make room for new practices.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? However, most of the time we get stuck in old patterns and allow past behavior to define us. Attachment is mental slavery; we are not free to accept new reality. Eckhart Tolle said, “There is a balance between honoring the past and losing yourself in it.” Being stuck in the past can be just as damaging as clinging to past suffering and mistakes.

"Empty your cup!"

When I began leadership consulting, I had to let go of a successful 20-year career in marketing. My experience general director and the behavioral strategist was transferred to new activity, but the reputation is not. I had to build my authority from scratch in a new field, despite the fact that I worked with an incredible amount large companies. To succeed, I had to adopt a student mentality and not be attached to my previous reputation.

When we let go of our inner stories, we make room for new ones.

Point of no return

My wife smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for over 15 years. She tried to quit many times. And every time she failed. One day she woke up upset. She was determined to give up her unhealthy habit. After that she never smoked again.

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés set out to conquer Mexico in 1519. Those who tried to do this before him failed. Cortez ordered his men to burn all the ships - retreat is not considered when there is no way back. The fire that set the ships on fire inspired the people to complete the mission.

Which ships do you need to burn?

The point of no return is when you say “enough is enough.” You feel disgusted with your current state. You burn ships. Disgust is a powerful motivator. As Chris Gage wrote: “Disgust usually never returns. Disgust is a situation where “you can’t unsee it.” Disgust is something better for you and your life.”

Perfectionism Breeds Frustration, Not Perfection

The fact that we don't do something well paralyzes us. Perfectionism is the enemy of change. The more we focus on what we don't have or what's going wrong, the less progress we make. But how can you become a great pianist if you don't want to be lousy to begin with?

Being a perfectionist means avoiding. Instead of confronting your own fears, you begin to argue that the conditions in which you find yourself are not good enough, and you do not even take the first step.

“Perfectionism doesn't make you feel perfect; it makes you feel inadequate.” — Maria Shriver

It’s one thing to strive to be the best, and another to strive to be perfect. We're all amateurs in life— avoid using an expert panel to measure your initial efforts in a new field. Don't take yourself too seriously. Making mistakes is not only normal, but fun. Epictetus said, “He who laughs at himself will never run out of things to laugh at.”

Fear of failure is a paradox; Some people feel better as smokers; they are afraid of quitting because of the possibility of failure. Failure is a necessary step to achieve progress. Change is never linear or perfect.

Things that are out of your control

Epictetus challenged us to make a distinction between what is under our control and what is not. This awareness relieves a lot of suffering. The Greek philosopher argued that there is no point in worrying about what you cannot control.

You can't do anything about other people's behavior or the weather. However, you can choose your own actions. There is no point in trying to change something that is beyond your control. Worry distracts us from the game. Buddhist teacher Geshe Kelsang says that there are two types of problems: internal and external. In his words: “We must understand that our problems do not exist separately from our inner self, they are part of our mind that experiences unpleasant feelings. When we have problems with our car, for example, we usually say, “I have a problem,” but in fact it is the car’s problem, not ours.”

When we fail to differentiate between what is under our control and what is not, we turn external problems into internal ones. You cannot control events, but you can control your own reactions. Choose to act wisely when things don't go your way.

Find your partner in crime

Behind everyone successful person worth another great person or team. No one succeeds alone. It's easier to stay on track when you can count on other people. Numerous studies indicate that support is critical and effective strategy for simple behavioral changes as well as more complex ones such as Current state health or addiction.

“If you want to go somewhere, your best bet is to find someone who has already been there.” — Robert Kiyosaki

Pride gets you nowhere—no bonus points when you don’t ask for help. Everything we achieve in life is connected to other people (from the genes we inherit from our parents, to the boss or professor who changed your life, or the coach who brought great things into your life). We are social animals. Recognizing how other people shape our lives makes it easier to ask for help.

A partner you're accountable to can help you stay focused, provide emotional support, or call you a piece of crap. Social commitment dramatically increases your chances of achieving your goals (95%).

Action shapes your personality

New habits create discomfort - we feel strange doing something we are not used to. We tend to give up healthy eating And physical exercise because we don't feel part of who we are.

