MEDITATION (lat. “reflection”) internal concentration and concentration of the mind, control of one’s own thought processes. Historically, it arose in various religious practices (Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism, Taoism). In its modern form, it is used in psychotherapy as a method of mental relaxation and achieving ASC.
Scientific research on the effect of meditation on the physiological and psychological state of a person.
There are many types of meditations. These are transcendental meditation, chakra yoga, Rinzai Zen, mudra yoga, Sufism, Zen meditation, Za Zen, Soto Zen, Taoist meditative practices (Qigong), etc.
Because meditation is so popular and easy to learn, it is one of the most studied relaxation techniques. Research has confirmed the effect of meditation on the physiological and psychological state (J. Greenberg):
The physiological effects of meditation have been discovered through studies of Indian yogis and Zen masters. In 1946, Teresa Brosset discovered that Indian yogis could control their heartbeat. Another study showed that Indian yogis can slow their breathing (up to six breaths per minute), reduce the electrical activity of their skin (an indicator of galvanic skin response) by 70%, and the brain begins to produce predominantly alpha waves. The heart rate decreases by twenty-four beats per minute compared to normal. Subsequent studies of yogis and Zen masters confirmed the results.
More recent studies have attempted to test the previously discovered physiological effects of meditation. J. Ellison compared the breathing rhythm of a meditating person with the breathing rhythm of someone watching TV or reading a book. During meditation, breathing slowed from twelve and a half breaths per minute to seven. Slowing down breathing during meditation has been found and confirmed in all studies on this topic.
A group of scientists has discovered the effect of muscle relaxation during meditation. In the experiment of L.D. Tsaykovsky and the study of Richard A. Fee, it was shown that the degree of muscle tension in meditating people is much lower than in the control group who do not practice meditation.
The reduction in heart rate was found in earlier studies of Indian yogis and was verified in subsequent studies. When comparing experienced practitioners (with five years of experience) with less experienced (one year) and beginners (with seven days of experience), as well as with people practicing other relaxation techniques, it was found that the most noticeable reduction in heart rate was observed in experienced and less experienced practitioners. experienced people practicing meditation. Even when watching films about accidents, the heartbeats of people who practiced meditation returned to normal faster than those of those who did not meditate.
The galvanic skin response—the skin's ability to produce an electrical charge—is different in meditators than in those who don't. The weaker the electrical charge, the less stress a person is exposed to. These discoveries led scientists to the following conclusion: people who practice meditation cope better with stress, and their autonomic nervous system is more stable.
So, it has been proven that meditation has a positive effect on high blood pressure, prevents overexertion, eliminates pain, reduces cortisol levels, as well as the amount of alcohol absorbed, that is, most of it is eliminated from the body. It has also been proven that people who meditate are less likely to contact health services. This, in turn, saves money for the organization they work for.
The prerequisite for a series of new studies was the experiment of Robert Keith Wallace. Wallace was the first to study the effects of meditation scientifically. In his first study and subsequent work with Herbert Benson, Wallace showed that as a result of meditation, less oxygen enters the body, heart rate and brain wave activity decrease. He also demonstrated that meditation increases skin resistance, reduces blood production (which has been linked to decreased anxiety) and carbon dioxide production. The process of meditation also increases blood flow to the extremities.
Since the body and mind are inseparable from each other, it should not surprise us that physiological changes cause psychological ones. Many studies have confirmed the fact that people who meditate have better psychological health than others.
For example, people who practice meditation have been found to be less anxious. More importantly, however, anxiety can be reduced by teaching people how to meditate. After eighteen weeks of meditative training, students’ exam anxiety decreased. Various studies have shown that anxiety—whether a trait or a condition—reduces after practicing meditation for some time.
In addition to reducing anxiety, scientists have found that meditation promotes an internal locus of control, greater self-actualization, a more positive perception of stressors, improved sleep, a reduced need to smoke, relief from headaches, and overall positive mental health. In a comprehensive review of the psychological effects of meditation, Shapiro and Gibert provide examples of studies that found meditation to reduce cravings for drug use and the severity of fears and phobias. Meditation is a wonderful way to manage stress and also a source of positive emotions in a person. Even eating disorders can be eliminated with the help of meditation.
Since the late 1950s, many experimental observations have been carried out in China, and a large amount of data has been accumulated. Dong Jintu in the article “Scientific Qigong and Biological Reflection” (Ma Jizhen, M. Bogachikhin “QI Gong”) pointed out that accelerated research methods in this area appeared abroad only in the 1970s. Research by Bensen (China) has shown that qigong, by changing mainly the functions of the hypothalamus, affects the transition from the tension reaction to the relaxation reaction. In a state of relaxation reaction, the physiological changes in the trainee are the following: the amount of oxygen consumed, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing, the content of lactic acid in the blood of the arteries decreases: the amount of blood flow in the stationary muscles of the forearms increases slightly, slow alpha waves are formed in the cerebral cortex; At the same time, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system throughout the body decreases. Foreign analysis of this mechanism completely coincided with the results of research in China in the 50s.
