If you are familiar with meditation, you might recognize that it can help you feel calm. However, you may not be aware that meditating regularly has the power to change your brain. Beneficial alterations include an increased sense of serenity, astute decision-making, and greater compassion toward others.
Thinking about meditation can summon internal pictures of monks or yogis sitting in a crossed legged position with their eyes closed and a tranquil expression on their face. You can be forgiven for imagining that only such diligent practitioners of this relaxing art can reap great rewards. After all, most other people who meditate only do so for a short while each day. However, studies show that it is not only experts that are blessed with the amazing results that meditation can afford. You can change your mindset for the better and learn how to deal with potentially stressful situations easily if you adopt meditation as a habit. Furthermore, you can enhance your ability to empathize with people and understand them, even when they are very different to you.
The fact that highly conscientious practitioners of meditation seem extremely balanced, taking situations that other mortals would consider stressful in their stride, is no mistake. Years of mindfully relaxing, or entering the void of ‘no-thought’ has altered their neural pathways intensely. In the same way, people who take twenty minutes per day to meditate can also develop helpful changes in their thought patterns.
Studies reveal that people who do not meditate tend to have fortified links or pathways in their brain between the part of their medial prefrontal cortex that deals with processing what is happening to them and their Amygdala and Insula. The Amygdala is responsible for the fight-or-flight response to fear, and the Insula suggests the best way of dealing with physical sensations and is connected with empathy. When these parts of the brain are strongly coupled, unconstructive emotional responses to experiences can occur. The result can be that people ruminate a great deal over problems relating to the past and fail to let go of them. They might also inappropriately conclude that situations are worthy of a fear response.
On the other hand, people who meditate experience decreased unhelpful responses to situations and are less likely to attribute them incorrectly to danger. They are better able to assess what is happening in constructive ways and remain calm. At the same time, they are able to imagine what it might feel like to be someone who is not similar to them, which means that they can show great empathy and compassion despite differences in outlooks. People who meditate are equipped to be non-judgmental, peaceful, and shrewd since links between their prefrontal cortex and their amygdala and insula are reduced. Instead, neural pathways to another part of their brain, the lateral prefrontal cortex, are reinforced. The lateral prefrontal cortex helps them make balanced judgments. In a way, it may be likened to the higher self, since it aids people in thinking wisely.
If you want to experience the benefits of meditating relating to changes in your brain, you need to set aside time each day to practice and make doing so an ongoing process. Studies suggest that areas of the brain that are worked on regularly become strong due to repetitious behavior, but neural connections can decrease once work ceases. However, the rewards gained must surely be greater than the time-related costs of meditating. In addition, it is empowering to know that you can easily develop your brain simply by relaxing.
References:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/use-your-mind-change-your-brain/201305/is-your-brain-meditation
http://www.pureinsight.org/node/4737