But what comes first: action or self-identity? Psychologist Timothy Wilson addresses this dilemma in This Explains It All: “People behave the way they do because of their personality traits and attitudes, right? They return a lost wallet because they are honest, they recycle because they care about the environment, and they pay $5 for a caramel brûlée latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.”

And while this may be true in most cases, context also influences our personality. Moreover, our actions—in response—ultimately shape our self-perception.

As Wilson explains, perhaps we recycle because the city has made it easy to do so. Or because our neighbors do it - we feel social pressure. Perhaps getting a lost wallet back makes us feel good. Next time we find him, we'll do the same.

Take action. As Alan Watts said: " The only way to understand the meaning of change is to immerse yourself in it and move with it in the rhythm of the dance.”

We are connected to the world

To break a habit, start by eliminating temptations. If you want to stop eating snacks or drinking beer while watching a movie, start by removing them from your home—the chances of giving in to temptation are reduced when you have to go to the store to buy them.

Use your surroundings wisely

You are not the average of the people you spend the most time with. You can learn from anyone. Some people can inspire you, others can challenge you. Failure is a powerful motivator. We can learn from both friends and enemies. Some bring out the best in us, others bring out the worst from the depths.

Resilience is not directly related to environment, but with how we learn to save ourselves from adversity. Some people thrive because of their environment, while others thrive in spite of it.

Your environment can transform your circumstances. How you treat the world is how the world will treat you. Change your environment and it will work in your favor.

Free yourself from attachment to your reputation. Past the point of no return. Strive to be the best, not perfect. Focus on what you can control. Find partners in crime. Immerse yourself in change - join the dance. Use your surroundings wisely.

There is no change without pain. Sooner or later we all have to leave our mental cocoon.

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Observing your nervousness (or neurotic energy) is the journey, and it starts now. Right now that's all you have. And you will never have anything more. Therefore, no matter what happens, and no matter how much it unnerves you, traveling along this path cannot be avoided.

The parallelism of the paths of meditation and suffering. This is the reason why analysis of the first two noble truths of Buddhism is so important. This is not just a study of conceptual religious concepts, but a deep analysis of a person’s entire life. We must make a fearless and careful examination of our own suffering and the causes and effects that lead to feelings of dissatisfaction.

It is about identifying neurosis and being prepared to cope with it—reading to perceive it as a system that determines or limits the nature of the experiences and impressions that we form. Ultimately, this is what allows us to continue on our spiritual path.

Essentially, meditation involves walking backwards along the path that creates suffering. This means that the material with which we must work during classes is our dissatisfaction and nervousness. And situations that seem to us to be difficulties or obstacles are actually the very path that the Buddha spoke about.

The 14th Dalai Lama said: “If you want to be generous, do not look at a beggar as an obstacle.” Likewise, an unpleasant colleague at work should not be seen as someone who is testing your patience, but as an opportunity to unleash the full potential of your patience.

Moreover, being attached to an unhealthy situation or toxic relationship does not prevent you from learning to let go of the past. Such a relationship in itself is a call to let him go.

Madness is sanity, it's just misunderstood. In essence, insanity is a property of consciousness that occurs when thoughts begin to lead a person away from reality. And this departure or break with real world caused by faulty assumptions. When we talk about our neurosis or madness, we see them as they are. This inner understanding dispels any confusion while restoring sanity.

Observing your confusion leads to understanding it. And understanding or wisdom is the mother of all Buddhists. Therefore, the combination of observation and confusion itself leads to the birth of an enlightened mind.

Before we can understand our madness, we must be prepared to accept our own tendency towards neurotic states. That is, you need to stop shifting the blame for your problems onto other people and/or your environment.

In the same way, one cannot shift the blame for this insanity to past events. It’s also important to stop rejecting yourself or telling yourself that you shouldn’t be angry. For some reason you are angry. Just stop and listen to this anger. Watch her.

Observation of neurotic state(or your neurotic energy) is the path, and it begins right now. It doesn't matter whether you are now filled with a pure awareness of the greatness of life or whether you are nervously trying to manipulate another person to achieve some selfish needs.

