Mindfulness meditation: brain training according to the method of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs Meditation Technique for Clearing the Mind and Self-Knowledge

An article in the eminent Financial Times quite specifically describes the technique of meditation of a genius. It was written by Steve's official biographer, Walter Isaacson. Everyone can master this method of meditation, just two steps are enough.

“Watch how constantly your mind is restless. Attempts to streamline the chaos of thoughts lead nowhere. Only calm observation will make your mind flow in the right direction, and not break down in a waterfall of emotions ”© Steve Jobs.

Mindfulness - that's what Jobs occupied his mind during meditation. Many years of practice made his mind clear and sharp, and most importantly - manageable. That is how he remained the first among equals, simply cutting off unnecessary thoughts and dispersing away the fog that shrouded the mind of every person.

Recent neuroscience studies have shown that meditation techniques (which, by the way, have been practiced in the East for several thousand years) can indeed have a beneficial effect on both mind and body.

Steve Jobs became the first person in Western corporate culture, who by his own example showed the effectiveness of such practices. After the incredible success of almost every product Steve invented, no one could just dismiss the benefits of meditation. Major corporations such as Target, Google, General Mills, and Ford have begun introducing mandatory courses in Eastern practices for their employees.

This is the technique that Steve Jobs used throughout his life: like all genius, it is very simple.

STEP 1

Sit cross-legged in a quiet place, preferably on a low cushion, to reduce strain on your back. Take a deep breath.

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 the movement of the so-called "monkey mind". Just watch from a distance as he jumps from one thought to another. This observation should be devoted to a week. Five to ten minutes a day will be enough.

STEP 2

At the beginning of the second week, the technique changes slightly. Focus on the part of your mind that you were observing - slowly and detachedly. This part is responsible for the perception of things in the present moment. Most of us realize this only when we experience something really amazing, something that stops our ever-hopping “monkey mind”. After you are really aware of the second part of your consciousness, try to control and direct it. Try to slow down your monkey mind. Calm him down.

“Your intuition becomes incredibly strong. Things acquire clarity, the present moment is perceived in full, without the experience of the past and the prism of the future. The mind receives new resources for the development of the only existing space - the present. © Steve Jobs.

You will understand when it starts to work. It will become much easier to shift your attention to the surrounding reality. During practice, you will notice such little things as breathing, blood flow. Air on your skin. Opening your eyes, you will see around a somewhat changed world. He will be deprived of the usual evaluative perception. The world just is. You are simply existing.

This practice can really take long time. But she's really worth it. The stress will go away completely. All the beginnings of new troubles will not be able to turn into a snowball that captures you with your head. They will stay where you can control them completely. Sleep problems will disappear. Two or three minutes will be enough to put the mind into rest mode. Waking up, respectively, will also become much easier.

With this technique, Steve Jobs built one of the most successful corporate empires of our century. Will it help you manage your own life? Don't even hesitate.

Faktrum tells what techniques Jobs used to develop his brain.

Steve Jobs Peterjthomson.com

“If you sit down and just watch yourself, you will find 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 still calms down, the subtlest things will open 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 kind of meditation is mindfulness meditation. originates 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 the journalist and writer Jeffrey James, who discussed with Jobs in the early 1990s how Zen and programming are related.

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

According to Isaacson's quote, the meditation practiced by Jobs is very similar to the one taught to James by the famous martial artist Yang Jin Ming. Here is his lesson, which includes six steps:

