What's a more professional term than 'blow your mind'?

I'm looking for a phrase that describes the experience of limits, preconceptions and world-views being challenged, exceeded and revised. I convey this if I say something "blew my mind", but there is a casual and left-field tone that I'd like to avoid.

What's a more sober and professional way to describe this experience? The intonations of personal transformation and the revision of self-boundaries are important elements that I'm looking to include.

Solution 1:

Made me think about X in a whole new way.
Gave me a new perspective.
Stunned / amazed / astonished me.

Solution 2:

These can't be used in an exclamatory way like blew my mind, but I think they might give the basic sense that you're looking for?

• expand one's horizons
• push the envelope
• changed my perspective / worldview
• take x to a new level
• a paradigm shift

And my personal favorite:

• is deserving of a fat end-of-year bonus

:-)

Solution 3:

Blown away, in the 3rd sense listed of "amaze" or "astound", is probably more formal-sounding that "blew my mind". For example:

I was blown away when that happened.

Or, have a look at synonyms for surprise. Try:

That was a revelation.

The experience filled me with wonder.

If the sense of otherworldliness is important, transcendent may be appropriate, as in:

That was a transcendent experience.

Solution 4:

Here's what I personally would use to express "mind = blown" in a sober and professional way:

The experience opened my eyes to ... [X]

where [X] might be "a whole new way of looking at the world" or some other expression indicating the domain in which the epiphany happened. Speaking of which, epiphany is a good word itself to describe that state. It means

a moment of sudden revelation or insight. [NOAD]

This is a synonym for the Buddhist term satori, which means "sudden enlightenment" (from the Japanese 悟り).