The present is all you have. And there will never be more of you than this.

Therefore, everything that happens, and no matter how nervous the situation, is just part of your journey. This is what you have to work with.

“Rather than seeing the undesirable aspects of one’s life as obstacles, Jamgon Kongtrul treated them as the raw material needed to awaken true compassion.” - Pema Chödrön.

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It seems to us that loving others is easier. Loving yourself correctly and sincerely is much more difficult. But, as many have noted wise people, only when you learn to accept and care for your own essence will you be able to achieve peace of mind. And only in this case will you be able to truly be present in the lives of your loved ones and in your own.

Loving yourself is not a luxury that needs to be put on hold while you achieve some goals or take care of others. It’s not for nothing that on the plane they always remind you that in the event of an accident, you first need to put on a mask. If you don't take care of yourself, you simply won't be able to take care of anyone else.

To achieve success and feel happy, you must first believe that you deserve to be.

Here are our 15 quotes to inspire you to love yourself first... so you can love others!

1. “First of all, love yourself, and everything else will follow. You have to truly love yourself if you want to achieve anything in this world." - Lucille Ball.

2. “Love dissolves anger, love makes you forget about grievances, love disperses fear, love creates security. If the basis of your life is full-blooded self-love, then everything in your life should be easy, harmonious, healthy, prosperous and joyful,” Louise Hay.

3. “...We must learn to love ourselves - with a healthy and holy love, in order to remain true to ourselves and not lose ourselves. And truly, this is not at all a commandment for today and tomorrow - to learn to love yourself. On the contrary, of all the arts it is the most subtle, the wisest, the highest and the one requiring the greatest patience,” Friedrich Nietzsche.

4. “Never elevate someone for whom you are only an option,” Maya Angelou.

5. “Your task is not to seek love, but only to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it,” - Rumi.

6. “I won’t let anyone go through my mind dirty feet", - Mahatma Gandhi.

7. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Just ask yourself what makes you most alive. And do it. Because what the world really needs is real people,” Robert Thurman.

8. “My willingness to be intimate with my own deep feelings creates space for intimacy with another,” Shakti Gawain.

9. “People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun comes out, but when darkness comes their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.” - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

10. “Too many people overestimate what they are not and underestimate what they are,” Malcolm Forbes.

11. “Thank you to those who loved me, for they gave me the charm of loving others, and thanks to those who did not love me, for they gave me the charm of loving myself,” - Marina Tsvetaeva.

12. “You must love yourself without thinking about whether you deserve love or not. You are alive and that is proof enough that you deserve to be loved, just as you deserve to breathe. You're not asking whether you deserve the right to breathe or not. Love is almost invisible nourishment for the soul, just as food is nourishment for the body. And if you are filled with self-love, then you will be able to love others,” Osho.

13. “Friendship with yourself is very important thing. Because if you don’t make friends with yourself, you can’t be friends with anyone else,” Eleanor Roosevelt.

14. “The best thing we can give our children is to teach them to love themselves,” Louise Hay.

15. “You need to love yourself. But myself – as originally conceived,” - Petr Mamonov.

The human mind is shrouded in mystery. And the fact that characters like Jean Gray and Professor X exist in the superhero universe is proof enough that the human mind and its untapped capabilities have always fascinated humanity.

Despite all our skepticism, the human mind and body have endless reserves of untapped potential.

Each of us is awarded these abilities at birth, but often they are not in demand. And over time, ignorance is replaced by skeptical denial.

Remember all the great prophets - Muhammad, Jesus, Zarathustra. They received all their revelations thanks to the voice sounding in their hearts. All these people had the degree of sensitivity that made it possible to hear him.

And Joan of Arc publicly admitted that these voices were talking to her. Each of us has a voice that speaks to us and helps us. And whether we can hear it depends only on us.

2. Inner world.

3. The ability to hold your breath.

Holding your breath affects nervous system and promotes calm. By holding your breath and taking a large, slow exhalation, divided into 10 small exhalations, you can start a mechanism that will allow your body to gain lightness.