According to the famous scientist Qian Xuesen, the study of qigong will provide new information about the reactions of psychological activity to the functioning of the internal areas of the whole body, and since people usually still lack clarity regarding qigong, the potencies are not used - we are talking about the hidden forces of a person.”
Thus, along with the direct healing effect, meditation touches the deepest spiritual layers of a person’s life, opening access to those parts of the personality that in ordinary life are closed by everyday worries, problems and social masks. Meditation is a way to establish a dialogue between the conscious and subconscious. During meditation, the contents of the subconscious “pop up” and manifest themselves in consciousness. Meditative practice promotes the development of intuition, awakens it, which can become an important resource in everyday life, especially when solving creative, non-standard problems.
The meditation method is one of the important methods of psychological self-regulation and can be successfully used to prevent and combat stress (including professional stress).
The meditation method can be used to obtain both quick and long-term psychotherapeutic results. Practice shows that even short-term meditation practices have a positive effect on human health. Long-term training develops more stable self-regulation skills.
People who practice meditation cope better with stress, their autonomic nervous system is more stable, and they are less anxious. However, more importantly, anxiety can be reduced by teaching people how to meditate.
Along with the direct healing effect, meditation touches the deepest spiritual layers of a person’s life, opening access to those parts of the personality that in ordinary life are closed by everyday worries, problems and social masks.
Mastering meditation requires regular practice. In order for knowledge to become personal in the full sense - as an integral part of one’s own “I”, as a familiar and well-established tool for work - it must be based on personal practice.
MEDITATION AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
Since the last decades of the twentieth century, the psychologization of social life has been increasing; in recent years it has proceeded so rapidly that it is sometimes considered a psychological revolution. A significant consequence of the psychologization of modern life is that various methods of psychotherapy, psychophysical self-regulation, personal growth and spiritual self-improvement are becoming increasingly in demand, helping a person find his place in a changing world.
Modern psychotherapy is characterized by the combination of modern scientific ideas about mental and physical health with the centuries-old experience of traditional spiritual healing practices. Quite a lot has been said lately about the integration of traditional (“alternative”, especially eastern) and classical (“scientific”) medicine. And in practice, we see that modern integrative psychological technologies largely use the experience of traditional spiritual practices. In essence, their tasks are similar. Thus, the resolution of psychological problems and the resulting personal growth that psychotherapy strives for are close to the concept of “enlightenment” in the traditions of spiritual improvement.
There are several definitions of spiritual health. According to some of them, the concept of spirituality relates to the existence of a Supreme Being, while in others, spirituality is associated with interpersonal relationships and the search for one's place in the world. For example, according to one definition, spirituality is adherence to a particular religion. From another point of view, spiritual health is the ability to recognize and fulfill life's task, the ability to bring love, joy and peace, to help oneself and others to fully realize themselves. There are many studies that support the connection between spirituality and health. For example, scientists have found that religiosity and spirituality reduce the impact of psychological stress, the risk of physical illness, and change moral attitudes. The researchers also concluded that spirituality promotes the adoption of healthier behavior patterns. Meditative practices that were used by our ancestors several thousand years ago for recovery and longevity are becoming increasingly recognized in modern psychotherapy.
Meditation practices refer to methods of psychophysical self-regulation. Meditation has its roots in Eastern culture (mainly Tibetan and Chinese). Meditation is an exercise for the brain that affects the state of the body. Just like any physical exercise affects your mental state, meditation affects your physiology.
Thus, since meditation is an integral part of the Reiki method, I would like to draw your attention to the positive impact that meditative practices have on a person’s psychophysical state. And give several arguments from a scientific point of view.
The psychophysical components of meditation are: control of breathing, muscle tone, emotions, flow of thoughts and attention.
About the benefits of breathing control
It is known that a person in a stressful situation is characterized by shallow (shallow), rapid or intermittent chest breathing; for a person in a state of rest, relaxation, experiencing comfort - slow abdominal breathing. Typically, the breathing process (as well as heart contractions, gastrointestinal peristalsis, etc.) occurs automatically. With the help of meditative practices, you can learn to carefully monitor your breathing, become aware of it, maintain abdominal breathing, and mentally direct your breath to the desired part of the body. Abdominal breathing is a convenient and quite effective tool for neutralizing anxiety, excitement, and outbursts of negative emotions, which is often sufficient for a person to calm down in a situation of sudden short-term stress. Along with the fact that deep, slow abdominal breathing is subconsciously associated with a state of peace and relaxation, its anti-stress mechanism is also the stimulation of the vagus nerve (the main link of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system), promoting general relaxation.
