How God Changes Your Brain

Mark Robert Waldman is an associate fellow at the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania. His latest book is called "How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist." The book was recently featured in a major "Time" magazine cover story. If his interview on PBS is anything to go by this book is a must buy.

Personally I really love the sciences exploring spirituality. Walderman and his co author on the book Andrew Newberg go deep into the kind of territory that could potentially begin to unify our understanding of some of the aspects of religion and spirituality from a non dogmatic or ideolagized view. That is of course from the perspective of their own scientific ideology. Within it though there is a clear intent to explore and explain within the parameters of psychology and neuroscience.

So how can these scientists help in the ways I’ve suggested?

"What we’re finding is that, if you engage in contemplative spiritual practice or meditation or prayer or even focusing intently on a positive thought and a positive affirmation, you can begin to make permanent changes in both the structure and the function of your brain in ways that enhance memory, cognition, awareness, consciousness, compassion, and it simultaneously suppresses the neuromechanisms in your brain that cause anxiety, depression, fear, anger and rage."

Sounds good doesn’t it, and here’s where the ‘unify our understanding of some of the aspects of religion and spirituality’ part comes in.

"what we’ve done is that we’ve distilled from all of the world’s religious traditions a set of 12 basic exercises that we have in Chapter 9, I believe, that anyone can do. And if you do these exercises for 12 minutes a day for eight weeks and we put you into a brain scan machine, we can show you that changes are being made in your brain that make all of the improvements that I just talked about."

So what he’s saying is that they have identified the aspects of religious and spiritual practices that have the greatest physiological and psychological benefits and….

"Thirty years of research shows that this is the most effective way to eliminate serious forms of depression and anxiety, and when you apply these types of spiritual techniques, you can take the theology out of them and use them in a secular form and, if you want to, you can take the theology from a different religion and put them back in. You still get the same neurological benefits."

Going further Waldman and Newberg asked thousands of people how they would describe God and their spiritual experiences and virtually nothing was held in common. The meaning they came to from this is that "God or spirituality is a profoundly unique experience."

So by distilling what works from the perspective of their own understanding of the human brain/mind/experience they have come up with things like exercises in compassionate communication that will be relevant and acceptable and more importantly effective for people of any religious, non-religious or spiritual persuasion.

Then instead of getting hung up on the differences that divide we can realize our common humanity. How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist get yours now.

You can read an interview with the authors here

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Healing Though Meditation

Healing though meditation occurs in multiple ways. There are all the physical and psychological health benefits we gain from the practice. There are also deeper levels of healing available in meditation.

When we are practicing a body based meditation, we may begin to notice all manner of aches and pains in the body. They may range from gross to very subtle. If there is a pain in a particular part of the body our habitual reaction will usually be to want it to go away, to change it or move away from it. If it is not indicating a physical problem, with the knees for example, then there is the opportunity for release and healing.

Pain and tension in the body indicate a place of holding, a place where some unresolved, incomplete or unhealed ‘past’ is held in the subconscious. The body being the

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Meditators Feel Less Pain

Zen meditation – a centuries-old practice that can provide mental, physical and emotional balance – may reduce pain according to Université de Montréal researchers. A new study in the January edition of Psychosomatic Medicine reports that Zen meditators have lower pain sensitivity both in and out of a meditative state compared to non-meditators.

Joshua A. Grant, a doctoral student in the Department of Physiology, co-authored the paper with Pierre Rainville, a professor and researcher at the Université de Montréal and it’s affiliated Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. The main goal of their study was to examine whether trained meditators perceived pain differently than non-meditators.

"While previous studies have shown that teaching chronic pain patients to meditate is beneficial, very few studies have looked at pain processing in healthy, highly trained meditators. This study was a first step in determining how or why meditation might influence pain perception." says Grant.

Meditate away the pain read the whole article here…..

 

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Meditation Better Than Antidepressants

 Goup therapy involving an adaptation from Buddhist meditation has been found to be as effective at combating depression as medication, a study just published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology has found.

Fifteen months after an eight-week trial involving 123 people, 47 per cent of people with depression who under-went therapy suffered a relapse, compared with 60 per cent of those taking antidepressants.The treatment, known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), helps people focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past or planning the future.

The study, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, found MBCT, developed in 2002 by a team of psychologists from Canada, Oxford, and Cambridge, was actually more effective than medication in improving patients’ quality of life.

The sessions involve the teaching of meditation techniques based on some found in Buddhism. The aim is to teach skills which help patients recognise and cope with their tendency towards depression.

Here are some quotes from one participant…

"My view of the world has changed and I look at life in a new light."

"It’s given me the ability to come up against something that would have previously thrown me, think it through, come up with a solution and then move on. "

 The British National Health Service (NHS) say that compared to one-to-one sessions, or medication, "mindfulness-based cognitive therapy" (MBCT) is cheaper form of treatment.

