Meditation Can Literally Change Our Minds
The benefits of meditation have long been recognized in most parts of the world. Many people believe in the ability of meditation to alleviate stress and produce some other health benefits. But just recently, heavier evidence has shown that meditation does more than what it’s supposed to do. It’s somewhat surprising that meditation can literally change our minds.
This notion was taken from a study recently conducted by the researchers from the University of Wisconsin. They found out that meditation can literally reprogram the mind by observing the behaviour of the brain neurons while a person is undergoing meditation. According to the researchers, billions of neurons in the brain communicate by creating tiny electro-chemical signals. During the mediation period, the neurons are so active and very close to each other.
The study was headed by Dr Richard Davidson, a globally renowned brain scientist and it is now published in the journal of Psychological Science.
Power of Meditation Goes Beyond the Physical
According to Dr Davidson, the effect of meditation goes beyond the physical. He also added that constant mental practice can create long-lasting changes in how the brain works.
Prior to this research, Dr Davidson has been practicing meditation for several years now (since 1974 to be precise). Even when he was still a student in the graduate school in Harvard, he was already doing meditation. Back then, meditation was somewhat a well-accepted trend that was introduced by people from the east.
The study was based on the principle that the brain changes in response to experience. According to him, “brain circuits [for] regulation of emotion and attention are malleable by the environment and are potential targets of training,”
The researchers believe that these findings can be used to promote meditation as a supplemental treatment to alleviate depression and other behavioural illnesses that many individuals experience. It can also be used to deal with stress-related problems.
Meditation for Stronger Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, says that through a mindfulness program, people will be able to improve their emotional intelligence (EQ). They will have greater perspective in life, profound self-awareness, and stronger ability to fight stress and handle distressful events that usually happen in everyday life. Depression is a behavioural disorder that goes back whenever a person comes across the same hurtful situation. It may remain for weeks, months, and years. But when individuals have strong EQ, chances of depression staying for too long would be eliminated.
Being able to manage stress, anxiety, and difficult situations, the risk of mental disorders will be reduced. Aside from the mind-changing benefits, meditation can also be used to help ill people deal with their condition. According to Dr Adrianne Ross, a leader in Mindfulness and Meditation Centre in Vancouver, while meditation doesn’t make the illness go away, it helps them live a full life.
The researchers further added that for the mind-changing benefit of meditation to be achieved, regular practice is necessary,
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