Breathing through a part of the body is often practiced in meditation. What does it mean to breathe supposedly through some part of the body? Naturally, this is an imaginary breath that exists only in the imagination of the brain. Physiologically, no breathing through the skin or organs of the body can occur. In fact, the sensation of “extrapulmonary” breathing suggests that a temporary connection has been established between two areas of the brain: on the one hand, receiving information from the respiratory tract, from the respiratory muscles and, on the other hand, receiving information from the corresponding area of the body, not associated with breathing. As a result of changes in sensations in a selected area of the body, first of all, rhythmic fluctuations in their intensity occur synchronously with the phases of the respiratory cycle (usually a decrease in intensity during inhalation and an increase in intensity during exhalation). The formation of such a temporary connection between various foci of excitation in the brain, their influence on each other, underlies various practically useful phenomena - the fight against pain, the ability to control one’s own pulse, or blood pressure, or mood. The criterion for correctly performing an exercise (mentally directing breathing to a given area of the body) is the synchronicity of breathing and sensations in the selected part of the body. Usually, there is a simultaneous and unidirectional change in the intensity of sensations with the phases of the respiratory cycle, for example, intensification during inhalation and weakening during exhalation.
Many meditations use the method of breathing through the hands. Why does focusing on sensations in the hands have a noticeable effect on the state of the brain, and the body as a whole? In order to understand and visualize the very special role of our palms and fingers in the body, one should refer to the diagram created by the Canadian neurosurgeon W. Penfield, in which he depicted the projection of the body onto the surface of the cerebral cortex. This diagram shows that the size of the zones of the cerebral cortex does not depend on the size of the corresponding parts of the body, but on their significance for the organism. And therefore, the area occupied by the projection zone of the hand is greater than that of any other part of the body - the torso, the head, and others. Therefore, focusing on the sensations associated with the hand captures a much larger area of the cortex than for any other part of the body, and, accordingly, has a greater impact on the state of the brain and consciousness.
It is also important to note that with excitement or sudden fear, the ratio of inhalation time to the time of the respiratory cycle also increases - the inhalation becomes longer. Accordingly, a person in a state of relaxation tends to have the opposite relationship. In meditation, the function of exhaling longer is used for more complete relaxation and calming of emotions - muscle relaxation precisely at the moment of exhalation.
About the benefits of muscle tone control
Muscle tension is an indicator of stress. The deeper the state of stress a person is in, the higher the muscle tone. With depression, an increase in the tone of the respiratory muscles is detected, and with anxiety and fear - the occipital muscles and muscle groups associated with speech. Thus, to normalize a person’s psychophysical state and relieve the manifestations of stress, muscle relaxation is necessary. And vice versa, just as muscle tension (especially the neck muscles) is an indicator of activation, emotional arousal, muscle relaxation indicates a state of rest and rest, and is the key to achieving it.
Deep muscle relaxation leads to the release of substances that have an anti-stress or stress-limiting effect and stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain - the so-called endogenous opiates or endorphins. Such activation of the natural physiological mechanism of pleasure gives not only a pleasant feeling of relaxation, but can also be considered as the prevention of a specific stress disorder - pleasure deficiency syndrome, which is considered the scourge of modern society. Well-known yoga asanas and qigong practices have a healing effect largely because to perform them a person must relax the corresponding muscle groups.
About the benefits of controlling emotions
Breathing, as you know, is one of the most important functions of the body. The nature of breathing (its depth, rhythm, etc.) very subtly reflects a person’s emotional state and is a sensitive indicator, a litmus test for emotions. With the help of breathing, you can not only monitor your emotions, but also manage them.
With the help of properly regulated breathing, you can relieve psycho-emotional stress, release unreacted emotions and achieve “functional release.” Learning to control your emotions is quite simple - you need to feel your own body, catch the changes occurring in it associated with emotions. The fact is that a person’s attention span is very limited. At every moment of time we receive a lot of information both from the outside and from the inside - from our own body, to which we simply do not pay attention. A person often literally does not notice that he lives in his own body.
The elementary skill of introspection and tracking sensations is an important tool for mobilizing attention, which in itself can serve as an effective way to manage emotions. In essence, this is a person’s ability to be completely captured by direct experience, to be in a state of “here and now.” For example, the Taoist meditation “Inner Smile” is based on visualizing the energy of a smile and directing it to the organs of the body. At the same time, sensations entering the brain from facial facial muscles (feedback) are one of the most important psychophysiological mechanisms of emotions.
About the benefits of controlling the flow of thoughts
Controlling the flow of thoughts can be achieved through focused attention, calm breathing and muscle relaxation. Decreased muscle tone reduces the flow of information from the muscles to the brain, allowing it to rest. Moreover, the effect is twofold: a decrease in both specific sensory impulses coming from the muscles to the cerebral cortex, and nonspecific - from the muscles to the activating system of the brain (reticular formation), which supports the cerebral cortex in a waking state. Under conditions of deep muscle relaxation, due to the “unoccupied” nature of brain neurons processing information, their readiness for synchronization increases. And this, in turn, leads to special - so-called altered states of consciousness, which play a healing role for a person.
As shown by electrophysiological studies - recording of EEG (brain biocurrents) in the ASC state (altered state of consciousness), achieved through deep meditation, the difference between the hemispheres - their asymmetry levels out and disappears. Then a state appears for a person without time and space, a state in which there are no insoluble contradictions, when seemingly diametrically opposed points of view are combined and integrated, and the internal problems of the body - both physiological and psychological - are resolved.
