Over the past few years, a significant amount of research has helped us understand what happens in the brain during meditation and how it provides long-term benefits. Meditation, for instance, has a wide range of positive effects. It’s impressive that one practice can offer so many benefits, suggesting that meditation helps the brain function at its best. Essentially, we can think of meditation as a series of exercises that optimize our brain.
Neuroscience provides a clearer explanation of how meditation works. When we meditate, we engage and strengthen parts of the brain that regulate the amygdala, which is responsible for anxiety. This leads to the amygdala becoming smaller, resulting in long-term emotional changes. Our previous ways of explaining emotions, such as comparing them to hydraulic fluids that need to be released, are outdated. Neuroscience offers us better metaphors and improves our self-understanding.
Scientists can observe these brain changes within weeks, not years. Most studies last only eight weeks, with participants meditating for about 20 minutes each day. That’s not a lot of time for such significant results!
If you think meditation isn’t for you or believe it’s only beneficial for “spiritual” people, consider this: meditating is like exercising. Just as regular physical activity strengthens muscles, regular meditation promotes brain growth and emotional resilience.
It’s important to note that when I talk about “optimizing your brain,” I’m using a figure of speech called a metonym. It’s like saying we want to “save the planet” when we really mean saving the biosphere. Similarly, optimizing the brain means improving our whole being or life.
This concept will be explored in my 28-session online course, Optimize Your Brain. We’ll dive into brain research and meditation, aiming to foster calmness, focus, happiness, creativity, intelligence, better relationships, and insight.
The course starts on the 10th. For more information, follow the link provided.