Otto Scharmer Shares What You Can Do For A Few Hours Each Day To Revolutionize Your Brain

What You Can Do For A Few Hours Each Day To Revolutionize Your Brain

Arianna sat down with Otto Scharmer, chair of The Presencing Institute, on HuffPost Live at Davos on Saturday, where he discussed the impact of mindfulness practices on brain plasticity.

"Even a few hours of mindfulness practice actually can change the epigenetic structure of our brain," Scharmer said.

Scharmer said he has seen "an exploding awareness" for mindfulness, especially among business leaders.

"The fast-paced lifestyle is really... more and more disconnecting us," Scharmer said, noting people are looking for a way to connect with themselves.

In addition to mindfulness practices, Scharmer said being a good listener can improve quality of life.

"What I'm surprised by... is how fast you can change your quality of listening," Scharmer said.

Scharmer said listening is "at the root of everything." He said there are four types of listening, two of which many are already familiar with -- listening where "we attend to what we already know" and factual listening, where we learn something new.

But Scharmer said people today need to master two more types of listening -- empathic listening, where we are able to put ourselves in another's place, and what Scharmer calls generative listening, where we see another person in terms of past, present and future possibilities.

Scharmer cited the late Nelson Mandela as someone who was a master of generative listening, which he said is perhaps the most important of each kind of listening.

See Scharmer's interview above, and read more on Davos below:

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