Meditation helps to reshape our brain for better health

Meditation, practiced by millions around the world from all different cultures, has long been revered as a way to slow down, improve health and prevent premature aging. Until now, however, there has been no scientific proof of the benefits of meditation. Recent research studies, however, show that meditation can affect the ratio of gamma, alpha and beta brain waves, can increase the amount of gray matter in parts of our brain responsible for emotional stability and can have a positive impact in only eleven hours. These findings support the long held beliefs that meditation is good for body and mind.

What are the benefits of meditation?

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Meditation boosts our health

Meditation helps us to slow down and is even thought to play a huge role in anti-aging. It has been found that those who meditate on a regular basis appear to be five years younger than their non-meditating counterparts. Their levels of the anti-aging hormone DHEA is higher. DHEA reduces body fat, improves skin texture, moisture and tone, increases sex drive and improves immunity, memory and bone density. It also keeps weight down and helps you look younger.

Meditation helps us to achieve better levels of focus and attention

Sharon Gannon, the co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga, the largest yoga center in the U.S., told Big Think in the article How meditation reshapes your brain :

We're so habituated to reacting to every stimulus...Without taking the time every day to let things come and let things go without acting upon it, you won't have clarity of mind.

It has long been thought that "letting go" helps us to engage better, but until now we did not really know what happens to our brain when we meditate. So what does happen to our brain when we meditate?

Meditation affects the ratio of brain waves

Richard Davidson, Harvard graduate, discovered that Buddhist monks exhibit very different brain waves during meditation than the normal person who does not practice meditation. He studied monks with between 10,000 and 50,000 hours of meditation practice experience and told them to focus on "loving kindness and compassion". He asked a group of people with no meditation practice to do the same and found that the monks had a higher ratio of gamma waves to alpha and beta waves.

Gamma waves have a role in attentive focus, alpha waves have a role in relaxation and beta waves have a role in normal waking consciousness. Although all types of waves are present all the time, meditation seems to alter the ratio; the ratio of gamma waves to alpha and beta waves increased thirty times in the monks versus the control group, proving that long term mental training can alter brain activity and make us more engaged. Sharon Gannon's stipulation that letting go helps us to engage better seems spot on.

Meditation increases gray matter

Eileen Luders and researchers at UCLA compared the brains of those who had been meditating long term with a control group and found that they had more gray matter in areas of the brain responsible for emotion and response control. They also had more gray matter in the thalamus region, an area thought to be responsible for an enhanced sense of focus. This can explain why those who meditate tend to have more positive states of mind, greater emotional stability and more mindful behavior.

Meditation can be effective in the short term

Neuro-scientists at the University of Oregon and the Dalan University of Technology in China discovered that IBMT, integrated body-mind training, has been found to alter brain activity in less than 11 hrs. This means you don't have to have been meditating over the long term to experience the benefits.

Despite scientific research, meditation is not rocket science

Contrary to the belief that you have to sit in a lotus pose next to a lake to effectively meditate, Buddhists teach that the way to meditate is by being fully present in the task at hand, be it eating, painting or even jogging. It is all about harnessing focused, quiet attention around everything we do in our daily lives. You can focus on postures or movements (lotus pose or swimming), smells (essential oils or incense), sounds, your breathing or visualization techniques.

You don't need a sacred or special place to meditate: you can meditate anywhere even on the bus, the train to work or for 5 minutes at your desk. A few minutes a day can reveal how tense we are and show us how difficult it is to achieve stillness in our "always on" world. The aim is to develop the skill and attention that will help us to avoid distraction and create quiet, focused attention in our day to day.

If you can meditate for small periods of time every day, you'll start the see the benefits very soon.

Meditation benefits our health

Meditation, both in the short term and long term, helps to reshape our brain for better health. It can have a huge impact on our attention levels, help to reduce stress, foster compassion and boost our day to day health.

Sources:

Miller, Max, How meditation reshapes your brain, The Big Think

Battaglia, Salvatore, The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy, Healing Arts Press

Grantm Suzi, Alternative Ageing, Penguin Books