7 Health Benefits of Meditation/ Eight Weeks to a Better Brain
7 Health Benefits of Meditation
Eight Weeks to a Better Brain
Earlier this week in Personal Well Being, we talked about how stress (or more precisely your perception of stress) can negatively affect your body, but people who can manage their stress go on without any ill effects. The articles about go more into the science of how relaxing, specifically meditation, can affect your physical and mental health.
The first article reviews a Harvard study where it was observed that " in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were active, compared to those who practised no form of relaxation." That said the genes are apparently very easy to switch on, as discovered when the control group the researchers were using began practicing meditation: ''After two months, their bodies began to change: the genes that help fight inflammation, kill diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch on. More encouraging still, the benefits of the relaxation effect were found to increase with regular practice: the more people practised relaxation methods such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater their chances of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with stronger immunity, healthier hormone levels and lower blood pressure".
Of the benefits listed, Meditation can improve:
Eight Weeks to a Better Brain
Earlier this week in Personal Well Being, we talked about how stress (or more precisely your perception of stress) can negatively affect your body, but people who can manage their stress go on without any ill effects. The articles about go more into the science of how relaxing, specifically meditation, can affect your physical and mental health.
The first article reviews a Harvard study where it was observed that " in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were active, compared to those who practised no form of relaxation." That said the genes are apparently very easy to switch on, as discovered when the control group the researchers were using began practicing meditation: ''After two months, their bodies began to change: the genes that help fight inflammation, kill diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch on. More encouraging still, the benefits of the relaxation effect were found to increase with regular practice: the more people practised relaxation methods such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater their chances of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with stronger immunity, healthier hormone levels and lower blood pressure".
Of the benefits listed, Meditation can improve:
- Immunity
- Emotional Balance
- Fertility
- Relief of Bowel Syndrome
- Blood Pressure
- Anti-Inflammation
- Calmness
The second article is more focused on the effect of meditation on your brain specifically. Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology lead a study that found "structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration." Though they could not gauge whether it or not correlation was causation. Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in German says that “Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.”
As fascinating as it's been to read about, it's reminded me that I've been meaning to improve in this area. The first article relates that ''The effect won't be achieved by lounging round in an everyday way, nor can you force yourself to relax. You can only really achieve it by learning a specific technique such as self-hypnosis, guided imagery or meditation.'' which sucks because that's my primary form of relaxation. It's very hard for me to turn my brain off, (there may or may not be a psychological reason for that, my mom has speculated that I have a mild form of ADHD, I think being a maladaptive daydreamer is more likely) but the skill my help me have a better grip on my concentration. I think attending Yoga in the Chapel might serve me well.
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