Boost Your Willpower with This Meditation Technique


Your willpower is constantly being tested, which makes things like eating healthier, exercising more often, and waking earlier so very hard. The good news is there's one powerful way to train our brains for more self-control. That's right, meditation.

Research indicates that just three hours of meditation can increase self-control and focus, while after eleven hours changes in the brain are visible.

If you want to increase your willpower, try this three-step meditation technique:

Kelly McGonigal [author of The Willpower Instinct] says that the following meditation technique will get the blood rushing to your prefrontal cortex, which is pretty much the closest we can get to speeding up evolution and making the most of our brain’s potential:

1. Sit still and stay put. You can either sit on a chair with your feet flat on the ground or sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Try to resist the impulses to move: see if you can ignore itches and urges to change your position. Sitting still is an important part of mediation because it teaches you not to follow your impulses automatically.

2. Turn your attention to your breath. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. In your mind, say “inhale” when you breathe in, and “exhale” when you breathe out. When you notice that your mind is wandering, bring it back, and keep focusing on your breathing. This activates prefrontal cortex and quiets the stress and craving centres of your brain.

3. Notice how it feels to breathe and how the mind wanders. After a few minutes, drop the words “inhale” and “exhale”, and focus solely on the sensation of breathing. Your mind might wander a bit more without these words. However, when you notice that you are thinking about something else, bring your attention back to breathing. You can say “inhale” and “exhale” for few rounds when you find it hard to refocus. This part helps to train both self-awareness and self-control.

Source: PicktheBrain