Dabbl

              I started meditating during college. I was trying all these new zen-like approaches to life. Meditation naturally came up and some friends of mine also grasped its power as well. Over the years of practicing mediation, you get to learn more about what’s being worked on behind the scenes. What’s really happening when we meditate? Do other forms of meditation work better than others? Is there more than one reason to meditate? These questions are actually more difficult to answer than you may think. Because it all depends on the individual. Something that may work for one person may not work for the next person. Everyone’s different so if you want to get deeper into meditation, you must practice different forms to gain perspective and realize what works for you.

              One type of mediation I’ve come very fond of is mediating for creativity. As a writer, entrepreneur, and full time employee, ideas are everything to me. I need to be constantly coming up with original ideas for myself. That’s the beauty in what I do, but that’s also the struggle in what I do. I come up with my own ideas, but that means my mind always has to be working. And one thing that I’ve found to help out with having more ideas and a clearer mind is meditation.

              I came across this specific type of mediation call TM. It stands for Transcendental Meditation. First off, I don’t believe its main focus is to become a more creative person. Like most mediation practices, its main purpose is to quiet the mind and bring peace to your inner self. And TM certainly does cover those bases. But one effect I wasn’t expecting was its effect on my creativity.

              I noticed as I repeated my mantra, my mind drifts off at the same time. However, I will still be repeating my mantra. During these space out moments is when you get the most out of this mediation practice. Your mind is still conscious while you’re repeating the mantra, but your unconscious is also at work during these space out moments. The result, you get a powerful spiritual calmness while being sharp in the mind. And it’s at these moments where I feel a wave of creative ideas.

              The trick is to begin the mediation with one specific thing on your mind that you want to give energy to. That’s it. Don’t force this one thing onto the mediation. But keep it in mind in the beginning breathes, then let it go. You’ll notice that your mind will naturally give energy to what you are using energy on. And this is where lots of ideas will come to you.

              In this mediation zone where ideas are coming to you, I compare it to a dream-like state. Like waking up after a dream, if you don’t write down your dream immediately after waking up, then there’s a high chance of you forgetting that dream. As a result, after each mediation session you should write all the ideas that came into your mind right after the session is over. This way you don’t lose the ideas that popped into your mind.

              Mediation is great for a lot of reasons, but the most underrated reason is the benefit to creativity. Being in a meditative state means having a clear mind. This environment is perfect for the birth of ideas. Be sure to write down your ideas right after each session. Happy mediating!