Ooh calm me down, I get far too excited when I hear the scientific evidence gathering at warp speed on the benefits of mindfulness & meditation. And really I shouldn't... as for me the proof's in the pudding - these two practices have not only changed the way I eat pudding (sticky toffee please, if you're cooking), but changed my life. Science doesn't need to tell me - I feel it and know it.
But, at a time when one in four of us experience mental illness (just for perspective, one in five have dandruff), I feel any scientific news - that it's not just a load of incense-waving chanting jibber-jabber - is worth sharing.
For me it was anxiety that led me to find a better brighter brain-way. For others it's depression, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, addiction, insomnia, a general underlying feeling that life shouldn't feel quite so hard... Whatever the “condition” is, the facts are in: meditation and mindfulness are now proven to change our neuroplasticity*.
* Latest empirical evidence includes: Oxford and Harvard's ingenious brain scanning studies; studies into brain changes with Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; evidence of increased grey matter in the frontal cortex of meditating Tibetan monks.
I'd love to sound all clever here but I'm no science-speaker. So, put simply: our brains are not a fixed grey lump of cement. Think more “pliable playdough”, brimming with over 100 billion neurons that are constantly changing, rewiring and creating new habits every second, every day.
Through advanced brain scans, smart scientists can now see that we can literally change the wiring of our brains, simply through how we think - and that this can boost both our mind and body health.
This is exciting because, rather than what we used to understand (it's genetic, you're built this way so you're screwed, go blame Mum), science is proving we are in fact architects of our own brains, we're not at the mercy of genes, we are the creators of how we experience our world.
This blows my small but malleable mind! One moment of calm, one positive thought, firing off some sort of neuron-firework display / tinkering brain fairies that immediately upgrade my brain in a new and positive way : ). It certainly gives new meaning to Buddha's “we are what we think”: think negative thoughts on repeat and our brain optimises these pathways into a superhighway, making us experts in our own misery, or vice versa...
“A Harvard study showed that eliciting the body's relaxation response could even affect our genes - in just minutes. They found that meditating (even just once) could dampen the genes involved in the inflammatory response, and promote those genes associated with DNA stability (hello longevity!). Other short-term benefits include reducing stress and blood pressure and improving attention. It may even help us make smarter choices.”
And that's not to mention...
...when we work the mind muscle of neuroplasticity.
For bookworms: bestsellers Wherever You Go, There You Are by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn and The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young (both available as audios too).
For anyone and everyone: taking two minutes a couple of times a day to focus on your breath, soak up some nature or taste your favourite food (every time you lose yourself in thought bring your attention back), will get you boosting the brain magic.
Love, Jo x
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