Entry into the ASC is facilitated by a number of factors that help change the functional state of the brain and state of consciousness:
Focusing attention on internal sensations, reducing the flow of external stimuli to the brain and thereby helping to escape from the surrounding reality, from the external world and plunge into the depths of the inner world.
Breathing that holds attention with its measured rhythm and forces attention to follow itself, and also helps to direct it to certain areas of the body.
Muscle relaxation in a comfortable position, reducing the flow of information from the muscles to the brain and helping it fall into a state of rest.
In the ASC, the relationships between the hemispheres change. Taking into account the asymmetry of the hemispheres, their mutual balancing looks like a movement towards each other: the more active, dominant hemisphere reduces its activity, while the opposite hemisphere, previously relatively passive, on the contrary, becomes more active. As you know, under stress, disconnection of the brain hemispheres can occur when they cease to coordinate their opinions and actions. That is why, in a stressful environment, a person often acts impulsively and thoughtlessly. Having mastered meditation techniques, you can learn to regulate the activity of the brain hemispheres. For example, one way to reduce the activity of the dominant hemisphere (in right-handed people - the left, “conscious” hemisphere) is to suppress its specific function - speech. This does not mean just ordinary silence, but internal silence - the cessation of habitual, verbally formulated thoughts, the cessation of the dialogue constantly taking place within us, the so-called “mental pause”, or “inner silence”.
From the point of view of modern science, we can identify the following main features of ASC: (1) redistribution of roles between consciousness and subconsciousness. In a normal waking state, our consciousness commands the subconscious (at least it tries to), suppresses it. In an altered state, consciousness seems to become silent for a while, switches off, lets go of the “reins of power”, going into the background. At the same time, the subconscious “takes power into its own hands” and becomes sharply activated. At the same time, the reserves of the subconscious are mobilized, helping to solve urgent external problems - in particular, to find a way out in an extreme situation, for example, to save one’s life. It must be borne in mind that if in situations involving a physical threat to life this happens automatically, then in ordinary life situations such use of subconscious reserves must be learned. (2) Resolution of internal, psychological problems. When applied to problems related to the past, this is achieved by replacing the emotional “label” associated with the unpleasant memory. The resolution of problems projected into the future, associated with internal barriers and stereotypes, is achieved through the formation of new connections, new choices that expand the narrow framework of stereotypical responses.
In addition, ASCs bring with them some other beneficial effects. This includes relaxation, relieving the effects of stress, and activating the body’s natural recovery processes, which helps cure stress-related diseases (which is used quite widely by modern healers - both in white coats and without). Stopping thoughts (the state of “not thinking”), along with rest and relieving nervous tension, eliminating the problem of “getting stuck” on unpleasant thoughts, allows you to overcome the limitations and inflexibility of conscious logic, which we have already talked about, listen to the opinion of the subconscious, and peer into the depths of intuition .
Meditation is sometimes called the space between thoughts - when the old thought has left... the “arrival” of the new one is delayed; stopping internal dialogue. Experiencing a state of inner peace makes it possible to know yourself, listen to the voice of the subconscious, gain access to inner wisdom that helps you find a way out of a difficult situation, relieve accumulated emotions or get rid of annoying physical discomfort. This is the most effective remedy for stress and internal problems. The remedy is perhaps the most complex - and at the same time, the simplest. Complex at first, as you master it it becomes very simple, almost automatic.
About the benefits of directed attention
You can direct your attention by mentally moving to different parts of the body. The effect of focusing attention on certain areas and physical boundaries of the body occupies an important place in a person’s internal psychological map and is associated with a stable “self-image” (in the language of physiology called a “body diagram”), affecting self-esteem and relationships with others. A person is “moored” to reality at both ends of the body: below through contact with the ground, and above through the crown of the head. A similar approach is used in Taoist meditative practices (qigong), where special attention is paid to these three “ends of the body”: (1) the crown - to enhance the feeling of ascending flows of “energy” (the “man-sky” boundary); (2) to the palms - reproducing the feeling of emphasis in the fingers and palms (the "man - man" boundary) and (3) to the feet - increasing the sensation of downward flows of "energy" (the "man - earth" boundary).
The distribution of “body-oriented” attention simultaneously to a large number of objects (for example, to several different parts of the body at the same time), is close to the maximum capacity of the channel of conscious perception according to G. Miller - about 7 or exceeding it, causes so-called sensory overload and contributes to the formation special state of consciousness. Similarly, it influences the state of consciousness and the alignment of sensations in remote areas of the left and right halves of the body, helping to achieve a balance in the activity of the left and right hemispheres.
Exercises for directed attention, in addition to health-improving purposes, have important practical applications in everyday life. The ability to manage attention helps a person quickly come to his senses in a situation of sudden stress, when “the ground is floating under your feet” and emotional balance and self-control are lost. This skill can be vital for people suffering from panic attacks, for whom it helps get rid of the feeling of “impending loss of consciousness.” To do this, you just need to take a few deep breaths and exhales and switch your attention one by one to each of the described boundaries, starting with the “ground”.
