We all need to handle the stress we experience and meditation is a great stress reliever.
Just what does meditation mean?
It can mean many different things to different people, but no matter what the meditation style or technique, during meditation people sit quietly, witnessing internal thoughts and external stimuli without getting caught up in them.
Some of the practice forms are ancient and they come from numerous sources.
Concentration practices found in Transcendental Meditation and mindfulness meditation are perhaps the best known meditation techniques.
TM is a technique from Hindu traditions that promotes deep relaxation through the use of a mantra. A mantra is a sacred word or sound that is used to focus attention or concentration.
Mindfulness meditation uses a process of intentionally paying attention to what is happening in the present moment, both internally and externally, without being distracted by what has already happened or what may happen.
Mindfulness meditation trains the practitioner to be an observer without passing judgment.
What does modern science tell us about meditation?
Modern science has developed tools to explore meditation for clues about how it affects our body and brain. A wide variety of studies on different approaches to meditation show that we can exercise some degree of control over things we didn’t think we could change, and gives us new possibilities for self-healing.
The relaxation response described by Herbert Benson MD, in his book, The Relaxation Response, cites four basic elements common to eliciting a relaxation response: a quiet environment, a mental device like a word, a passive attitude, and a comfortable posture.
This relaxation response is the opposite of the flight-or-fight response.
This relaxation response includes:
-decreases in oxygen consumption
-decreases in CO2 elimination
-decreases in respiratory rate and volume
-decreases in heart rate and blood pressure
-decreases in muscle tension.
Because of its physiological benefits, relaxation response meditation is used in most stress reduction programs.
Other relaxation methods such as prayer, guided imagery and hypnosis are not categorized as meditation.
That’s because they keep the practitioner focused on the mind, body and senses, whereas meditation allows one to quiet the mind to ultimately go beyond it. This can be achieved only without engaging the senses and thoughts.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about 12% of adults in the U.S. use deep breathing exercises and 8% use meditation as complimentary to their health care.
What Happens In Your Brain During Meditation?
Let’s look more closely at what happens in your brain when you meditate.
Imaging advances have lead neuroscientists to reject the view that the brain is fixed early in life and does not change in adulthood, replacing it with a belief that the brain can adapt and change, a concept called neuroplasticity.
Some of the earliest studies mapping the brain during meditation recorded the electrical activity of the brain during meditation. These studies reported increased alpha waves which are associated with relaxation of the entire nervous system.
Theta waves have also been recorded during meditation, indicating a deeper state of mental silence and pleasant experiences.
There have been many studies over the past 16 years that have shown that meditation increases clear thinking and creativity and that we can train the mind to influence and change the structure and connectivity of the brain.
Data have shown a thicker cerebral cortex (the area playing a critical role in decision making) in people who meditated 40 minutes a day compared with those who did not.
This may have positive applications related to aging and memory enhancement.
Many studies have shown the benefits of meditation on various disorders and diseases. Examples include:
*affective disorders like depression and anxiety
*sleep disturbances
*chronic pain
*fibromyalgia
*immunity
*stress.
Meditation is becoming more accessible, and I have seen more and more class offerings for learning how to meditate and incorporating it into a healthy lifestyle.
Many hospitals and recovery programs utilize meditation as part of their treatment protocols.
The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine considers meditation a “mind-body” method, a category of complementary and alternative medicine designed to facilitate the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms.
That sounds like a lot of fancy words woven together to simply say, “Try meditation, it’s good for you and just might be a key to undoing some of the stress you are feeling!”
What’s been your experience with meditation? Did it help?
shelli
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