Brainstorming Methods

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Author:
Jamie Lynn

It is not difficult to learn transcendental meditation. If you are looking to escape from the whirlwind of ringing cell phones, traffic snarls and screaming kids, transcendental meditation can provide a peaceful getaway from the craziness of everyday life.

In 1958, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi formally introduced his transcendental meditation technique. Since then, he has written several books, lectured and toured extensively all over the world and trained over 40,000 teachers. Transcendental meditation is now practiced in the workplace, at home and in medical settings. In addition, doctors and health professionals are increasingly prescribing transcendental meditation as means of combating anxiety disorders and stress.

You may be wondering what is transcendental meditation and what makes it different from other forms of meditation? One of the most exciting elements of the transcendental meditation technique is that it so simple and easy to practice. With the right focus and dedication, you can learn transcendental meditation in a matter of moments.

Basically, during the meditation session, your body enters a deep and peaceful state of relaxation, while maintaining alertness and clarity. First, the person chooses a word or image to focus on, perhaps a religious or cultural symbol that has special meaning. As the person replays this word or image over and over, the body descends into a deeper and deeper state of restfulness. The session can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and should take place in a calm and relaxed setting, with minimal noise and distractions.

No other meditation technique has been so extensively studied and researched. During transcendental meditation, the brain falls into a theta brain wave pattern (akin to sleep and deep relaxation), which then carries over to the state of wakefulness. Physical benefits include increased mental comprehension, focus, retention and creativity. Another interesting benefit is the actual reversal of the aging process. In a study conducted by the International Journal of Neuroscience, the biological age of practitioners of transcendental meditation was, on average, twelve years younger than their chronological age. Transcendental meditation also has positive effects on age and stress related conditions such as insomnia, high blood pressure, decreased visual acuity, hearing loss and depressed cerebral blood flow.

It is interesting to note that adherents from all religions choose to learn transcendental meditation. Although it has roots in Hinduism, the transcendental meditation technique can be applied to any cultural context. In fact, those who learn transcendental meditation are encouraged to adapt symbols that have meaning and depth for the individual. For example, a rabbi may choose to focus on a symbol or image rooted in Judaism to enhance the effectiveness of the session. In contrast, an agnostic may choose an image from nature such as a beautiful meadow or sunset to achieve relaxation. The beauty of transcendental meditation is its flexibility. http://www.meditationandmore.com

Jamie Lynn has dedicated herself to teaching others the Power of Meditation and other alternative health/healing tips and techiques for the mind, body and spirit! http://www.meditationandmore.com

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Brainpower... Effective Brainstorming Most managers simply herd some people in a room with a flip chart and call it a brainstorming session. Yet there is a definite process that maximizes the size and quality of the idea pool. While there are hundreds of valid techniques for doing this, below are just some of the important concepts leaders should consider. a) The sum of ideas produced by individuals acting alone is greater than the sum of ideas produced by those individuals acting as a group. Further, the diversity and novelty of ideas produced by individuals acting alone is greater than produced in a group. This means that asking group members to think of a set number of diverse and novel ideas before the session and then repeat the process during the session results in greater total output. Be sure to insist that individuals think of new ideas in the group session. b) Individuals are prone to competency traps and path dependency. This means that it is hard for them to rapidly frame break unless new experience, stimuli or knowledge is introduced. One solution is to import competencies. Bring in new and dissimilar individuals. Try and ensure these new individuals score high on expression, tacit knowledge and status. c) Brainstorming usually implies that the solution to a problem is being sought. Thus one good principle is to break the session into three parts – problem identification, idea generation and idea selection. It is amazing how many different perceptions of a problem often exist. Each problem definition generates its own set of ideas. This stage-process allows the separation of creative from critical thinking. Writing and editing are two very different processes. d) Set incremental goals. Incremental goals produce more output than “do your best.” Further, they force output and trigger...