You can also help your fight against depression with correct diet.

Is this more evidence of a slow but steady movement towards a more holistic approach to mental health care? I really hope so, what do you think?

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Meditate To Learn Compassion?

 Is compassion a skill that can be perfected, like playing a musical instrument or competing in sports? A study published this spring suggests: Yes. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin assert that cultivating compassion and kindness through learned meditation practices can make a person more empathetic.

Read the full article here

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Meditation Benefits - Psychological

As we saw in the article on the physiological and health benefits of meditation, a great deal of research has been done to study meditation in the last 50 years or more. This expansive body of research has also revealed numerous psychological benefits of meditation to which most committed meditators can testify. While it may be a new field of exploration for western science, the connections between the body and the mind are not new to the spiritual sciences. All the physiological benefits of meditation that we discussed quite naturally then have a corresponding benefit at the psychological level.

The reduction of stress at the physiological level that meditation brings, produces a reduction in the feelings of anxiety at the psychological level. A systematic review of 144 studies found that meditation was markedly more effective in reducing anxiety than other techniques (Journal of Clinical Psychology) Sometimes anxiety becomes paralyzing and overwhelming in  the form of panic attacks. Panic attacks are often treated with drugs, but studies by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester and director of the medical center’s Stress Reduction Clinic, show that if people who are prone to panic attacks begin focused, meditative breathing the instant they feel the first signs of an episode, they are less likely to have a full-blown panic attack.

Meditation has also consistently been found to reduce depression, hostility, and emotional instability, indicating the growth of a more stable, balanced, and resilient personality. In another statistical review of 42 independent research results, meditation was found to be effective in increasing self-actualization-an overall measure of positive mental health and personal development. Further analysis revealed that the technique is exceptionally effective in developing three independent components of this dimension: emotional maturity, a resilient sense of self, and a positive, integrated perspective on ourselves and the world (Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality)

Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and isolation are hallmarks of depression-the nation’s most prevalent mental health problem. Meditation increases self-confidence and feelings of connection to others. Many studies have shown that depressed people feel much better after eliciting the relaxation response of meditation, and practicing meditation reduces their relapse rate by half. Brain scans show that meditation shifts activity in the prefrontal cortex (behind the forehead) from the right hemisphere to the left. People who have a negative disposition tend to be right-prefrontal oriented; left-prefrontals have more enthusiasms, more interests, relax more, and tend to be happier.

The research on meditation has shown significant improvements in mental health, memory, concentration, and productivity. Researchers tested novice meditators on a button-pressing task requiring speed and concentration. Performance was greater at 40 minutes of meditation than after a 40-minute nap. Meditators notice more, but react more calmly than non-meditators to emotionally arousing stimuli. Those with smoking, alcohol, and eating addictions who have been trained in meditation break their addictions with significantly lower relapse rates than those receiving standard therapies. Middle school children who practice meditation show improved work habits, attendance, and GPA (grade point average).

Brain scans of meditators show increased thickness in regions of the cortex associated with higher functions like memory and decision making. Meditation appears to slow aging. Those meditating five years or more were 12 years younger than their chronological age. Obviously this has both physical and mental benefits. Overall meditation can help most people feel less anxious and more in control. The awareness that meditation brings can also be a source of personal insight and self-understanding.

The research results will continue highlighting specific points of benefit from meditating, and this will only help to broaden the acceptance of meditation in the culture at large. This type of research can analyse in minute detail the subtle chemical changes in the brain and body that practising meditation produces. It can also measure the psychological improvements, all of this data from reductionist science however, doesn’t really help us to understand meditation.

The first thing that leads to these benefits is not the practice of meditation itself but the desire and commitment to do it. Wanting to meditate and being willing to do it indicates the desire for greater self-awareness and well-being. It is a willingness to take time to be with oneself, no matter what. This in itself is an enormous step for many people. Modern culture is completely oriented towards self distraction through an endless barrage of images and information. The focus is completely external and stimulates the perpetuation of desire.

Each of us regardless of a life circumstances carries within us pains and fears from the past. For the vast majority of us, for the vast majority of the time, these feelings, emotions, and their responding beliefs, influence us subconsciously. Meditation creates the opportunity for our attention to turn inwards and for these things to be made conscious. Without this conscious awareness of our inner fears, pains, and limiting beliefs, the habitual tendency is to project them outwards onto other people and the world at large. Through the practice of meditation, as these things reveal themselves within us, we can expand the depth of our self-awareness, self-responsibility, and develop an increasing empathy for others.

