Part Two of a Four Part Series
What is it about meditation that makes it the go-to habit of countless top performers? Why do people such as Oprah Winfrey, Russell Brand, 50 Cent and countless CEOs all swear by it?
Meditation, in all its forms, has never seemed so popular. If we’re not listening to guided meditations on our phones, we’re practising everyday mindfulness or even paying thousands of pounds to be taught by a guru how to meditate properly.
But why go to all that trouble? How is it going to help?
One of the things which has changed my life is meditating.
Sheryl Crow
Ancient and Modern
You could say we live in a golden era of meditation. Modern science is now catching up with this ancient practice, bringing modern evidence in line with the teachings of meditators down the centuries. Researchers around the world have been looking at how meditation benefits us and, more recently, what physical changes may be taking place in our bodies to explain the myriad benefits.
So let’s first take a look at what the evidence says about how meditation helps our well-being.
Effective Treatment. Sustained Improvements.
If you feel anxious, stressed or depressed, then there’s good news, because research suggests that mindfulness-based therapy is an effective treatment for a variety of psychological problems, and is especially effective for reducing anxiety, depression, and stress. This was the result of a so-called meta-analysis1 reviewing 209 previous studies on meditation, using data from 12,145 participants. In other words, as robust as it gets.
If your problem is more painful, then other research2indicates that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Techniques are comparable to other interventions in reducing back pain.
In the treatment of fibromyalgia, not only did researchers3suggest that MBSR was of temporary relief to patients, but that there were sustained improvements over a three year period for symptoms such as pain, anxiety, depression and quality of life indicators.
I could go on. But let’s also have a look at the fascinating field of neuro-plasticity (no, I’d never heard of it either) and how meditating may change the brain.
How Meditation Changes The Shape Of The Brain
Look at a brain and often you’ll see the effects of negative experiences, of poor diet, lack of physical exercise and other bad stuff (top scientific speak). However, do the good stuff (more technical jargon) and we’ll see our brains growing and developing. This is neuro-plasticity – the ability of the brain to change in accordance with its experiences.
So how does meditation affect the brain?
Less Atrophy, More Growth
Ever heard of the amygdala? Neither had I. It’s a set of neurons set deep in the brain associated with the processing of emotions. When subject to stress, the amygdala becomes more active and grows. The good news is that a 2015 study4indicated that mindfulness meditation can lessen activity there and shrink the amygdala. (Ah, so that’s why I feel less stressed.)
In addition, long-term meditation practice is now linked5with an increase in brain substance in areas of the brain normally associated with atrophy due to age. In other words, meditation could be keeping your brain younger.
And if you want to know how meditation can help us become more resilient, then Dr Richie Davidson, from the Center for Healthy Minds, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, world renowned expert on the effect of meditation on our brains and our well-being, has this to say, “Meditation gives you the wherewithal to pause, observe how easily the mind can exaggerate the severity of a setback, and resist getting drawn into the abyss.”
More Reading
It’s important to note two things. One, these studies are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more research papers which point to the benefits of meditation and if you want to check up on some of them, the following two references could be a good starting point:
https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/mindfulness-positive-psychology-3-great-insights/
https://www.mindful.org/meditation-protects-aging-brain/
The second important point is that, in scientific terms, research into the effects of meditation is still in its infancy and much more work needs to be done, particularly to study the effects of different types of meditation; with greater sample sizes and over longer periods of time.
Next Time
Nevertheless, I hope this fascinating look at the suggested benefits of meditation has whetted your appetite for the next two articles in this series, with some personal stories of how meditation has helped change people’s lives (including my own) and lastly, how you can start a successful meditation practice.
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- Khoury et al.; Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis; Clinical Psychology Review Vol. 33 Issue 6 August 2013, Pages 763-771.
- Schmidt et al.; Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as Treatment for Chronic Back Pain; Complementary Medicine Research Vol 22 No. 5 2015.
- Grossman et al.; Mindfulness Training as an Intervention for Fibromyalgia: Evidence of Postintervention and 3-Year Follow-Up Benefits in Well-Being; Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Vol. 76 No. 4 2007.
- Taren et al; Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial; Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2015 Dec; 10(12): 1758–1768.
- Luders et al.;Estimating brain age using high-resolution pattern recognition: Younger
brains in long-term meditation practitioners; NeuroImage 134 (2016) 508–513.
Good article
Meditation comes in many forms and one should experiments with what works best for them
Thanks Craige. There are indeed many forms of meditation and I hope this article has encouraged readers to perhaps try one of the ways out. Thanks for reading and commenting.