Thus, you see that all the psychophysiological components of meditation are closely related to each other. Calm slow breathing, muscle relaxation, focused attention lead to calming thoughts and normalizes psychophysical consciousness. They can be successfully used in everyday life. Regular meditation practices help a person develop self-regulation skills that allow him to constantly maintain calm and well-being. Calm breathing and the absence of excessive tension in the muscles have a beneficial effect on the physical and mental state; directed attention allows you to control emotions, calm thoughts - to adequately respond to any event in life. And there is no mysticism in this. Everything is scientifically proven.
Meditation is surrounded by myths. Some attribute healing properties to it, others say it is useless. What is true and what is not is not easy to understand. The authors of the book “Changed Character Traits” set out to talk about meditation from a scientific point of view. New Year's holidays are the ideal time to master this practice, so now is the time to learn the whole truth about it. So, meditation...
Resists stress
The amygdala is a key node in the brain's stress management system. After 30 hours of meditation, his activity decreases. Research has shown that this occurs not only during experimental viewing of violent images, but also as a result of life difficulties.
The Trier stress test helps simulate life's difficulties. Imagine being interviewed and describing your experience while two interviewers look at you without smiling. Their faces do not show empathy, they do not even express support. This situation is simulated in the Trier Social Stress Test, one of the most reliable ways known to science to activate stress-related areas of the brain and trigger a cascade of stress hormones. Now imagine that after this painful interview you are faced with intense mental calculations. You have to quickly and consistently subtract 13s from a number like 1232. This is the second part of the Trier test, and the same indifferent interviewers make you count faster and faster. Every time you make a mistake, they ask you to start over. This diabolical test brings enormous social stress - the terrible feelings we experience when other people evaluate, reject or exclude us.
Amygdala activity during this test is reduced by 50% in those who regularly meditate.
Experienced Zen masters are able to tolerate higher levels of pain and exhibit a reduced response to this stressor. Regular meditation for three months resulted in improved emotional control, and long-term practice was associated with increased functional connectivity between the prefrontal regions of the brain that regulate emotion and the amygdala region that responds to stress, leading to decreased amygdala responsiveness. Improved ability to manage attention complements the beneficial effects of meditation on stress reactivity.
Makes us kinder
Compassion and loving-kindness increase activity in the amygdala in response to others' suffering, while focusing on something neutral, such as breathing, decreases activity in this area. The effects of loving-kindness appear quickly - after only eight hours of practice. Reductions in typically very severe unconscious biases occur after 16 hours of practice. The more people practice, the more resilient their brain and behavior patterns toward compassion become. The strength of these effects from the early days of meditation may indicate our biological readiness for kindness.
How feelings change during meditation
The passive mode of the brain is activated when what we are doing does not require mental effort. We allow the mind to wander, remembering thoughts and feelings (most often unpleasant) that are directed at ourselves. We create a narrative that we perceive as our self. Parts of the passive mode network calm down during mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation. In the early stages of meditation, this “switching off” of the “self-system” involves areas of the brain that inhibit parts of the passive mode network. With subsequent practice, connections and activity in these areas weaken.
“Switching off” areas associated with the sense of self begins with the altered state effect observed during or immediately after meditation. However, in experienced practitioners it becomes a permanent feature along with reduced activity in the passive mode. The resulting reduction in “stickiness” means that the self-centered thoughts and feelings that arise in the mind loosen their grip and are less likely to “capture” attention.
Reduces suffering, but does not cure
None of the many forms of meditation that have been studied are intended to cure diseases, at least as we recognize in the West. However, today the scientific literature is replete with studies on the usefulness of these ancient practices for treating illness. Some types of meditation can indeed reduce the emotional component of suffering from illness, but do not cure it. However, even three days of mindfulness training briefly reduces the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines - substances responsible for inflammation. The more you meditate, the lower your levels of these substances. This will probably become a permanent effect with constant practice. This is evidenced by tomographic studies in which a decrease in the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines was recorded in practitioners of meditation at rest. At the same time, the connection between the regulatory region of the brain and the sectors of the “self-system” of the brain, especially the posterior cingulate cortex, increased.
Thanks to meditation, the pain will not feel that way.
In experienced practitioners, a day of intense mindfulness practice suppressed genes associated with inflammation. Levels of telomerase, which slows down the aging of cells, increase after three months of intensive practice of mindfulness and loving-kindness. Finally, long-term meditation leads to beneficial structural changes in the brain, although current evidence is unclear whether these effects occur with relatively short periods of practice or only occur with long-term practice. Overall, the signatures of neural changes that underlie altered traits appear scientifically reliable.
Reduces depression
Although meditation was not created for the purpose of treating psychological problems, in the modern world it looks like a promising method in the treatment of certain diseases, especially. In a meta-analysis of studies using meditation techniques to treat patients with mental health problems, the results showed that meditation reduced depression (especially severe depression), anxiety and pain - about the same as medications, but without side effects. Meditation also reduces the severity of psychological stress - to a lesser extent than medications. Loving-kindness meditation can be helpful for patients who have experienced trauma.
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I started working out and gained muscle mass. I started meditating - so what? The lack of visible results is the reason that we give up meditation. Although this habit takes virtually no time, even 10-15 minutes a day is enough.
