Biology Talk

rpautrey2 · Guest

How Meditation Changes Your Brain

There is growing evidence to show that meditation can make people
healthier and happier. It may even increase lifespan, alter brain
structure and change personality.

Now, mainstream medicine is beginning to take notice of meditation’s
effects. For example, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT),
which is about 80 percent meditation, has been approved in Britain for
use with people who have experienced three or more episodes of
depression.

MRI scans of long-term meditators have shown greater activity in brain
circuits involved in paying attention. Long-term meditation can also
cause changes in the actual structure of your cortex, the outer layer
of your brain. Brain regions associated with attention and sensory
processing have been shown to be thicker in meditators.

Studies suggest that meditation can help you to train your attention
and focus, even in the midst of distractions. For instance, when
disturbing noises were played to a group of experienced meditators
undergoing an MRI, they had little effect on the brain areas involved
in emotion and decision-making.

About 10 million people meditate every day in the West, and many more
in other parts of the world.
Sources:
The London Times March 14, 2008

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Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Before you brush off meditation as something only for Buddhist monks
or hippies, it would serve you well to find out what you may be
missing.

Meditation is the equivalent of giving your mind an escape valve to
blow off steam.

This is such a necessary tool in today’s 24/7 society that many people
naturally engage in some form of meditation whenever they feel
stressed -- listening to music, journaling, prayer, soaking in a bath,
all of these work similarly to meditation in that they focus your mind
and help promote a state of calm.

In so doing, your pulse, breathing and heart rate are likely to slow
down, and your muscles will begin to relax. Your mind, too, will begin
to unwind and forget about its racing thoughts.

At its most basic level, meditation helps you take a deliberate break
from the stream of thoughts that are constantly flowing in and out of
your mind. Some people use it to promote spiritual growth or find
inner peace, while others use it as a relaxation and stress-reduction
tool.

And while it’s not unusual for the most experienced meditators to have
spent decades, even a lifetime, perfecting this art, you can gain
benefits just from meditating in your home for 20 minutes a
day.

What Can 20 Minutes a Day do for You?

Meditation has been shown to alter the workings of your brain not only
in the short-term, but quite possibly permanently. Meditating thickens
the areas of your brain where memory and attention reside, according
to a Harvard study, and although the aging process lightens the brain
in certain sectors, 20 minutes of meditation a day slows that down a
bit.

Meditation can also improve your attention span, even while you’re
performing mundane tasks in the mid-afternoon, a time when people
typically have problems concentrating. Interestingly enough, according
to one study the benefits of meditation remained strong even after
patients lost a night's sleep in follow-up research.

Meanwhile, because meditation works so well to relieve stress, it can
benefit all types of stress-related illness … and as you regular
newsletter readers know, just about every illness is stress-related.
This may explain why meditation can help to relieve:

High blood pressure

Chronic pain, including headaches
Respiratory problems such as emphysema and asthma

Sleep disturbances and fatigue
Gastrointestinal distress and irritable bowel syndrome
Skin disorders
Mild depression and premenstrual syndrome
Clearly, meditation ranks right up there with exercising and eating
right when it comes to improving your health. And it’s something that
just about everyone can carve out the time to do.

Simple Guidelines to Start Meditating

If you’d like to give meditation a try, sit quietly, perhaps with some
soothing music, breathe rhythmically and focus on something such as
your breathing, a flower, an image, a candle, a mantra or even just
being in the moment. Some people prefer to close their eyes to block
out visual stimulation. If you find that your mind starts to wander,
direct it back to your focus point and continue from there.

Ideally, set aside 15-20 minutes a day to practice meditation. You can
also try it in shorter segments, but ultimately try to work your way
up to 20 minutes.

I’m also a major fan of brainwave entrainment technology, which is
usually available in CD form. When you listen, you’re exposed to a
combination of frequencies that induce powerful states of focused
concentration or deep relaxing meditation while stimulating various
parts of your brain to work together.

The benefit is that you can begin experiencing the deep frequencies
right away, as opposed to having to work up to that level with
traditional meditation.

However you choose to do it, just make sure you are giving your mind
some down time to relax, regroup and recharge on a regular basis.

Related Articles:

Meditation Can Boost Your Immune System

Meditation Improves Your Attention

A Positive Mental Attitude Affects Your Health

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/12/how-meditation-changes-your-brain.aspx?source=nl