Sit cross-legged in a secluded, quiet place, preferably on a flat cushion to reduce back strain. Start breathing deeply.
Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue, to the thoughts that jump through 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 for 5 minutes a day for a week.
Without trying to calm the whirl of thoughts, try to shift your attention to your "ox mind", that is, to that part of your mind that thinks calmly and slowly. "Ox mind" simply observes the world around him. He does not give estimates, does not look for meanings, he simply sees, hears and feels. Most people do not even suspect about him, although he can open up to someone in moments of upheaval, when the "monkey" mind falls silent. But even when we are completely at the mercy of our “monkey mind”, when his commands “Hurry! Let's!" do not let us come to our senses, our "ox mind" imperceptibly continues its unhurried, thorough work.
As you become aware of your "ox mind", ask him to gradually slow down the work of the "monkey mind". Geoffrey James, for example, was helped by such a technique: he imagined how the “ox” slowly wanders along the road, and this spectacle lulls the “monkey mind”. Don't be upset if he wakes up from time to time. Monkeys, they are. However, you will find that he has become more resting than fussing and making noise.
After calming your "monkey mind", continue to focus on the "ox mind". And then your breathing will slow down. You will feel the touch of air on your skin. You may feel the blood running 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 just is - here and now. Just like you, here and now.
It will take some time to reach this state. But if you did everything right, then you won’t feel at all the time that has passed from the moment you turned on the timer until the moment it turned off. Gradually, day by day, increase the duration of your meditation. Surprisingly, no matter how long it lasts, you will not feel the passage of time.

Regular practice of mindfulness meditation provides three clear 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. Geoffrey James testifies that with regular practice, 2-3 seconds is enough for him to fall asleep.
You will begin to think more clearly and more accurately evaluate everything that happens in your life. For Jeffrey James, mindfulness meditation helped move away from destructive relationships in personal life and leave a job that made him feel miserable.

Everyone has it successful person there is a secret how to achieve better results in work and other areas of life. Famous Steve Jobs, for example, regularly performed mindfulness meditation. This activity helped him get rid of stress, clear his mind, find original solutions in any situation.

The genius of IT technology did not hide the fact that he practices such exercises, and shared his observations with biographer Walter Isaacson. Jobs claimed that the effect of classes is amazing, but does not come immediately. It is very difficult to calm your mind: trying to stop the flow of thoughts only leads to its intensification at first, but regular practice still gives results. As soon as you manage to achieve “silence” in your head, your consciousness will expand and the most unexpected things will begin to open up. Intuition will sharpen, answers to many questions will become obvious, a feeling of being here and now will come. Those important details, which previously eluded attention, suddenly appear before the mind's eye with all evidence.

Mindfulness meditation, like similar thought practices, comes from Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Jobs did it for many years, but told his biographer about it only shortly before his death. However, the writer and journalist Geoffrey James spoke with the pioneer of the IT era in the early 90s about the connection between programming and meditation. In those days, for most Europeans, this was something unusual, incomprehensible, not credible. However, Jobs turned out to be more perspicacious than his contemporaries and took advantage of the unique opportunities that classes provide.

Today, the benefits of such practices have been proven by science, although all their possibilities have not yet been studied. The impact of meditation on improving employee performance has already been appreciated by such well-known enterprises as Google, Target, Ford and others. They intentionally train employees in specific exercises to increase their motivation, Creative skills and success at work.

Jobs was describing to Isaacson a technique for doing mindfulness meditation. Geoffrey James believes that it is largely identical to the lessons he once learned from martial arts expert Yang Jin Ming, and gives a description of them. The execution consists of six steps:

Stage one. In a calm, secluded room where no one will disturb you, you need to sit with your legs crossed and your back straight. It is convenient to use a small flat pillow for this. Then you should close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply and evenly.
Stage two- Observing your own thoughts. You don't need to drive them away, stop them, control them, let them flash by as usual. The internal monologue is very active: work, weekend plans, news, family affairs, in a word, everything that is important on this moment. These rapidly changing mental plots received code name"monkey mind". At the second stage of meditation, one should simply observe how the images, clinging to each other, rush through the head. It is necessary to perform the exercise for at least 5 minutes daily for a week.
Stage three. Now that you have the skill of observing the flow of thoughts, it's time to try to become aware of the deep, "ox mind." To do this, without trying to stop the internal chatter, switch to that part of consciousness that consists of slow and calm thoughts, without any characteristics of what is happening. The "ox mind" simply observes, without going into the intricacies of relationships, but not a single detail escapes its close attention. Many people are not even aware of its existence, being at the mercy of the "monkey mind" busy with everyday fuss, but it works regardless of how humanly understands.
Stage four. Having consolidated the skill of realizing your “cow mind” and switching attention to it, you can gradually stop the internal monologue. For this, Geoffrey James imagined a slowly and measuredly walking ox. (in my case, I didn’t want to represent the ox, because for me it was rather the personification slave labor, so I imagined a graceful lion striding importantly across a beautiful landscape) “Contemplation” of such a picture calmed thoughts, they ceased to replace each other in leaps and bounds. If the internal chatter suddenly resumes - it's okay, you need to let it subside calmly. Over time, it will occur less and less.
Stage five. From the moment when you manage to calm the “monkey mind”, you need to finally focus on the “cow”. He sees the world differently, so the sensations will be new and unusual. Perception will sharpen. You can, for example, feel how blood flows or air fills the lungs. If you open your eyes in this state of consciousness, then objects will be seen as if out of context. An open book will be just an open book, unrelated to the idea of closing it, shifting it, or reading it.
Stage six. It will take time and effort to reach it, because at first the task of stopping the flow of thoughts seems very difficult. However, with a certain perseverance, the goal is achievable, and when it turns out to switch to the "ox mind", you need to gradually increase the duration of meditation. At the same time, the feeling of time disappears, and the result will surprise and delight.