We decided to understand the benefits of meditation and how it affects the human brain and his body as a whole.
Who is Elizabeth Blackburn
The word "meditation" was first mentioned in the 12th century by the monk Guigo II. Of course, meditation as a spiritual practice appeared much earlier, but in a word meditatio was first named then. The technique began to be popularized only in the 1950s, starting in India and ending in the United States and Europe.
Such interest was understandable: meditation gurus talked about almost magical transformations of thinking, improving memory, rejuvenation and stopping aging. Of course, many embellished, but identifying the lie was not so easy due to the placebo effect and the inability to see the real benefits of the process.
One of the first to connect meditation and science was Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn. In the 1980s, Blackburn discovered telomeres in the human body - repeating sequences of genetic code that protect it (genetic code - Note ed.) from loss of information. Telomeres can change size, and the smaller they are, the higher the risk of various diseases: diabetes, obesity, stroke, Alzheimer's disease.
In addition to the amplitude of the waves, the physical state of the brain was also examined in the experimental subjects. It turned out that in the meditating group, the areas of the brain responsible for learning, memory and emotions became denser.
How to stay awake for 40 years
Having examined the effect on the brain and DNA, you can move on to a more down-to-earth topic -. Sleep is an integral part of our lives, and we pay a high price for it - more than a third of the total time we live. But there is no other way. Or is it possible?
Paul Kern was a Hungarian soldier who fought in the First World War. In 1915, in one of the battles, he was wounded in the temple by a Russian soldier. The bullet hit the frontal lobe and separated part of it. After such a brain injury, a person cannot survive, but Paul managed. With only one strange consequence: he could no longer sleep.
From the moment he was wounded in 1915 until his death in 1955, Kern did not sleep and, in his own words, did not experience any difficulties in this regard. Kern's brain was examined many times, but the cause of the anomaly was never found.
Scientists haven't been able to figure out what it takes to stay awake for so long (shooting yourself in the head doesn't count), but they have conducted a number of other studies that show that it is still possible to reduce the need for sleep.
During the experiment, 30 experimental subjects were divided into two groups. The first group included those who were new to meditation, the second group included those who had been meditating for a long time. All participants had their PVT reaction time measured 40 minutes before meditation, after meditation, and after a short nap.
PVT (psychomotor vigilance task) is a special task that measures the speed of a person’s reaction to visual stimulation.
The results showed that reaction speed accelerated after meditation (even in beginners) and slowed down in both groups after a short nap. The study also revealed that participants in the second group needed less sleep to fully rest.
Conclusion
Now that the benefits of meditation have been proven, we are left with one more problem. Despite the popularity of meditation in the West, we still think of it as stupid sitting in the lotus position. And just try not to hum “Om”, then meditation is not considered successful.
However, there are still long-term benefits from meditation, and, as you understand, this is proven not only by the words of people who practice it, but also by numerous studies on this topic. It has been scientifically proven that meditation:
- Increases telomere length, reducing stress, bad mood and depression.
- Increases the amplitude of alpha waves.
- Helps strengthen the lobes of the brain responsible for learning, memory and emotions.
- Reduces the number of hours of sleep required by the body to rest.
We all grew up with a picture before our eyes - a lady in wide pants sitting in the lotus position with her fingers folded in a circle on her knees, and in the background there is a carefree landscape somewhere in the Himalayas.
And this is exactly what you can see if you type the word “meditation” into Google:
This formed a distorted perception of meditation as some kind of spiritual practice, with energy flows, opening chakras and other crap 💩.
But fortunately, in the modern world we have scientists, reproducible research and rational thinking. Scientists were bothered by all these sublime matters no less than me, and perhaps you. And they have conducted and continue to conduct research, trying to understand what exactly is happening and why. Why do those who meditate seem happier, why do they worry less, why do they suffer from less mental illness, why are they at less risk of heart disease?
Below are short excerpts and links to various studies with before-after comparisons, comparisons of those who meditated and those who did not, where scientists confirm that meditation really helps reduce stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression.
Let's start with physiological reasons:
Changes in gray matter content in the brain
Gray matter is the main component of the central nervous system (thanks to Wikipedia), where neurons and nerve cells are located.
A group of scientists at Harvard studied 16 participants in the experiment for 8 weeks. They had two MRIs — 2 weeks before and after they completed the meditation course.
Yellow marks the location of gray matter compaction in the brain.
After 8 weeks of the course, the participants had an increase in the concentration of gray matter in the brain stem, responsible for the creation of serotonin receptors that produce serotonin (otherwise known as the “happiness hormone”)
The same group of Sarah Lazar from Harvard says even more - the amount of gray matter in the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory, increased, and the amount of gray matter in the amygdala, responsible for anxiety and stress, decreased.
Anxiety and panic attacks
93 people at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2009 to 2011 participated in a study to reduce anxiety and panic attacks. Some of them completed an eight-week course with meditation (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MBSR), and some took another course without meditation (Stress Management Education, SME).
After that, using special questionnaires (HAM-A, CGI-S, BAI), we obtained data that a course with meditation reduced the anxiety state of the subjects more than a course without it.
