Today, I want to share some of what I learned from doing meditation for the last few years.
Recently, I have noticed that I have been spending more and more time on the internet and social media, especially YouTube, and have become addicted to it.
At the same time, I have noticed that my ability to concentrate, which is an area in which I am fundamentally confident, has decreased. I have also noticed a decrease in my reading speed and comprehension and on the other hand, an increase in impulsive online purchases.
Nowadays, people are desperately trying to create contents that grab our "attention".
It could be information, a video, an advertisement, a notification, or an online game.
We are bombarded with all kinds of content when we open our phones or computers.
Why is everyone trying to grab our attention and take up so much of our time?
It is because our "attention" becomes money.
And these contents are often marketed in a way that directly affects our instincts, so we somehow watch, read, and look at it even if we have no use for it.
For me, Youtube was just that. Of course, there is a lot of useful and educational information to be gained besides entertainment, so I recently set a rule for myself that I set a time to watch it.
I thought I would be able to achieve more and faster if I could direct all of my attention, which had been scattered here and there, to my goals and what I want to do.
In fact, in the past, when I have set some goal, whether it be a college entrance exam, a project at work, or having a solo exhibition, I have had a few small successful experiences where I took an integrated approach that helped me to focus.
I just finished a long graphic design job that had been going on for about six months about two weeks ago, so I decided to change my lifestyle to switch a little more into a focus mode of illustration.
One of the habits I have changed is having more constants meditation, and this is the topic I am going to discuss with you today.
I am not trying to spread the word about meditation like a spiritual guru. I just hope there will be one or two people who is interested in it.
I don't want to force it on someone who's not interested. So you may work on the drawing while I'm talking.
As I have mentioned several times in this class, a lot of my favorite creators like David Lynch and Martin Scorsese promotes meditation. As I admire them as an artist, I became interested in meditation because I simply thought it was a cool habit.
However, I didn't know much about it at first, so I watched Youtube videos of meditation for beginners, read articles, and meditated in my own way.
I have been meditating on and off for the past several years, and I feel like I finally started to get in touch with the beginning of the true meaning of meditation.
In my case, It's hard to find a mental space to meditate when I am too busy. This makes it difficult for me to maintain a good mental state, and I become easily stressed and angry.
In truth, it is better to keep meditating in any condition, but in my case, I couldn't. I might have mainly felt only a short-term effect until recently even though I started meditating five years ago. This is because such a combination of factors includes I have some periods when I stop meditating.
Meditation is said to have a slightly different effect on the mind and brain depending on the time you have meditated. More than an hour, 24 hours, 100 hours...
I hope that my total meditation time will reach to the next turning point within 3 months!
In my opinion, the most effective effect of meditation is mental enhancement.
The ability to:
carry out what needs to be done
prioritize future success over immediate pleasure
see yourself objectively as others do
Those so-called rational sides can be strengthened through meditation.
Most of the time when we fail at something, we have been taken over by our instinct.
Let's say, you want to get in shape for the beach season.
On the one hand, you think you need to restrict your diet, but on the other hand, you are tempted to the greasy, heavy food or alcohol in front of you.
In this moment, <reason> and <instinct> are competing in your brain to decide which choice to make.
When we fail, our instinct to eat cheesy pizza wins; when we come close to success, our reason for a better diet wins.
Most people let reason get the better of the temptation in front of them.
But some people prioritize their future interests rather than the instant temptation.
The analogy is that those who continue to work hard for the benefit of the future will succeed in the end.
Imagine this.
What if you could act rationally and for the sake of your future while most people drop out because they can't resist the temptation?
Don't you think you would be able to achieve a different form of result in your life than most other people?
It is said that this control of reason can be strengthened through meditation.
Life becomes easier just by strengthening the mental aspect, which can be obtained through meditation. But the benefits of meditation are not only that.
Next is the ability aspect.
It is said that meditation increases ability, concentration, and working memory.
Studies have shown that people with a long history of meditation have a transformed brain.
In a 2008 study by Harvard University, those who practiced mindfulness meditation were scanned and studied with MRIs, and found that the area of the brain called "gray matter," the place that controls thoughts and emotions, was larger than that of people who did not meditate.
This phenomenon appeared in people who make meditation a habit, but many studies show that even people who had no experience with meditation were able to focus better after doing it for a short period.
For example, a 2018 study found that when people were asked to do 10 minutes of meditation and then measured their level of "mind wandering", 44% of them experienced an increase of their attention ability.
The ability to concentrate is one of the major benefits of meditation.
We have trouble concentrating because our attention is diverted to something other than what is in front of us.
I was working on my project but I realized I was scrolling my phone.
Then I looked at the time, half an hour or an hour had passed.
Have you ever had this experience? ...I obviously have.
This is not because we can't concentrate. It is just that our concentration has been taken away elsewhere.
So if your focus is not elsewhere, you can bring your performance to its highest level, right?
Here are some stuff that I leaned from meditation and want to share.
I have learned several types of meditation, but I recommend a breathing technique that turns your attention to your breath.
Meditating before work improves your concentration because meditation focuses your attention on a single point, and then you redirect that focus to your work.
I have felt this quite a bit and still practice it, but try this breathing meditation even only for three minutes before working.
Then turn that awareness to the work next.
When it works out well, it is super easy to get into a deep focus mode, and it is easier to get the state of "flow".
But why can't the majority of people make meditation a habit with all these great benefits?
There are two big reasons.
The first is because it is too easy.
Many people think that they can make it easily.
Unlike some habits such as muscle training, meditation is just sitting down and doing nothing. It can be done anywhere, anytime, and for as little as 10 minutes at a time.
It can be done that easily by anyone, without the need to spend 30 minutes or an hour, as with strength training, running, etc.
That makes it easy to skip it.
Humans have a very strong tendency to put off things that can be done at any time.
I can do it anytime, so I can do it later, or I can do it tomorrow.
Because it is easy, this kind of thinking comes up, so many people just don't do it.
However, it is impossible for people who cannot accumulate easy things to produce different results from others.
A lot of people nudge people to do meditation because it "does nothing," but why do successful people all over the world practice it?
It is because it works.
The second reason why meditation does not last is that the effects are not immediate.
Even a short period at a time often produces one-time effects, such as an effect on concentration. But if you want to feel the real long-term effects of meditation, such as changes in your mentality, you still need to continue it for a certain period of time to feel its effects.
When working out, if you exercise hard once a week, you may lose a half pound on that day.
However, if you keep your usual routine for the remaining six days of the week, you will not be able to achieve your goal.
The same is true for meditation.
In my own experience, it is difficult to feel the real effects of doing a short meditation only once a week.
It is said that if you do it every day, you will begin to feel the real benefits of meditation after about a month.
Furthermore, since meditation affects the mind and brain, it is even harder to feel the effects because they are not visible effects such as you get from muscle training.
That is why many people get bored and give up halfway through.
I was the same way at first, but it is not so much that you suddenly change, but rather that you change when you realize you have changed.
I noticed that:
The amount of time I can focus is increasing
I'm able to calm down on things, even when I used to be freaked out
I get stressed out less often than before
etc.
These are the feelings you get when you notice that you have changed.
To be honest, it may take up to a month of daily practice to start noticing these changes.
But if you do it properly every day for a month, you will definitely start to see results.
The hardest aspect of the effect is that it is hard to make a habit of it, but if you are interested in the essence of meditation, try it for 3 months.
I, too, am going to concentrate on it and continue for at least three months from now on.
Meditation is 100% free and no risk to start, so I would be happy if even 1-2 students are interested in it!
Have a wonderful week :)
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