Meditation is making a buzz those days. There is a lot going on, many techniques, advices on how to meditate. We have to find our way in this jungle of information. I tested some techniques, but in the end I found the best one for me. It comes from the ancient Indian tradition. I started meditating every day for 15 minutes and already got amazing results.

There are also scientific studies that prove the impact of meditation on our brain: meditation can really change our lives and especially the way we respond to negative emotions.

1. Meditation impacts the way we react to unpleasant situations.

When I started meditating every day, I noticed a major shift in my reactions to situations that in the past could trigger a negative emotion from me. I was more detached, centred, calm. Moreover, I was a non judgemental observer of my thoughts, during meditation, but this attitude continued during the day. Of course, I was surprised how less I was prone to stress, anxiety, anger, fear.

I also become more aware on the “triggers”: the situations that were likely to cause that negative emotion to raise in me. Therefore, I got to know myself better, bringing more self awareness in my life. From there, it starts a fascinating journey to self discovery, exploring the inner core motives that bring us reacting in a way or another, depending on the external situation.

2. Meditation impacts creativity.

The fact that we connect in meditation with our own intuition, beyond the chattering of the mind, brings us straight to the centre of our creativity. We can be creative only from silence and space in our mind. A very busy mind, full of “spam” thoughts, will never be able to be creative. It is impossible. I experience that when I am painting. I meditate before starting, and I also paint what I see in meditation (colours, patterns that are the expression of my subconscious mind). My artworks stem directly from there. Without meditation, I could not go so deep in myself and certainly my art would be less original. Creativity is not only about art. We can be creative in our daily life, when we take an important decision or we find a solution to a problem.

3. Meditation impacts efficiency

I experienced that, when I have a very busy day in front of me, I am better able to deal with those tasks when I have meditated than when I have not. We all have the temptation to skip the 15 minutes meditation, with the excuse that “we do not have time today”. I noticed that if I skip it, I am much less efficient in dealing with the challenges of the day. I have the feeling of being pulled in different directions…wasting my time and experiencing more stress.

When, on the contrary, I meditate, I am more efficient, because I am centred and much more focused. So, I can deal with one task at the time, without dispersion of energy. Everything becomes easy and effortless.

I encourage you to explore those benefits, by starting the meditation practice on my Tapas for life course, starting on 25 March.