The values are arbitrary, since the evaluation uses different metrics in different studies, so only SME should be compared with MBSR, without taking into account absolute numbers.
40 people participated and underwent an eight-week course of meditation therapy.
The results were measured by two questionnaires to determine the level of depression - BDI-II, HAM-D-28.
Results of changes in depression levels. Gray — those who meditated, white — those who didn’t.
As a result, measurement using the BDI-II showed a drop in the level of depression from 26 (moderate) to 11 (mild), HAM-D-28 from 21 (moderate) to 13.5 (mild).
Blood pressure and reduced mortality from heart disease
17 people practiced meditation for 3 months, 10–12 hours a day. Another 23 people — 1 week 20 minutes a day.
For testing, they were very quickly shown cards with different letters, in which 2 numbers slipped from time to time. The task is to remember these 2 numbers (Time 1 and Time 2).
Short interval — numbers are shown within a short time of each other. Long interval — numbers are shown after a long time from each other.
As a result, those who constantly practiced meditation showed results that were 10–15% better than those who practiced little.
Eventually
Meditation really helps reduce stress, anxiety and improve well-being. This is the same mode of operation of the brain as learning and thinking. In each case, new neural connections are formed, but in different places. During meditation — in the brainstem and hippocampus, which results in the production of serotonin, improved perception of information, less anxiety and stress.
Most studies suggest 8-10 weeks of daily meditation for 20-30 minutes to achieve stable results. But many note that even 1 week of 10-15 minutes can already give a result that can be felt.
Where to begin?
Aware - Mindfulness Meditation - Stress & Anxiety on the App StoreRead reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Aware - Mindfulness Meditation - Stress… itunes.apple.com
Personal experience
The article was written for my wife, and she said that it was necessary to add personal experience for a logical conclusion to the article 😊
The first time I tried meditation was at school, we had some kind of lesson with some teacher (no idea what or who it was), he showed us a video of children who were blindfolded walking around the room and finding toys scattered on the floor (WTF ?!😱). He also explained one of the methods of meditation and we all sat with our eyes closed and imagined ourselves in a house, in a safe, quiet place where we could hide away like in a cocoon.
I liked it and often after home before going to bed, lying in bed, I imagined myself there. But over time I got bored and forgot. And only about a year ago, while reading articles about personal effectiveness, I increasingly began to see mention of meditation as a method for improving cognitive abilities.
The final touches were the Learning how to learn course (the most popular course on Coursera for a minute), where one of the important methods of thinking was not to think at all. And a video by the author of Headspace (above in the text), which gave me the impetus to read more and try.
After several months of more or less regular short meditations, I can say for myself that I have stopped focusing on negative events, that any negative emotions are easier to experience, they are just somewhere nearby, but not inside.
PS. Don’t believe everything, read, study the information, find confirmation and don’t be afraid if something doesn’t match what you think it should be.
Well, share with your friends👌
Review article by Alice Walton from Forbes, translated into Russian for FKI: overcoming social phobia and addictions, changes in gray matter volumes, passing exams. A picture with blue brains is an added bonus.
Research in the field of “meditation and the brain” has been steadily occurring for several years; Almost every week new research comes out illustrating some new kind of benefit from meditation - or rather, some ancient kind of benefit that has just been confirmed through fMRI and EEG. The practice of meditation appears to produce a bewildering array of positive neurological benefits, from changes in gray matter volume to decreased activity in the brain's "self" centers and improved connectivity between brain regions.
Below are some of the most exciting studies published in the past few years that show that meditation actually produces measurable changes in our most important organ. Skeptics, of course, might ask: What good is a few changes in the brain if the psychological consequences are not described at the same time?
Fortunately, these psychological effects are also backed up by many - studies show that meditation helps reduce our subjective levels of anxiety and depression and improve attention, focus and overall psychological well-being.
Meditation Helps Preserve the Aging Brain
Last week, a UCLA study found that long-term meditators had better brain health as they aged than non-meditators.
Participants who meditated for an average of 20 years had greater gray matter volume in all parts of the brain - although older practitioners lost some volume compared to younger practitioners, the loss was not as pronounced as in those who doesn't meditate.
“We expected to find some minor and discrete effects concentrated in areas that had previously been found to be associated with meditation,” says study author Florian Kurth. "Instead, we actually saw broad effects of meditation across areas throughout the brain."
Meditation reduces activity in the brain's "me center"
One of the most interesting studies in recent years, conducted at Yale University, found that mindfulness meditation reduces activity in the “default mode network” (DMN) - a brain network responsible for mind wandering and self-referring thoughts. “I” - that is, for the “monkey mind”. The passive mode network is "on" or active when we are not thinking about anything in particular, when our minds simply jump from thought to thought. Because mental wandering is typically associated with lower levels of happiness, obsessive thinking (rumination), and worry about the past and future, the goal for many people is to reduce it. Several studies have shown that meditation - due to its calming effect on the DMN - appears to do just that; and even when the mind begins to wander, because of the new connections that are formed, meditators are better able to stop this wandering.