4. Look.

Have you ever noticed how people look back at you or say something absent-mindedly after you look at them? This is because you have a tangible gaze that acts on another person like an injection. Therefore, exchanging glances is an excellent way of telepathic communication.

5. Ability to communicate non-verbally.

6. Generosity.

The happiness of giving is something transcendental. This allows you to become closer to your soul, and also to turn the souls of other people towards you.

Helping people is something that is revered by all religions. The practice of giving things to people who need them more than you is something that can change our perception of the world, something we should all be doing right now.

7. Determination.

Whenever you find yourself in difficult life circumstances, you have the opportunity to use your intuition and mental abilities, to choose the best option further actions.

Your own instincts and the decisions you make with them can change the course of the game when you need to make a choice between two equally important and equally good things.

8. Sense of humor.

It's true, laughter - best medicine, and the amount of positivity that comes from a person who simply loves to laugh is immeasurable. Especially if you are a couple with this person, and he is doing his best to heal your soul, lift your spirits and make your day better.

9. Creativity.

The feeling of satisfaction you get from creating something new is unparalleled. And the amount of spiritual energy you generate is simply amazing.

10. Ability to meditate.

This ability can make your life more prosperous and peaceful.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Life is complicated. Today you are happy working on your daily tasks, and tomorrow you wake up thinking, “What the hell should I do with my life?”

I'm right? We've all experienced this. When one of my readers responded to an article on last week, I asked her: “How are you?”

She replied: “Everything is fine. I’m trying to figure out what direction I should take with my life.”

Last week I was talking to a friend who was in the same position. And everyone will face the same problem, one way or another, during their long career.

I've been through this more than once. No one is immune from confusion. Let's face it: there are literally a million things you can do with your life.

And most of us understand that we can't do everything we want. We must also realize that nothing worthwhile in life comes easy.

Good health, wealth and happiness do not happen on their own. If you want to live well, you must take effective action.

But which ones? What exactly should you do?

1. Burn bridges

“Education is a matter of building bridges.” – Ralph Ellison

I can't tell you what you should do with your life. No one but you can find the answer to this question.

We must realize that we will never change without a reason.

“But what if I don’t have a reason?”

Faktrum tells what techniques Jobs used to develop his brain.

Steve Jobs Peterjthomson.com

“If you sit down and just watch yourself, you will discover how restless your mind is. And when you try to calm him down, the situation will only get worse. If after some time the mind calms down, the subtlest things will be revealed to you. Your intuition will sharpen, your vision will become clearer, you will be able to feel yourself in the present moment of time - here and now. Your thoughts will slow down, your consciousness will expand, and you will see immeasurably more than before.”

This is how Steve Jobs described the effect of meditation to his biographer Walter Isaacson.

A special type of meditation is mindfulness meditation. has its origins in Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Jobs told Isaacson about it shortly before his death, by which time he had been practicing meditation for many years. This is evidenced by journalist and writer Geoffrey James, who in the early 1990s discussed with Jobs how Zen and programming are connected.

In those days it was something exotic, James admits, but even here Jobs was ahead of his time. After all, today the positive effects of meditation have been proven by neuroscience, and giants such as Google, General Mills, Target and Ford specifically train their employees in approximately the same meditation that Jobs discovered for himself decades ago.

Judging by the quote given by Isaacson, the meditation that Jobs practiced is very similar to the one that the famous martial artist Yang Jin Ming once taught James. Here's his six-step lesson:

