What is the common point between creativity and meditation ?
How can we meditate easily and become more productive ?
Creativity is powerful and can be very either on a private matter, as for our professionnal life. But what is its commonality with meditation ? You can relax, we are not here for an Anusara Yoga session, even if this could bring a lot of goodness in your day. Were are here to understand why meditation favorise creativity. Moreover, I will share with you a simple and efficient tip on how to easily learn to meditate, which has been a huge enrichment for me in the past.
Meditation at Work
Generally speaking, meditation will help you on many aspects. This means that practicing it will allow you to live serenly and think thoroughly, more especially you will be in tune with yourself. There are many other benefits in this method of relaxation, yet the most important thing to remember is how helpful it is to do it at home, as well as at work.
Let’s focus now on the resemblace with creativity. You might have heard it already, meditation helps you to realign with the present moment. More than that, it can also enable you to isolate a problem or a situation, to better analyse it and find the answer you need. In other words, when encounter an issue, it can be difficult to find solutions and take decisions. By meditating, you learn to embrasse your challenges, and forget about all the rest. Thanks to that, you can take the necessary time to evaluate the situation, taking all the angles possible in order to find, the right solutions.
On the other hand, keep in mind that even if meditation has its virtues, it is not a miracle tool that will solve all your problems. It means that when you are working on a project development, you will need more than just a meditating exercise (this will be a good complement). For more efficiency, you can combine it with approaches such as the 6 Bono hats, the TRIZ, the SCAMPER, and so on.
Practical exercise
Knowing about meditation is one thing, yet how can we train it ? here is a practical exercise, simple to realise. First of all, remember the following rules :
- There is no imposed time. If you feel like meditating for a minute, just do it. If for an hour, so be it. The point is to go at your rythme, to progressively be better at it.
- Have a natural posture. The optimal position to adopt (and the easiest) is to seat on a chair, relaxed but with your back straight. If you seat in an unnatural posture, you will restrain your blood flow to circulate well and the good distribution of your energy in your body.
- Make yourself comfortable, in a suitable environment. It doesn’t mean that the place should be totally quiet, just that you feel comfortable where you are so you can do your exercise correctly. It could even be in a restaurant during the rush hour, if it’s the place for you.
- Stay positive and diligent. To meditate for a long period of time and in the most appopriate way, it could take time. So train regularly, stay positive, and you will achieve your objectives.
- You can keep your eyes open. Although closing your eyes could help you focus even more, it is not essential. At first, it might be difficult to do so, even more if you are meditating in a place full of people. For that reason, you can start practicing with your eyes open, then make some adjustements with the time.
Now that you know the basics, let’s do the actual exercise. For this, you will need to grab a sultana. If you do not have any with you, just grab another dried fruit or food that you want (even chocolate is fine). Have a sit on the chair (straighten your back), and start :
- Firstly, take the sultana in your hands. What does it look like ? Can you perceive any cavity or bump ? What is its shape ? what is its weight (just have a guess)? Analyse all the visual aspects of the sultana. Take the time you need, then move on to the next step.
- Focus now on the texture, on the feeling. Is it smooth or rough ? soft or strong ? Can you crush it or not ? Again try to define as many things as you can.
- Now let’s move on to the next step, which is the smell. Bring the sultana close to your nose, what is its smell ? can you describe if it’s fruity or bitter ? does it have a specific smell ? does it smell anything at all ? how strong is the smell ?
- The next focus is on the sound. Can you hear anything coming from it ? when you manipulate it, does it make any sound ? Can you perceive its silence ?
- For the last step, we are focusing on its taste (finally !). Put the sultana in your mouth, but don’t swallow or bite it quite now. First feel its texture, do you experience anything particular, its imperfactions maybe ? Can you already feel any aroma coming out of it ? Is it sweet, salty, bitter ? after a while, you can start biting it, feel the flavors coming out of it, the texture, and so on. Do it for a while, until you feel it’s time to swallow it. Here again, analyse the sensation it brings when it goes into your stomach, the feeling of fulfillness, of satisfaction.
And here you go, you have meditated ! As previously mentioned, this exercise might take you a really short time at first, yet by doing it on a regular basis will help you master it after a while.
So are you ready to work on innovative projects ? I’ll let you meditate on that.