THE SCIENCE BEHIND MEDITATION
The science behind meditation
Don't believe meditation can help you? Here are some interesting scientific facts about meditation and how it can work wonders for your mind, body, and spirit.
Meditation Strengthens Your Brain
There are very few things in life that can change the brain, and meditation is one of them. Neuroscientists found in a study that meditation helps strengthen the brain. But how, you ask? The process is believed to strengthen connections between brain cells, leading to healthy brain development. The new growth has been shown to allow the brain to retain and process information more quickly.
Meditation reduces your sensitivity to pain
Good science doesn't end there either. Another study has shown that meditation helps increase the thickness of the cerebral cortex, essentially reducing your sensitivity to pain.
Meditation reduces the poor brain function associated with mental illness
In one study, neuroscientists found that meditation has the ability to reduce poor brain function associated with mental disorders such as anxiety, hyperactivity disorder, and even Alzheimer's disease.
Long-term meditation increases the density of gray matter in the brain stem
When we first discovered strong scientific evidence for meditation, we thought of gray matter -- what? Let's explain. Gray matter plays an important role in your central nervous system. Meditation is associated with an increase in gray matter, which is inherently conducive to more positive emotions, better emotional stability, and more focused behavior.
Meditation can help increase relaxation and alertness
Another study linked meditation to significant changes in electrical activity in the brain, specifically the Theta and Alpha activity in the EEG. In other words, meditation helps increase alertness, attention, concentration, and feelings of wakefulness.
Meditation improves cognitive, emotional, and immune responses
Neuroscientists used magnetic resonance imaging to analyze the brains of meditators and non-meditators. The difference is striking.
The researchers found that the brains of the meditators showed improved cognitive, emotional, and immune responses. They also speculate that the growth of the brain provides positive benefits for your heart respiration control, or in other words, your breathing and heart rate.
Meditation can reduce stress
One of the most common benefits of meditation is the ability to reduce stress, or more specifically, the way you deal with it. Neuroscientists have found that regular meditation can significantly reduce stress in as little as eight weeks. So, with exams approaching, there is no better time to lie down on your mandala or yoga mat and meditate.
Need we say more? Meditation is not just some weird voodoo, yoga, hippie thing that people do because they think it offers benefits. Science has shown that it has many powerful and positive effects on the brain.