4 Ways to Exercise Your Mind

We all know that 30 minutes of physical exercise a day is good for the body. Neuroscientists have recently shown that starting with just 5 or 10 minutes of focused mental exercise a day reduces stress, helps us sleep better, enables greater resilience, energizes our focus, increases our willpower, and much more. There are many exercises for the mind, here are a handful courtesy of Eknath Easwaran's Conquest of Mind:

• Meditate every morning. Sit and close your eyes. Breathe. Slowly go through a  memorized spiritual text, your mission, and repeat over and over. The secret of mediation is not a secret: We become what we think.
• Slow down. When we hurry, we are more stressed, inefficient, and superficial. When we slow down and give our best to each task, we train our mind to concentrate, avoid procrastination, and decrease our need to rework our work.
• Focus. Researchers that good multitasking is an oxymoron. When we multitask we divide our minds attention, increase our tension, and limit our ability to diligently pursue our mission.
• Reach out. When we put others first, we tear down the walls that limit the effectiveness of teams. When we connect with others with ego, we remove barriers and increase our productivity.
• Study uplifting and encouraging literature daily. Devoting time daily to the study of positive, spiritually focused material reminds us who we are and what we are trying to become.

Take some time today and exercise your mental muscles.

Enjoy the journey!