Mindfulness and mental performance

[Brad]

Hi all, first off, I just wanted to say hello and thank you to everyone. I've only posted a few times here, but I read a good portion of what is written, and a lot of it has helped me as I continue to meditate and practice mindfulness.

Anyway, I wanted to bring up the topic of mental performance and hear what experience you guys have had. For me, as a web designer, it's really amazing to notice the difference from when I work when I have recently meditated (especially immediately afterwards) compared to when I have not meditated recently or that day--I literally feel like my IQ has bounced up. In general, I feel like I'm able to continuously think a few steps ahead of myself in an intuitive way, perhaps not unlike a chess player. I'll often begin designing or coding something the way I would normally, only for a new way or improvement to pop into my mind. And I seem to make less errors and typos when coding.

This has really been surprising to me. Coming into mindfulness meditation, I expected to feel less stressed and to develop a stronger sense of compassion towards other people. But I never expected to work more intelligently as a result.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your own experiences regarding meditation and mental performance.

[piedwagtail91]

i've had similar experiences, for me i think it's that i've had 30 or so minutes of letting go of thoughts and that carries over into what i want to do next, leaving more 'room' for the stuff that matters or allowing me to see things more clearly.
be interesting to read other peoples experiences.

[Gareth]

I too feel like there has been an improvement in my cognitive ability since beginning the practice. Mindfulness helps me to feel sharper and it brings a real clarity to my decision making. The improvements in my concentration are vast too. I'm just so much better at noticing when my mind has wandered and when I'm doing work, I can just bring my attention when it has gone. This has been so good for my productivity.

I think I'll move this to mindfulness questions.

[JonW]

Hi Brad.
I'm with piedwagtail91 on this. I seem to have so much more mental space available to think clearly and act decisively when needs must. It's as though I've done a major spring clean on my brain and cleared out all the junk that was taking up valuable room. Before I started meditating my mind must have resembled Steptoe's back yard. Now it's more like Mickey Rourke's apartment in Nine And A Half Weeks - without the kinky paraphernalia.

[FeeHutch]

I am a counsellor and I always take a few minutes before each client to be still and as present as I can be between clients. It helps calm any nerves, remind myself to really listen to the client and myself.

[Brad]

Hi Brad.
It's as though I've done a major spring clean on my brain and cleared out all the junk that was taking up valuable room.

Yeah, that's a great way to put it. It's also sort of like if my mind was a computer, mindfulness equips it with more RAM. It can work with more information at once.

Anyway, it's great to hear I'm not the only one, since I was a little worried I was imagining some sort of "placebo" effect.

[JonW]

Sounds like you're doing just fine, Brad.
Great to see you on the forum. Your posts are much appreciated.
All good things, Jon

[Enigma]

Even brief training in mindfulness (sometimes as little as 10 minutes of anapanasati - mindfulness of breathing) has been shown to improve mental performance on concentration- and attention-related tasks. There is a wealth of literature on the cognitive benefits of meditation and mindfulness more broadly.

Like others have mentioned, I've also experienced a sharpness and clarity derived from deepening meditation practice. I've worked my way up over the years to anywhere between 2 and 10 hours of formal meditation per day, depending on circumstances. Yet I'm of the deep conviction that it is not the duration that matters as much as consistency, something that tends to be neglected with the usual excuse being "I'm too busy." However, even a single minute of skillfully practiced mindfulness can make a difference if it becomes a regular part of one's day.

[JonW]

Ten hours, eh?
Phew.
That's some going.

[Enigma]

It doesn't happen overnight (unless you count sleeping as meditation ).

Tomorrow I'll be aiming for 10-12 hours of formal, seated mindfulness-meditation. If there's any noticeable change in mental performance afterward, I'll report back. If not, you can assume I'm in recovery.