Midweek Mental Greening
“In meditation, effort must be applied in a direction opposite to what we are used to. Our ‘effort’ must be to relax ever more deeply. We must ultimately release the tension from both our muscles and our thoughts. When we relax so deeply that we are able to internalize the energy of the senses, the mind becomes focused and a tremendous flow of energy is awakened. Meditation is a continuous process, and can be said to have three stages: relaxation, interiorization, and expansion.” - John Novak, Lessons in Meditation.
Even if you don’t practice meditation - or, like me, you try to but have no real understanding of the different kinds of meditation - chances are you probably have at least a working knowledge of meditation.
Meditation is a great way to relieve anxiety, manage stress, and focus your mind.
And, according to researchers at UCLA, meditation is also a way to build a bigger brain.
Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of people who meditate and people who don’t, researchers found that certain brain areas - specifically “the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus” - were significantly larger in people who meditate.
And, those bigger brain parts might actually play a role in long-term meditators’ abilities to grab on to and maintain control of their mindfulness and emotions.
“We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior,” said Eileen Luders, lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging. “The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities.”
Because these areas of the brain are closely linked to emotion, Luders said, “these might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators’ the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way.”
Kind of makes you think twice about scoffing at all those New Age, hippie-types, doesn’t it? 
Fortunately, you don’t have to drive around attending classes or spending money (and creating waste) on meditation-related products if you want to learn more about and start practicing meditation. The appropriately titled How to Mediate website provides text and video instructions, and the Meditation Center provides a wealth of information about the basics and benefits of meditation. If you want some extras with your meditation experience, you can find free meditation music to download at Free Meditation Music and eco-friendly incense at places like Scents of India and PaulaWalla.com. (You can even get incense burners made of 100% recycled aluminum at Orion Imaging.)
Ohm.
Want to learn more about mindfulness?
Keep up to date about mindfulness and meditation over at our blog, Mindfuless and Psychotherapy.
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21 Comments to
“Want a Bigger, Stronger Brain? Start Meditating.”
I wouldn’t worry about the incense burner and book — all you need to meditate is some free time, a chair, and a butt.
@ Janis - Ha!
I am comfortable about everything reported about meditation, but that’s undercut by the fact that you promote products & specific businesses. That’s not journalism, and I wonder if, by going to the mentioned sites, I will actually be missing other important information about meditation techniques & aims, etc. that are available elsewhere.
@ Amy - Thanks for chiming in!
A good way to find out is to visit the sites and check out the information they provide. If you don’t like the information or don’t feel the sites adequately cover the basics of meditation, Google can help you find more (that’s what I used). Actually, I highly recommend that you do check out other sites related to meditation - if you only check out the sites I’ve listed (”How to Mediate” and “Meditation Center”) you will undoubtedly miss out on important information because clearly my list is not an all-inclusive list.
I’m not affiliated with any of the sites or their products; I merely did some light research about music for mediation and eco-friendly incense. The drive behind this particular weekly column - “Midweek Mental Greening” - is to provide information about “greener” (both for the mind and the environment) alternatives to mental wellness, so it only makes sense that I would include links to and/or information about resources where people could find eco-friendly products, should they want to use them. I would hate to think that the mention of such items would undercut your comfort level for mediation information. Meditation is meditation - music and incense, or not.
Hi, Alicia -
I am always tickled when I see someone recognizing the positive impact meditation (or other forms of spiritual awareness) can have on our psyche . . thanks for calling our attention to this information!
- Marie (Coming Out of the Trees)
http://mmaaggnnaa.wordpress.com/
I have always liked meditating on God’s Word.
I know it probably sounds corny but it is so beneficial to review scriptures in my mind and to ask myself various questions about what I read. What does the scripture tell me about Jehovah God’s personality?….What does it tell me about Jesus’ personality?….How am I going to cultivate and apply this trait in my life?
By meditating I have noticed an increased ability to express myself more clearer and more adaquate. Meditation teaches me to think and speak at the same time!It helps with improving memory too. I can tell how forgetful and unretrievable my short-term memory becomes and how concentration becomes unstable when I have not been meditating on God’s Word.
I don’t think this is the type of meditation you are talking about except for the fact that it forces me to think away from negative, depressing thoughts into the direction of a specific, selected focus–Which personally relieves my depression by considering something beneficial and healthy as God’s Word always is. Its powerful and alive.
I like this scripture: (Hebrews 4:12)For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and [their] marrow, and [is] able to discern thoughts and intentions of [the] heart.
If we meditatively think about God’s “alive and “power”ful words then we can discern deeper realities.
Notice God himself mentions meditation in the following scriptures:
(Genesis 24:63) . . .And Isaac was out walking in order to meditate in the field at about the falling of evening. . . .
(Psalm 63:6) . . .During the night watches I meditate on you.
(Psalm 77:12) . . .And I shall certainly meditate on all your activity,. . .
(Acts 4:25) . . .Why did nations become tumultuous and peoples meditate upon empty things. . .
Don’t you think this last thought about meditating on empty things is thought provoking?
It certainly shows the importance of guarding our thinking and controling what we think about.