The effects of meditation on depression and anxiety are comparable to antidepressants
An expert meta-study conducted last year at Johns Hopkins University examined the relationship between mindfulness meditation and its ability to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and pain. Researcher Madhav Goyal and his team found that the effect size of meditation was moderate, at 0.3. If this seems modest, remember that the effect size for antidepressants is also 0.3 - which makes meditation seem like a pretty good option. After all, meditation is an active form of brain training. “Many people have this idea that meditating means sitting down and doing nothing,” Goyal notes. “But that's not true. Meditation is the active training of the mind to develop awareness, and different meditation programs approach this from different angles.” Meditation is not a magic pill for depression (like any other treatment), but it is one of the tools that can help manage symptoms.
Meditation may lead to changes in volume in key areas of the brain
In 2011, Sarah Lazar and her team at Harvard found that mindfulness meditation can actually change the structure of the brain: Eight weeks of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) appeared to increase cortical thickness of the hippocampus, which controls learning and memory, and certain areas of the brain. which play a role in emotion management and self-definition processes. There was also a decrease in the volume of brain cells in the amygdala, which is responsible for fear, anxiety and stress - and these changes were consistent with the participants' self-reports of their stress levels (this shows that meditation does not just change the brain, but also changes our subjective perceptions and feelings). In fact, in a follow-up study, Lazar's team found that after meditation training, changes in areas of the brain associated with mood and arousal also corresponded with how participants described feeling better—i.e. your psychological well-being. So for those who argue that the switched-on brain bumps don't necessarily mean anything: our subjective experience - improved mood and well-being - thanks to meditation does appear to actually change as well.
Just a few days of training improves focus and attention
Having problems concentrating is not just a problem for children; it also affects millions of adults—with or without diagnosed attention deficit disorder. Interestingly (but not surprisingly), one of the main benefits of meditation is that it improves attention and concentration: one recent study found that just a couple of weeks of meditation training improved people's concentration and memory (as measured by GRE verbal tests). logical thinking). In fact, the score increase was equivalent to 16 percent - which is no small feat. Since powerful focus of attention (on an object, idea, or activity) is one of the key goals of meditation, it's not surprising that meditation should also enhance people's cognitive skills at work - but it's good that science backs it up. Plus, a little help with standardized exams wouldn't hurt anyone.
Meditation reduces anxiety - and social phobia
Many people start meditating to reduce stress, and there is a lot of evidence to back up this logic. There is a whole new subset of meditation mentioned earlier called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the MIT Center for Mindfulness and now available throughout the United States. The purpose of this method is to reduce the level of stress (physical and mental) in a particular person. Studies have demonstrated its benefits in reducing anxiety, even several years after the initial 8-week course. Research has also shown that mindfulness meditation—as opposed to focusing solely on the breath—can reduce anxiety, and that these changes appear to occur through areas of the brain associated with self-referential (“me-centered”) thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation has also been shown to help people with social anxiety disorder: a Stanford University team found that MBSR produced changes in areas of the brain involved in attention and also found a reduction in symptoms of social anxiety disorder.
Meditation can help those suffering from addiction
A growing body of research shows that meditation (given its effects on the parts of the brain responsible for self-control) can be very effective in helping people overcome addictions of all kinds. One study, for example, contrasted mindfulness training with the American Lung Association's Tobacco Free Program and found that people who learned mindfulness were much more likely to quit smoking at the end of the training and at a 17-week follow-up than those who took the course. usual treatment. The reason for this may be that meditation helps people "separate" the state of desire from the act of smoking, so that one does not necessarily lead to the other - you instead experience it fully and ride the "wave" of the craving until it passes. Another study found that mindfulness training, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) may be useful in treating other types of addiction.
Brief meditation breaks can help children at school
For developing brains, meditation is just as - or perhaps even more - promising as it is for adults. Education professionals and researchers are increasingly interested in introducing meditation and yoga to schoolchildren who face common sources of stress at school, and often additional stress and trauma outside of school. Some schools have begun incorporating meditation into their daily schedules, with success: One San Francisco district began a twice-daily meditation program in some of its high-risk schools—and children have experienced fewer suspensions and higher grade point averages and higher attendance rates. Research has confirmed the cognitive and emotional benefits that meditation brings to schoolchildren, but more work is likely to be needed before it becomes widely accepted.
Worth a try?
Meditation is not a panacea, but there is certainly plenty of evidence that it can provide some benefits to those who practice it regularly. Everyone from Anderson Cooper and Congressman Tim Ryan to companies like Google, Apple and Target are building meditation into their schedules; and its benefits seem to begin to be felt after a relatively short amount of practice. Some researchers caution that meditation can lead to negative effects in certain circumstances (the so-called "dark night" phenomenon), but for most people - especially if you have a good teacher - meditation is beneficial, not harmful. It's definitely worth a try: if you have a few minutes in the morning or evening (or both), instead of turning on your phone or going online, see what happens if you try to calm your mind, or at least spend some time pay attention to your thoughts and let them go without reacting to them. If the research is correct, just a few minutes of meditation can make a big difference.