For those of you who like lists, the psychological benefits of meditation are…
    ▪    Increased brain wave coherence.
    ▪    Greater creativity.
    ▪    Decreased anxiety.
    ▪    Decreased depression
    ▪    Decreased irritability and moodiness
    ▪    Improved learning ability and memory.
    ▪    Increased self-actualization.
    ▪    Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
    ▪    Increased happiness.
    ▪    Increased emotional stability.
    •    Increased capacity to learn and better learning achievements
    •    Increased ability to solve problems
    •    Increase in productivity.
    •    Increased concentration.
    •    Stronger feelings of happiness and contentment
    •    Greater self-acceptance and empathy
    •    Increased self confidence
    •    Increased spontaneity.
    •    Increased emotional stability.
    •    Increased self-awareness
    •    Greater Equanimity
 

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Benefits Of Meditation - Physical Health

Since the 1970s there has been a steady flow of research data on the effects and benefits of meditation. The results overwhelmingly show there are numerous benefits to meditation. In this article we are going to concentrate on the physiological and health benefits.

Nearly all forms of meditation have one thing in common, that is relaxing the body. When the body relaxes, the mind follows. Directly experiencing the inter-relationship of the body and mind, is then a significant benefit of meditation. This awareness is a doorway to increasing self awareness and self empowerment.

The relationship between body and mind is a parallel direction of scientific and medical study. That they do effect each other in positive and negative ways is now pretty much undisputed, and the complexity of ways and means continues to be  revealed. With this understanding has emerged the significant role that stress plays in the development of illness and dis-ease.

Combine then the positive benefits of regular, conscious relaxation and the development of self awareness, including the presence and causes of stress, and you have a winning formulae. It is this later point which indicates that there is a whole dimension of greater benefit from meditation beyond simple relaxation practices.

Let us now look at the relaxation component, in order to understand it’s health benefits. To do this justice we need to understand the autonomic nervous system, or ‘ANS’. The ‘ANS’ governs and regulates involuntary functions of the body, which means all the wonderful things your body does on autopilot. We do not have to tell our bodies to breath, or our heart to beat, or have our food digested, our our immune system to protect our biological environment, or our pupils to adjust as the light source changes. All of these things and more, are handled for our best interest and well being by the ‘ANS’. The purpose of all these functions of the ‘ANS’ is to maintain homeostasis - a stable constant condition.

There are two aspects to the ANS, the Parasympathetic and the Sympathetic systems, which we can view as two different survival functions that have the opposite effect on the ANS. Most people will know the Sympathetic system as ‘fight or flight’ which occurs when there is the perception of immanent danger. When this response is activated, all available energy is readied to fight or flee for survival. In this state the function of the immune, digestive, and reproductive systems decreases or stops. At the same time adrenalin is pumped into the body, heart rate and breathing speedup and blood moves to the exterior of the body to power the muscles. In addition the higher functions of the mind give way to the powerful emotional impulses that drive survival. This is more or less what happens when we are ’stressed out’.

The Parasympathetic is then the opposite, it is the creation of homeostasis described earlier, in which each bodily system function to it’s best current capacity.

It is easy to see then how the regular and accumulative experience of stress, depletes the bodies ability to maintain healthy function of it’s systems. On the other hand we can also understand how conscious relaxation is a beneficial factor in maintaining health, both physically and mentally. But there is more….

Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex - brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.Several studies have demonstrated that subjects who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves (the relaxed brain waves) and decreased anxiety and depression.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, recorded the brain waves of stressed-out employees of a high-tech firm in Madison, Wisconsin. The subjects were split randomly into two groups, 25 people were asked to learn meditation over eight weeks, and the remaining 16 were left alone as a control group. All participants had their brain waves scanned three times during the study: at the beginning of the experiment, when meditation lessons were completed eight weeks later and four months after that. The researchers found that the meditators showed a pronounced shift in activity to the left frontal lobe, the brains happiness and joy center. Meditators then are rewiring their brain and nervous system to be more happy, more of the time.

Here then, as a list are the physiological and health benefits of meditating

    * It stabilises the autonomous nervous system.
    * It reduces the heart beat.
    * It reduces the speed of breathing.
    * Blood pressure drops.
    * The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) increases.
    * EMG activity increases.
    * Cardiovascular effectivity goes up.
    * Breathing effectivity increases.
    * The skin receives more blood.
    * Stomach function and bowel function improve.
    * The endocrine function is heightened.
    * Muscle flexibility increases.
    * The intake of oxygen gets stronger.
    * Mobility and flexibility increase.
    * The hand-eye co-ordination increases.
    * Reaction-speed increases.
    * Body posture is improved.
    * Strength and resistance increase.
    * Stamina increases.
    * There is a heightened energy level and vitality.
    * People’s weight is stabilised at an ordinary level.
    * The ability to sleep increases and the time people need to fall asleep decreases.
    * Pain is weakened.
    * Stability is improved.
    * Depth perception increases.
    * There is a heightened degree of relaxation.
    * There is a lessened degree of muscle tension.
    * The production of serotenine increases.
    * Menstruation pains are softened.
    * Increases serotonin which influences moods and behaviour. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression,       headaches and insomnia.
    * Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
    * Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches.
    * Helps in post-operative healing.
    * Enhances the immune system.

 

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