5 Steps To Brain Training By Steve Jobs

Lately I have stopped to reflect on how I could improve my intellectual abilities by seeking to be much more flexible or quick when reasoning. At times, I ask myself the big question of “am I using my brain properly?” or can it be true that she is slow to reason?

After much research and investigation I realized that even the most developed geniuses sometimes have the same situation. Today I would like to bring you as an example of this Steve Jobs, the creative genius who also felt the need to exercise and make his brain work even more.

In one of his interviews, Jobs narrated the effects of  meditation to his biographer Walter Isaacson as follows:

Of all the types of meditations that we can use, mindfulness meditation was the one chosen and used by Jobs , having its origins in Zen Buddhism and Taoism. In one of his last interviews, Jobs shared with  Isaacson that he had been practicing this meditation for several years with the following 5 steps:

Step 1

Sit in the lotus flower pose in your favorite place, calm, comfortable and silent. To avoid back problems from tension, you can sit on a pillow. And start to breathe deeply …

Step 2

Keep your eyes closed and listen to the thoughts that come to your mind. These are part of what we call “Monkey Mind” . Don’t worry that these won’t allow you to fully concentrate. Just focus for now on watching your mind go from one thought to another and repeat this exercise a day for 5 minutes for a week.

Step 3

Concentrate on what they call “Ox Mind”,  the part of your mind that thinks calmly and slowly, focusing on the world around it. This only pretends to observe, listen and feel , without judging or understanding the meaning. The ox mind allows you to be quiet, patient and detailed at work.

Step 4

Beginning to be aware of your  “ox mind” will allow you to ask yourself to leave behind the ” monkey mind ” state . As an example we can take Jeffrey James, who used the following technique that helped him for this exercise: he imagined an ox that was calmly going down a road and the monkey, meanwhile, fell asleep.

Do not worry if occasionally the monkey begins to “do his thing “ is a normal part of the process .. . Little by little it will disappear and allow you to focus much more on the “ox mind” state .

Step 5

As you calm your monkey mind, try to focus on your ox mind by helping your breathing to slow down. Your senses will heighten and you will connect more with your environment, the sensations . If you open your eyes you will perceive that the world around you is received differently and possibly something strange. You are beginning to truly live the “here and now” with your essence.

This last state is the one that is intended to be achieved through these exercises. But for this you will need time. You will gradually increase the duration of this last sensation of peace and fulfillment, almost without noticing the use of time. And remember, mindfulness meditation allows you to:

• Get rid of stress. It will allow you not to perceive great difficulties as great worries.
• Helps you overcome and avoid insomnia.
• You will be able to allow yourself to  think and reflect more clearly and to appreciate much better what is happening in your life.