• Sit cross-legged in a private, quiet place, preferably on a flat pillow, to reduce back tension. Start breathing deeply.
• Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue, to the thoughts that are jumping around in your head: work, home, TV... This is the chatter of your fussy “monkey mind”. Don't try to stop her at least, not now. Just watch your mind jump from one thought to another. Repeat this exercise 5 minutes a day for a week.
• Without trying to calm your whirling thoughts, try shifting your attention to your “ox mind,” that is, the part of your mind that thinks calmly and slowly. The “ox mind” simply observes the world around it. He does not make judgments, does not look for meanings, he simply sees, hears and feels. Most people are not even aware of it, although it may reveal itself to some in moments of shock when the “monkey” mind becomes silent. But even when we are completely at the mercy of our “monkey mind”, when its commands “Hurry! Let's!" do not allow us to come to our senses, our “ox mind” imperceptibly continues its unhurried, thorough work.
• As you become aware of your ox mind, ask it to gradually slow down the monkey mind. Geoffrey James, for example, was helped by this technique: he imagined how an “ox” slowly wanders along the road, and this sight lulls the “monkey’s mind.” Don't be upset if he wakes up from time to time. Monkeys, that's what they are. However, you will find that he begins to rest more than fuss and make noise.
• Once you have calmed your monkey mind, continue to focus your attention on your ox mind. And then your breathing will slow down. You will feel the touch of air on your skin. You may feel the blood rushing inside your body. If you open your eyes, the world around you will seem a little different, new and even somewhat strange. Let's say the window becomes just a rectangle filled with light. It does not need to be opened or closed, repaired or washed. It simply exists - here and now. Just like you yourself - here and now.
• It will take some time to reach this state. But if you did everything correctly, you will not feel at all the time that has passed from the moment you turned on the timer to the moment it turned off. Gradually, day by day, increase the duration of meditation. Surprisingly, no matter how long it lasts, you will not feel the passage of time.

Regular practice of mindfulness meditation provides three distinct benefits:

• You will get rid of stress. Even if difficulties arise in your life, they are unlikely to develop into serious unrest.
• Forget about insomnia. Jeffrey James testifies that with regular practice, it only takes 2-3 seconds for him to fall asleep.
• You will begin to think more clearly and more accurately evaluate everything that happens in your life. For Geoffrey James, mindfulness meditation helped him leave a destructive relationship in personal life and leave a job that made him unhappy.

Outstanding entrepreneur in the field innovative technologies, gadget revolutionist, creative magician and success icon, Steve Jobs, has found inspiration in mindfulness meditation for decades. She relieved him of stress and fatigue, gave him clarity of mind and helped develop creativity.

Steve Jobs himself spoke about the effect of meditation:

- Stop and just listen to the flow of your thoughts. And you will understand how stormy and restless it is. With attempts to make it slower and more restrained, everything only gets worse. But if you can still calm your mind, you will learn the most subtle things. Intuition will become more sensitive, you will see the essence of the world, realize yourself in the present, and not in the past or future. Thoughts will become slow, and the boundaries of consciousness will expand, and you will understand infinitely much.

This form of meditation has its roots in Taoism and Zen Buddhism—Jobs shared its secrets before he left us; by that time he had been engaged in meditative practice for decades.

Steve Jobs was always several steps ahead of his time - and here he was also ahead of his era, because when he mastered meditation, it was something unusual and unknown for the Western world. Today neuroscience has already proven positive influence meditation on human consciousness, and the largest corporations in the world hire specialists to teach employees meditation, similar to the one that Jobs mastered long before them.

Jobs' practice is reminiscent of that once taught by the great martial arts guru Yang Jin Ming.

First level
1. Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. You should be in a quiet place, you can sit on a low pillow (this will reduce the strain on your back). Take a deep breath.

2. Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue. Thoughts spinning in your head all the time: at work, at home, in front of the TV. Don't try to stop them. This is exactly how your “monkey mind” works. Instead of trying to stop the flow of consciousness, simply watch in a detached manner as your brain jumps from one thought to another.

Repeat this practice every day for a week. Five minutes at a time will be enough.

Second level
3. After a week, you should try to take control of your “monkey mind” and turn it into a “bull” mind. Focus on the part of your mind that was observing—slowly and distantly. This part is responsible for perceiving things in the present moment.
Most of us only realize this when we experience something truly amazing, something that stops our monkey mind, which is always jumping from thought to thought. Each of us has experienced moments when he completely forgot about the world around him and enjoyed the current moment. This is how the bullish mind works: it works slowly, forms deep thoughts.