Regular meditation practices can change a person's life. Steve Jobs proved this by his example, but besides him, many other people can confirm the statement. If everything is done correctly, you will be able to:

Get rid of insomnia. The ability to switch off from the internal monologue will allow you to fall asleep in just a few seconds.
Get rid of stress and related problems. All anxious thoughts are part of the “monkey mind”, which is able to turn mild anxiety into serious excitement. Of course, difficulties in life happen to everyone, but meditation will allow you to evaluate them objectively and find the best ways to solve problems.
Start thinking more clearly. A deep understanding of the essence of things, which will come with time, will allow you to correctly prioritize. Thanks to this, it will be possible to exclude everything unnecessary from your life and attract into it what can make a person happier and more successful.

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7 comments to the article "Mindful meditation: training the brain according to the method of Steve Jobs"

I am very grateful for this article. Your site has now become not only an assistant in iphone repair but also a helper in life! Last year there were so many different situations both in the country and in my country, my health was shaken, my thoughts became constantly running around, and now I read the article and immediately did the first meditation, I liked it. After her, I wanted to stretch, which I gladly did. And somehow something became easier both in the body and in the soul. Thank you for this!

Wow, great! Thank you Alexander for your feedback! I am very pleased, because It was my idea to place this article on our company's website. I am glad that this article helped not only me. I have been working in our company for 8 years and have been repairing iPhones, and thoughts began to visit me, what next? On the one hand, this is the service to people. We honestly do our work, we do it very high quality, we get decent pay for it. But I started wanting more.
I will tell you about my experience:
I often wanted to think about something important, but somehow it didn’t work out, as soon as I sit down, different thoughts start to creep into my head, then calls, then I remember that I forgot to do something, I climbed VKontakte, in a word, distracted everything Well, after two weeks of meditation, I felt much better. I began to think about what is really important to me. And the thoughts became different, not restless transient, but calm and strong in meaning, and it became easier to follow them.
Please write, I'm very interested in how your condition will change.

Okay. I will write. It's not difficult for me. Today I meditated on this principle, it was difficult to imagine an ox, and my thoughts were constantly running somewhere. Strange, but it was not possible to reach the state that was the first time. Time dragged on slowly and I began to come up with a point for concentration, came up with the idea of concentrating on exhalation, then tried to keep my attention on the tip of the nose. I did several meditations and it didn't work. Strange, but after that he began to feel irritated. There was a feeling that I began to think and act very quickly, and everyone else was just slow. And they walk, and they talk, and they go by car... In a word, the experience is very interesting. I will continue.

Hello Vsevolod. Came here by accident on the basis of an article.) We can say that the nervous work and the search for more, interested in this way of "getting together." Interested in your experience (if you are still doing?). After all, work vseravno, like everyone else, is probably associated with stress? With the need to think different variants, the need to keep everything in mind and make risky decisions. What kind of "calm thoughts" are there, don't they only make things worse?

Sergey, what a pity that I missed your message. Please write to me on VK:

Steve Jobs is known to almost everyone for his incredible ability to create innovative, groundbreaking products. But almost no one knows how he did it. Jobs was a pioneer in what is now called "smart esotericism." Concentration, meditation, clearing the mind helped Steve see clearly the necessary path.