@ gladtobealive - Thank you for taking the time to send such a thoughtful comment and those verses. I don’t think any of it’s corny at all, and really I believe I’ve benefited from reading it. I believe others will, too.
Yes, that last quote is very thought-provoking. When I do try to sit down and meditate, I find it very hard to clear my mind, and it seems that if something’s going to be bouncing around in there (if I’m going to be meditating on something), it should be something important, and not empty. That’s definitely something to be mindful of!
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts
@ Marie - You’re very welcome Great-looking blog, by the way! I love the color scheme - very soothing.
This might surprise you, Alicia, but most people who meditate do so as a spiritual practice. I wonder how many Buddhists will appreciate being dismissed as “New Age hippie-types”.
Your references - in the article and comments - to the website “How to Mediate” probably should be “How to Meditate”?
Ohm is a unit of electrical impedence or resistance. I’m guessing you meant to sign off your article with Om (or Aum), the sacred syllable of many Eastern religions?
Sorry for nitpicking here, but these distractions (along with merchandising suggestions) deter from the point of the article.
@ Maria - No, actually, meditation as related to spiritual practices doesn’t surprise me - it’s the reason I chose the image I chose for the post. Of course, it should also be no surprise that not everyone who meditates does so for religious purposes; on that note, not everyone who meditates is even religious.
I’ve been called a “New Age hippie-type” for a good part of my life and have never been offended by it - I see no reason to be.
“Ohm” is indeed the symbol for the SI unit of electrical impedance or resistance; however, it, Aum, and Om are all pretty common spellings for the same meditation-related meaning today. I’m sure there are preferred ways of spelling it among various groups, but Ohm is what a good mental health blogger friend of mine who regularly practices TM used when we discussed it, and because I trust her, that’s what I chose to use, too.
Thank you for the note on the misspelling in my above comment. I’ll log in and see if I can correct that (it’s actually about the 5th or 6th time I’ve misspelled that word today, ha - they’re quite similar, as are “impedance” and “impedence”). Please also note in the comment my explanation of the links to those particular sites. This is “Midweek Mental Greening” - a weekly column that discusses and explores green and environmentally friendly ways to take care of mental health and wellness. Things would get rather dull if I didn’t point to a few eco-friendly products every now and then. I don’t own those sites, I’m not affiliated with those sites, and I make no money whatsoever off of anything related to those sites (one of them offers free music). If I see eco-friendly products that I think readers might be interested in, I’m going to pass them along.
Dear Glad to Believe, I enjoyed your comment on this article, and also the srciptures you cited. Indeed it is very important to guard our thinking.
i planning to start soon
@ farouk - Good luck!
are the bigger brain parts the result of meditating, or do people who actively meditate tend to be the ones who have bigger brain parts to begin with?
post hoc, ergo propter hoc…
@ x - That’s a good question! I reread the article and found this:
“Because this was not a longitudinal study — which would have tracked meditators from the time they began meditating onward — it’s possible that the meditators already had more regional gray matter and volume in specific areas; that may have attracted them to meditation in the first place, Luders said.”
So, it looks like the answer to your question is “they don’t know.” It would be really interesting to find out the results of that - measure the people’s brains first (before they start meditating), then track their “growth” over the years!
“…meditation is also a way to build a bigger brain.”
The study did not find this.
Correlation is not necessarily causation.
That meditation causes the brain differences is NOT a conclusion compelled by this study. It is one possible, unproven, hypothesis.
This is typical sloppy reporting.
I’m sorry you feel that way, AdamK. Unfortunately, all I can do is quote the articles I read -
“But what can one do to build a bigger brain? Meditate.”
- which ideally will lead to discussions rather than anyone feeling as if they have or have not received adequate reporting. I am not a reporter. I’m a blogger who shares linked and quoted information that I hope will spark conversations.
Please also see my comment above, which quotes another part of the original Science Daily article that clearly states researchers don’t yet know if the meditation caused more regional gray matter and volume in specific areas, or if the people who meditated already had larger volumes, and understand that this wasn’t ignored information.
Such a great information. I agree with with this message. Meditation is very important thing in every humans life. Doing meditation keeps will keeps our body in a balanced condition and gives us clear mind, keeps us energetic always. It makes our brain to think in a smarter way.
Brainhealthandpuzzles - brain meditation
Wow! your website have the great information about meditatin
.I’m sure I will be back again.
I’m always glad to find more people who are aware of — and wanting to share — the benefits of meditation now being shown through neuroscience.
The Dalai Lama himself (a rather religious person, I think we’d all agree) has been asking Western scientists to take a good, hard look at what happens to the brain with meditation — and then, to share the information with people who would otherwise simply dismiss meditation as something “religious” or “foreign.”
As a neuropsychologist, looking at this research is intriguing and, more and more, convincing. Even more compelling is the difference I see in the people I work with in my psychotherapy practice.
Thanks for sharing the study. If I may, I invite your readers to visit http://www.ReWireYourBrainForLove.com for a free mindfulness meditation download.
@ Marsha - Thanks so for sharing the link and free download!
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 12 Jun 2009