4. You will understand when it starts to work out. It will become much easier to shift your attention to the surrounding reality. During practice, you will notice little things like breathing, blood flow. Air on your skin. When you open your eyes, you will see a slightly changed world around you. He will be deprived of his usual evaluative perception. The world simply is. You simply exist.
For example, the window will now be just a square filled with light. You will not analyze whether it is open or closed, whether it needs repairs or not. It will simply be. And you just will.
To achieve this state, you need to devote about 10 minutes to meditation at a time. Unfortunately, some time will pass after practice, and your consciousness will begin to occupy the “monkey mind” again. Everything around will again cease to be a tedious and tiresome noise. This is fine. Think of meditation as a way to reset your brain for an hour or two until it returns to its original state.

5. To achieve a regular transition of consciousness from the “monkey mind” to the “bull mind”, it will take a lot of effort. But it's worth it. At this stage, you will forget what stress is. New troubles will no longer resemble a giant and ever-growing lump of problems. You will be able to control your mind. Fall asleep instantly.
And remember one more thing. Yes, to maintain this ability to “think like a bull,” you need to spend at least 10 minutes practicing a day. But if you feel like your brain is full right now and you need to keep working, don't take a smoke break. It’s better to conduct a meditation session for yourself for 2-3 minutes. It's much more efficient.

Third level
6. If you continue to practice, after a while (it will take several months) you will notice that you no longer feel the pressure of time. It's like the timer doesn't exist. You will be able to meditate for hours on end, and you will not even notice how quickly this time will rush by.
As a result, your mind will always be clear and pure. You will be able to evaluate the events occurring in your own life from all sides. You will get the much-desired calm from the hustle and bustle - wherever you are and whatever you do.

Jeffrey James says he tried the practice himself. He considers these to be the most important effects: firstly, stress is completely gone and forgotten; secondly, he was able to fall asleep at will in just two or three seconds; thirdly, James has improved his family relationships and no longer feels any pressure: neither social nor professional.

There is no guarantee that practicing mindfulness and awareness will make you as powerful a person as Jobs was. But his technique can definitely change both you and your life.

A person engaged in intellectual work always lacks speed and flexibility of mind, no matter how much they have in reserve. Even if you are Einstein, you will sometimes feel like you are a stupid log.

The brilliant creative Steve Jobs also felt the need to pump up his brain. How did he work on himself?

“As soon as you get comfortable and move from doing to contemplation, you will immediately realize how restless your mind is. If you try to calm him down forcibly, you will only make the situation worse, but if you leave him alone, then over time he will calm down on his own, and when he does this, you will have the opportunity to listen to his depths. It is at this moment that your intuition blossoms as never before, and you begin to see much more clearly. the world, and be much more fully in the present. Your mind slows down, giving you the opportunity to pay attention to once fleeting moments. And you see much more than you could see before.”

This is how Steve Jobs described the effect of meditation to his biographer Walter Isaacson.

A special type of meditation—mindfulness meditation—has its origins in Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Jobs told Isaacson about it shortly before his death, by which time he had been practicing meditation for many years. This is evidenced by journalist and writer Geoffrey James, who in the early 1990s discussed with Jobs how Zen and programming are connected.

In those days it was something exotic, James admits, but even here Jobs was ahead of his time. After all, today the positive effects of meditation have been proven by neuroscience, and giants such as Google, General Mills, Target and Ford specifically train their employees in approximately the same meditation that Jobs discovered for himself decades ago.

Judging by the quote given by Isaacson, the meditation that Jobs practiced is very similar to the one that the famous martial artist Yang Jin Ming once taught James. Here is his lesson, which includes 6 steps.

Step 1:

Sit cross-legged in a private, quiet place, preferably on a flat pillow, to reduce back tension. Start breathing deeply.

Step 2

Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue, to the thoughts that are jumping around in your head: work, home, TV... This is the chatter of your fussy “monkey mind”. Don't try to stop her, at least not now. Just watch your mind jump from one thought to another. Repeat this exercise 5 minutes a day for a week.

