Your Brain and Meditation
Though it is widely held that practice of meditation is a powerful tool to train attention and expand awareness to gain a centered clarity, science is beginning to prove what Buddhist monks have known all along, that those who engage in daily meditation permanently change the way their brains function! That the simple act of sitting quietly as one shifts their attention to their breath, following as it enters and leaves the body, not only allows for the cultivation of regenerative peace, but a myriad of new studies have found that this ancient practice can profoundly change the way different regions of the brain communicate with each other and therefore how we think. 1
Dr. Judson Brewer, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine published a study that found meditation not only allows the brain to better handle stress but empowered patients dealing with mental disorders and other illnesses. 2 Brewer’s study showed that patients subscribing to a 20 minute daily practice, learned the ability to switch off areas of the brain associated with psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Eileen Luders, an assistant professor at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, found that meditation physically alters the brain and that long-term meditators have large amounts of gyrification, or a folding of the cortex, which allows the brain to process information faster. “The insula [in the cortex] has been suggested to function as a hub for autonomic, affective and cognitive integration…Meditators are known to be masters in introspection and awareness as well as emotional control and self-regulation, so the findings make sense that the longer someone has meditated, the higher the degree of folding in the insula.” 3
In another study, Neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that meditation also changes the size of key regions of the brain, regions known for improved memory, making one more empathetic, and resilient under stress. Lazar compared brain scans of long-term meditators with non-meditators. The meditators had increased thickness in regions of the brain involved with attention and sensory processing. The pre-frontal cortex, a part of the brain that shrinks with age, was also thicker in older meditators, suggesting that it could help delay the aging process. 4,5 And in Norway a research team found that meditation enables your brain to better process feelings and emotions allowing for one to become more compassionate, more empathetic.6
Science is now proving that through meditation we are able to gain better health, improve our immune system, and change the way our brains work. That the simple act of quietly sitting and focusing on the present moment not only grants the ability to suppress self-centered and wandering thoughts, silencing the ‘monkey mind’, but it opens the door to permanent change.
A wealth of new studies have shown that when we adopt a daily meditation practice it shifts our mind into a mindfulness behavior that affords heightened awareness and an appreciation of one’s day-to-day life. We become present and happy and what's more, we begin to access latent abilities and come into our power. In a study on the relationship between meditation depth and mindfulness, Britta Holzel, Research Fellow at the Institute for Medical Psychology at Charité in Berlin, Germany, found that subjects experienced a ‘responsiveness to engaging stimuli’’ (e.g. ‘‘I can be deeply moved by a sunset.’’),‘‘synesthesia’’ (e.g. ‘‘I find that different odors have different colors.’’) and ‘‘enhanced cognition’’ (e.g. ‘‘I often know what someone is going to say before he or she says it.’’) ‘‘vivid reminiscence’’ (e.g. ‘‘Sometimes I feel and experience things as I did when I was a child.’’) and ‘‘enhanced awareness’’ four items (e.g. ‘‘I sometimes ’step outside’ my usual self and experience an entirely different state of being.’’). 7
Holzel's research revealed two very interesting points. 1. That the two most offending barriers to successful meditation were cynicism and lack of attention. And 2. subjects who were characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance made notably better progress. That's right when we come to meditation with a mind open to the mystical states the door opens. If you believe you can do it and allow yourself the time and space to practice your efforts will be rewarded. During the Olympics we are witness to young girls propelling their bodies though a series of routines that would have seemed impossible a century ago. Young men strap on skates and defy gravity with astonishing leaps as they hurl themselves spinning through the air and land again in a fluid dance like move. We as spectators are moved and awed as attempts like these would be pointless for someone who lacked the talent, determination, and training. These athletes have concentrated large training periods to work through one exercise after another until they have mastered a routine. So it is with energy work. Our bodies and brains are amazing machines and we are but a spark of awareness riding through life in a magick skeleton. Our potential is expansive. We are capable of great inspiring things.
In his book Real Magic, Dean Radin presents the account of St. Joseph a catholic friar who lived through a horrifically painful period and through force of will accessed the ability to astral project and levitate to escape his agony. He was a simple man with astonishing abilities that terrified some who witnessed them.8 "Joseph lived for sixteen years at the Grotella Convent near Copertino, one of the longest stretches he spent in one location. During that time it was documented that he levitated at least seventy times in front of multiple witnesses." Meditation is the gateway to open and access layers of consciousness that normally remain hidden. The more you practice the more mindful you will become bringing a focused attention to moment-to-moment experience resulting in profound changes in your perception of reality and the self. A successful meditator must defeat laziness and boredom. It requires personal discipline and effort, its practice embraced with an open mind and undisturbed time block.
2. Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation By Bill Hathaway. YaleNews November 21, 2011 https://news.yale.edu/2011/11/21/tuning-out-how-brains-benefit-meditation
3. The Unique Brain Anatomy of Meditation Practitioners: Alterations in Cortical Gyrification By Eileen Luders Florian Kurth Emeran A. Mayer Arthur W. Toga Katherine L. Narr and Christian Gaser Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 6: 34. Published online Feb 29 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289949/
4. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness By Sara W. Laza Catherine E. Kerr Rachel H. Wasserman Jeremy R. Gray Douglas N. Greve Michael T. Treadway Metta McGarvey Brian T. Quinn Jeffery A. Dusek Herbert Benson Scott L. Rauch Christopher I. Moore and Bruce Fischld J Neuroreport. Author manuscript available in PMC Feb 6 2006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361002/
5. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density By Britta K. Hölzel James Carmody Mark Vangel Christina Congleton Sita M. Yerramsetti Tim Gard Sara W. Lazar. Received: March 26 2010 Received in revised form: August 9 2010 Accepted: August 11 2010. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21071182/
6. Nondirective meditation activates default mode network and areas associated with memory retrieval and emotional processing By Jian Xu Alexandra Vik Inge R. Groote Jim Lagopoulos Are Holen Øyvind Ellingsen Asta K. Håberg and Svend Davanger. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 26 February 2014. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00086/full
7. Holzel, Britta. Relationships between meditation depth, absorption, meditation practice, and mindfulness: A latent variable approach. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Ott, Ulrich, 2007/01/01. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236686228_Relationships_between_meditation_depth_absorption_meditation_practice_and_mindfulness_A_latent_variable_approach
8. Radin, Dean. Real Magick: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe. Harmony Books April 10, 2018.
