Why Meditate? | Change your Brain's Default Mode

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Someone wiser than me said that "taking on the practice of meditation is not so much adding something to your life, but rather removing things, obstacles to you awareness."

This is definitely in line with the point of the video. Myself included, (it seems) most of us are constantly trying to find ways to keep ourselves operating at a faster, more productive, more focused pace. Like turning up the volume on the stereo when we want to hear more clearly, we try and will ourselves to focus "harder" as well as amp our brains' ability to focus by taking stimulants like coffee. The kind of improvement that meditation provides isn't so much like this- instead, it's like hearing more clearly by walking into a quieter room.

For me, meditation has turned down the loud mind chatter offering up all kinds of activities that are different from what I'm trying to do in the moment, improving focus in a subtle but effective way.

There are several other health benefits, which are outside the scope of this video, but I don't much like that meditation is presented as a panacea nowadays. It has vast benefits, and I'm sure anyone would benefit from it, but I like Dan Harris's non-overpromising remark that it makes him "10% Happier"

Books Mentioned:
"Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - http://amzn.to/2ziiOE3
"The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of The Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes - http://amzn.to/2zgSOsC
"10% Happier" by Dan Harris - http://amzn.to/2hAqCHC
"Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Harari - http://amzn.to/2irbv2F
"Waking Up" by Sam Harris - http://amzn.to/2AgKHui