Step 3

Without trying to calm your whirling thoughts, try shifting your attention to your “ox mind,” that is, the part of your mind that thinks calmly and slowly. The “ox mind” simply observes the world around it. He does not make judgments, does not look for meanings, he simply sees, hears and feels. Most people are not even aware of it, although it may reveal itself to some in moments of shock when the “monkey” mind becomes silent. But even when we are completely at the mercy of our “monkey mind,” when its commands (“Hurry!”, “Come on!”) ​​do not allow us to come to our senses, our “ox mind” quietly continues its unhurried, thorough work.

Step 4

As you become aware of your ox mind, ask it to gradually slow down the monkey mind. Geoffrey James, for example, was helped by this technique: he imagined an “ox” slowly wandering along the road, and this sight lulled the “monkey’s mind.” Don't be upset if he wakes up from time to time. Monkeys, that's what they are. However, you will find that he begins to rest more than fuss and make noise.

Step 5

Once you have calmed your monkey mind, continue to focus your attention on your ox mind. And then your breathing will slow down. You will feel the touch of air on your skin. You may feel the blood rushing inside your body. If you open your eyes, the world around you will seem a little different, new and even somewhat strange. Let's say the window becomes just a rectangle filled with light. It does not need to be opened or closed, repaired or washed. It simply exists - here and now. Just like you - here and now.

Step 6

It will take some time to reach this state. But if you did everything correctly, you will not feel at all the time that has passed from the moment you turned on the timer to the moment it turned off. Gradually, day by day, increase the duration of meditation. Surprisingly, no matter how long it lasts, you will not feel the passage of time.

Regular practice of mindfulness meditation provides three important benefits:

1. You will get rid of stress. Even if difficulties arise in your life, they are unlikely to develop into serious unrest.
2. Forget about insomnia. Jeffrey James testifies that thanks to regular practice, it only takes 2-3 seconds for him to fall asleep.
3. You will begin to think more clearly and more accurately evaluate everything that happens in your life.

Steve Jobs was not only a pioneer in the field computer equipment, but also one of the greatest thinkers of our time.

It is not for nothing that during his lifetime he was considered one of two or three people who radically (and irrevocably) changed the course of history - at least as far as computer technology is concerned. Only Bill Gates and, perhaps, Mark Zuckerberg can compare with him in this. Most often, Jobs is remembered for his legendary ability to create innovative products, products that make real breakthroughs in their field.

However, few people know that Steve Jobs was also a true pioneer in the field of “mind decluttering” techniques, until recently considered esoteric and almost mystical, using meditation practiced by Zen Buddhists to reduce stress levels, increase mental clarity and enhance creativity .

And, as the Financial Times recently reminded us all in one of its articles, Jobs’ meditations were not something vague and unformed. No, Jobs approaches his “teaching,” as he himself called it, very responsibly and consistently. Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson quotes him as follows:

“As soon as you get comfortable and move from doing to contemplation, you will immediately realize how restless your mind is. If you try to calm him down forcibly, you will only make the situation worse, but if you leave him alone, then over time he will calm down on his own, and when he does this, you will have the opportunity to listen to his depths. It is at this moment that your intuition blossoms like never before, and you begin to see the world around you much more clearly, and be much more fully in the present. Your mind slows down, giving you the opportunity to pay attention to once fleeting moments. And you see much more than you could see before.”

What Jobs is describing in this quote is actually a specific type of meditation, commonly called mindfulness meditation. As a rule, the techniques of these meditations can be found in the practices of Zen Buddhism and its Chinese “ancestor” - Taoism. By the time he spoke with Isaacson shortly before his death, Jobs had been practicing these meditations for many years.

I know this for sure because in the early 1990s, I happened to have a one-on-one conversation with Jobs about how Zen related to programming. However, this is a topic for a separate article.

But be that as it may, now, looking back, we begin to understand that Jobs was far ahead of the rest of us, not only in the field of computer technology, in which he became most famous, but also in the field of mind technology. And this is not only my opinion - this is confirmed by such an authoritative scientific journal as Scientific American. So, latest research in the field of neuroscience and theory of consciousness indicate that many meditation techniques, known to mankind for several hundred, or even thousands of years, have been exerting beneficial influence on our mind and body.

