Meditation and The Brain, You probably already know that meditation is good for you. But did you know it can actually modify the structure of your brain?
Yes, really! Researchers have found that practising mindfulness meditation—a form of meditation that focuses on being in the present moment and using the breath to calm your mind—can make real differences in how your brain works.
So if you’ve been meaning to try a new routine but didn’t want to spend time or money on something without hard science behind it, here’s a list of some of the benefits researchers have discovered:
Improves Focus and Reduces Stress
Meditation has been scientifically proven to help you relax, reduce stress, and feel more focused. When you meditate, your brain produces more of the hormone GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) which makes you feel calm and relaxed. In fact, meditation is clinically proven to be as effective at reducing anxiety as medication!
Lengthens Attention Span
Meditation can make you more attentive. Attention is a complex process that involves looking at different stimuli in our environment while keeping track of them mentally. In other words, it’s a constant effort that requires us to filter out irrelevant information while maintaining focus on whatever we’re trying to do or think about at any given moment.
Generates Kindness
Meditating for just a few minutes can make you more empathetic and compassionate. Studies have shown that meditation increases empathy, which is a skill at understanding the thoughts and feelings of others. While this may not be surprising, the researchers found that even brief periods of meditation can have an effect on your brain’s ability to process social information.
Promotes Emotional Health
Meditation works to improve emotional health by improving your ability to:
- Empathize with others and experience greater compassion for yourself and others.
- Demonstrate self-awareness, as well as increased insight into your own thoughts and feelings.
- Keep yourself in check when angry or upset, which is important for managing stress.
- Be more at peace with yourself and the world around you, which can help prevent anxiety disorders from developing or progressing further if they already exist (in some cases).
Improves Sleep
- Meditation can improve sleep quality.
- Meditation can help you relax and reduce stress.
- Meditation can improve mood, memory, and the ability to deal with anxiety and depression.
There are lots of ways that meditation improves sleep quality: It increases alpha wave activity in the brain (which promotes relaxation), it helps us pay attention to our breathing pattern instead of worrying about things during the day (this lowers cortisol levels), it reduces anxiety around bedtime (which can cause restless nights).
Increases Your Empathy and Compassion for Others
Meditation and The Brain, Meditation can help you become more empathetic and compassionate. When you meditate, you become aware of your own emotions and the emotions of others. It may be counterintuitive to think that meditating would make you more empathetic, but it actually does.
Meditating helps you take a step back from your emotions and see them as they are: just another part of life (and not necessarily what’s most important).
In this way, meditation can help you see things from other people’s perspectives—which makes it easier for them to open up about their own feelings.
I hope this article has helped you understand how meditation can help you become more focused, calm, and kind. Meditation is a great way to practice being present in the moment and focusing your attention on one thing at a time.
It’s also been shown to improve sleep quality, which is another important factor that affects our health in many ways! Connect with the experts to have a deeper understanding.
Contact Ishkama and one of our experts will help you in understanding your subject better, and guide you towards the process of meditation.