There was a time, not long ago, when the word meditation conjured images of woo-woo, new agey types, energy crystals, incense burning. Through the Western lens of roll up your shirtsleeves, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get to work, just sitting still and being quiet for twenty minutes seemed, well, kind of weird. Out there. But not anymore. Today meditation is more popular than ever. It’s used as a tool everywhere–from the bedroom to the boardroom, in education and industry, across every sector. A friend of mine at a tech giant just shot me a text that a high-level meeting was kicked off with a meditation. There’s no denying it, meditation has gone mainstream. And that’s a good thing.
I've been studying and practicing meditation and mindfulness for over 20 years, long before it was cool and widely utilized. Over that time, the practice of mindful meditation has been more widely studied and the results are in. Science shows that practicing mindfulness trains the brain to achieve states of clarity, discipline, and mental focus. Being in these states gives us awareness of the mind and creates opportunities for shifts and changes at an unconscious, emotional level.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin used MRI machines to scan the brains of both meditators and non-meditators. What they found was undeniable. Not only were the structure and function different, the brains of meditators showed far higher levels of gamma waves than non-meditators. Gamma waves are linked to consciousness, learning, and happiness. Other studies have shown that specific forms of daily meditation increase the amount of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex. That’s the “higher” part of the brain where we access emotions like love and compassion. More gray matter means more processing capacity. Brains of meditators even show decreased signs of aging. My point is, the research shows that specific forms of meditation create results.
Not all meditation is created equal. If you’re sitting quietly, trying to get the mind to go blank, that’s not likely to produce results (other than perhaps frustration). If, however, you sit quietly and train the mind in a specific set of steps designed to get an outcome—for example, reinforce a belief matrix that aligns you with your vision—now you’ve got something.
I developed a practice of mindful meditation that I call Inner Training. It’s outcome driven meditation. It’s about self mastery. We train you to pinpoint and cultivate the emotions and thoughts that align with the outcome you’re looking to create. Sure, Inner Training can be leveraged to quiet the mind, but that’s just one facet of what’s possible. From there it can be used as a tool for directing the mind to produce specific results.
Inner Training for the Body. If you’re looking to meet a certain health goal, don’t think it’s only about training the body. If you want to realize the results you’re looking for, you’ve got to train the mind and emotions too. A daily Inner Training practice will train the emotions and focus the mind, replacing that Doubting Thomas in your head with a Certain Cecil or Empowered Edward. More and more, professional athletes are incorporating meditative techniques into their fitness routines in order to dial in a mindset of success, and leverage the imagination to visualize the win.
Inner Training in the workplace. Whether you’re looking to create peace or productivity, Inner Training practices can do wonders for your morning team meeting. Use it as a tool for unifying everyone around a vision or benchmark, managing workload, relieving stress, or even developing creative new solutions and innovations.
Inner Training for thriving relationships. Whether you’re looking for a new relationship or you’d like to fall back in love with your long-term partner, we’ve got a toolkit for you! And let’s not forget the kids. Introducing the skill and discipline of an Inner Training practice can set them up for success in managing painful emotions, developing confidence, and meeting benchmarks. They’ll learn to find their center and listen to their own intuition (rather than following the crowd). And when they develop the habit early, imagine what becomes possible for them as they venture out into life as a young adult?
The only obstacle to creating a daily Inner Training practice is making the commitment to doing it. People say to me, “But Joey, I don’t get it, I sit there and I try to clear my mind but I can’t stop the thoughts from coming.” And that’s the experience for most people who try meditation for a day or two, even a week, and give up. But Inner Training isn’t your average meditation. It’s a proven method for training the emotions, directing the mind, and calming the nervous system. All you have to do is decide to give it a try. 20 minutes a day is all it takes to change the structure and function of the brain…not to mention create stunning outcomes. Make that commitment and you’ll find that the results speak for themselves.
Inner Training is at the core of everything we do here at IMS. We not only train the what’s, why’s and how’s of proper Inner Training technique, we also provide the tools, techniques, and strategies for dialing in your practice to achieve specific results. Join us for our Power Series and learn how to incorporate Inner Training to up level any aspect of your life. Click HERE to learn more and sign up today!