Can Meditation Benefit Your Brain?

It is natural for our brain to wander and jump from place with everything going on in our day to day lives.  If you are a Mother like me, it is always something; the dog, the kids, spouses, our jobs, housework, finances, etc. etc, etc!

Unfortunately, our mind naturally wants to focus on the negative.  This type of activity generates more anxiety and stress in the brain. In fact, a study done in 2010 suggested that people who allow their minds to wander were more unhappy. Meditation does not remove negative thoughts and emotions from the brain, however, it can change the way that move through these feelings, without allowing those feelings to turn into full out anxiety.

Mindfullness meditation, for example which is the act of directing your brain to focus on something such as your own breathing or a sensation in your body, can significantly reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in your life. It allows you more be more aware of the present moment.

It is believed that our mind operates just as the muscles in our bodies.  If we exercise it, we can strengthen it, just like a muscle.  Meditation is that exercise. By meditation we can improve and maintain better concentration, sleep patterns, intuition and more intense empathy. Consistent meditation may even change the way our brains function when we are not meditating.  By re-channeling our focus through meditation, we can even use it as a remedy for chronic pain, substance abuse and even depression.

There is a recent surge of studies and research being done on mediation. One such study was done by
The National Academy of Sciences about how meditation affects the brain.  After an examination of different levels of meditators who participated in various types of meditation, the study showed that it was the experienced participants who reported less mind wandering than those who were less experienced. In addition to this, through looking at the brain scans of the participants, the experienced participants' brains showed more connectivity between their brains networks during times of meditation as well as times of non-meditation.

Whether it is Simple mediation, Mindfullness, Transcendental or one of the various other types of meditation, you must do it on a regular schedule. Furthermore, in order to achieve success, you must practice and have patience. A close colleague told me that after 20 years of meditation her father got to a point where he could meditate for 2 hours a day! She is now on that same path to transcendence.  You too can start your journey to that place of inner peace by experimenting with meditation, and the best part about it, is it doesn't cost a thing!

For more information on meditation and the different types visit  http://www.guidetomeditation.org/about-meditation.

Thanks for Reading.

Many Blessings,
Angel_ahhh

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”
~His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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