However, nowadays most of Those meditation techniques, which were once considered secret knowledge and passed on only from teacher to student, have long gone to the masses. And, according to a recent article in The Atlantic, world-famous companies such as Target, Google, General Mills and Ford have already begun training their employees in mindfulness-enhancing meditation techniques - the same techniques that Jobs mastered decades earlier. .

And while the idea of ​​corporate-sponsored mass meditation sessions is, frankly, a little creepy to me, you don't need anyone's sponsorship to benefit from meditation. Personally, I trained in mindfulness meditation with world-renowned martial artist Yang Jing Min. And judging by what Jobs said about his meditation technique, Yang's method is either identical or very close to the one that Jobs himself used.

Here is the technique that was taught to me at one time (as far as I remember):

1. Sit cross-legged in a comfortable, quiet place- preferably on the floor, placing a pillow under you to reduce the load on your back. Start taking deep, slow breaths in and out.
2. Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue, to those thoughts that are spinning in your head all the time - at work, at home, while watching movies... in general, all the time. These thoughts are the babble of what the Chinese call “monkey mind.” However, do not try to drown out this monologue. It's too early to do this yet. Instead, just listen to him and watch him jump from one thought to another, and from the current topic to the next. Do this for five minutes every day for a week.
3. After listening to your “monkey mind” for a week, begin to try to shift your attention to the “bull mind” during meditation, without drowning out its voice. Your bull mind is the part of your mind that thinks quietly, slowly and confidently. He senses the world around you. He doesn't try to see something in a distorted light. He simply sees, hears and feels. Most of People hear the voice of their bull's mind only when they experience the so-called "insight" - that elusive moment when something makes the monkey's mind fall silent for a while. But know this - even when your monkey mind is driving you crazy with its incoherent babbling and jerking in all directions, your bull mind is still there, inside you. And he continues to think his slow but meaningful thoughts.
4. Once you begin to experience your bull mind fully, ask it to begin to drown out your monkey mind. At least for a little while. Personally, it helped me to imagine how the mind of a monkey slowly falls asleep under the measured tread of the mind of a bull walking into the distance along the road of life. And don’t be annoyed by the fact that the sleeping mind of a monkey will wake up again over and over again. Think about its name, and understand - it simply cannot do otherwise. But over time, you will find that no matter how the monkey mind protests, it begins to leave you alone more and more often, stopping making its meaningless and annoying noise.
5. Once your monkey mind is completely calm, continue to shift your full attention to the bull mind. In doing so, you will enter into a very interesting condition mind. It will seem to you that every breath you take takes forever. You will feel the touch of air on your skin. You may even feel the blood flowing in your veins. And when you open your eyes, the world around you will seem completely new, and perhaps quite strange. For example, a window will become just a square thing in your mind, full of light. An item that does not need to be opened, closed, washed, repaired, or anything else done to it. She simply exists. You simply exist.
6. And, although in order to get to this stage, you need to do enough meditation for a long time, you will know that you have achieved your goal when it begins to seem to you that not a single second will pass between the moment you start meditation and the moment it ends. Once you have succeeded in this, you can gradually increase the amount of time you spend each day meditating. And no matter how much time you spend meditating, it will still seem to you that it has flown by in less than a second.

My experience with meditation has proven to me that practicing it every day has brought me three extremely valuable results:

Firstly, They completely relieve me of stress. Yes, no one can stop him from returning, but after my next meditation he will have to start from scratch, which means he will have much less time to develop into something dangerous.

Secondly, they contribute sleep soundly. When I practiced daily meditation, sometimes all I had to do was lie in bed and close my eyes to fall asleep within two or three seconds. To me, this alone is worth all the effort.

And thirdly(and I think this is the most important result) - meditation helps you think more clearly and be more creative in everything that happens in your life. In my case, my newfound sense of peace helped me end an unhealthy personal relationship and finally quit a job that was making me unhappy.

And therefore, although I cannot promise you that regular meditation will make you as talented as Steve Jobs (he was a genius, after all), I can firmly promise you that it will certainly make your life better.