Described in detail the meditation technique of a genius. It was written by Steve's official biographer, Walter Isaacson, in many places there are direct quotes about the right way purification of the mind.

“Watch how constantly your mind is restless. Attempts to streamline the chaos of thoughts lead nowhere. Only calm observation will make your mind flow in the right direction, and not fall down in a waterfall of emotions.

Recent neuroscience studies have shown that meditation techniques (which have been practiced in the East for several thousand years) can indeed have a beneficial effect on both mind and body.

Steve Jobs became the first person in Western corporate culture to show by example the effectiveness of such practices. After the incredible success of almost every product that Jobs invented, no one could just dismiss the benefits of meditation. Major corporations such as Target, Google, General Mills, and Ford have begun introducing mandatory courses in Eastern practices for their employees.

This is the technique that the great visionary used throughout his life. Like all genius, it is very simple.

First stage

Sit cross-legged in a quiet place, preferably on a low cushion, to reduce strain on your back. Take a deep breath.

Second step

After you are really aware of the second part of your consciousness, try to control and direct it. Try to slow down your monkey mind. Calm him down.

“Your intuition becomes incredibly strong. Things acquire clarity, the present moment is perceived in full, without the experience of the past and the prism of the future. The mind receives new resources for the development of the only existing space - the present.

This practice can indeed take a long time. But she's really worth it. The stress will go away completely. All the beginnings of new troubles will not be able to turn into a snowball that captures you with your head. They will stay where you can control them completely. Sleep problems will disappear. Two or three minutes will be enough to put the mind into rest mode. Waking up, respectively, will also become much easier.

And most importantly, thoughts will eventually become clearer. You will be able to evaluate the events taking place in your own life from all sides. Calmness - not vanity - for decision difficult problems. Any trouble.

With this technique, Steve Jobs built one of the most successful corporate empires of our century. Will it help you manage your own life? Don't even hesitate.

A creative genius, a guru in the world of IT technologies, a man who changed the world, has been practicing mindfulness meditation for many years.

« If you sit down and just watch yourself, you will find 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 still calms down, the subtlest things will open 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, 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 the journalist and writer Jeffrey James, who discussed with Jobs in the early 1990s how Zen and programming are related.

According to Isaacson's quote, the meditation practiced by Jobs is very similar to that taught to James by famed martial artist Yang Jwing Ming. Here is his lesson, which includes six steps:

1. Sit cross-legged in a secluded, quiet place, preferably on a flat cushion to reduce back strain. Start breathing deeply.

2. Close your eyes and listen to your inner monologue, to the thoughts that jump through 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 for 5 minutes a day for a week.

3. Without trying to calm the whirl of thoughts, try to switch attention to your "ox mind", that is, to that part of your mind that thinks calmly and slowly. "Ox mind" simply observes the world around him. He does not give estimates, does not look for meanings, he simply sees, hears and feels. Most people do not even suspect about him, although he can open up to someone in moments of upheaval, when the "monkey" mind falls silent. But even when we are completely at the mercy of our “monkey mind”, when his commands “Hurry! Let's!" do not let us come to our senses, our "ox mind" imperceptibly continues its unhurried, thorough work.

4. As you become aware of your "cow mind", ask him to gradually slow down the work of the “monkey mind”. Geoffrey James, for example, was helped by such a technique: he imagined how the “ox” slowly wanders along the road, and this spectacle lulls the “monkey mind”. Don't be upset if he wakes up from time to time. Monkeys, they are. However, you will find that he has become more resting than fussing and making noise.

5. After calming your "monkey mind", continue to focus on the "ox mind". And then your breathing will slow down. You will feel the touch of air on your skin. You may feel the blood running 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 just is – here and now. Just like you, here and now.

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

Regular practice of mindfulness meditation provides three clear 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. Geoffrey James testifies that with regular practice, 2-3 seconds is enough for him to fall asleep.

3. You will begin to think more clearly and more accurately evaluate everything that happens in your life.. For Jeffrey James, mindfulness meditation helped move away from destructive relationships in his personal life and leave a job that made him feel unhappy.

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