Meditation Can Renew Your Brain In 8 Weeks
Meditation can transform our brain in 8 weeks. The areas that it seems to modify are those related to memory, empathy and stress, as well as those in charge of attention and emotional integration.
This is not said by a group of amateurs or lovers of pseudoscience, but there is behind a team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital that has documented the finding.
This study was published in the journal Psychiatric Research; In it, an eight-week meditation program was put into practice, from which it was expected to measure the benefits that meditation has on our emotions, our behaviors and our thoughts.
The brain changes that meditation gives us
Although it is well known that the benefits of meditation are multiple, until that moment it had not been verified that the changes occurred so quickly and, much less, that the scope was such.
Meditation has been seen to produce modifications in brain regions that are related to memory, self-awareness, empathy, and stress. In other words, what we understand as spirituality really improves our state of physical and mental health.
In fact, study participants spent just 27 minutes each day practicing the meditation exercises. It took 8 weeks to observe brain modifications such as an increase in the density of gray matter in the hippocampus (memory-related area) and in other areas related to self-awareness, compassion and introspection.
In addition, a decrease in density was also observed in the amygdala, the structure responsible for emotional states such as stress, anxiety or fear. In other words, thanks to the plasticity of our brains we have the possibility of being better people every day, both for others and for ourselves.
Meditation, a habit that allows us to live in the present
If we meditate assiduously, one of the changes that we will be able to appreciate before is the ability to live in the present, in the here and now, leaving aside disturbing thoughts about the past or about the future.
As we have mentioned, it not only induces a state of relaxation, but also allows us to achieve greater control over ourselves. Thanks to meditation we will be able to master our words and our thoughts, as well as the dialogue we have with ourselves.
This practice will be of great benefit, as we will be able to better understand our emotions by not clouding them with negative thoughts and, as a consequence, act with greater temperance.
Before starting to practice meditation, because although there are many experts and advice to do so, they are not always true, as it is a discipline that requires great intellectual exercise and the help of a trained instructor.
As we have advanced, meditation dissolves and frees our thoughts, making us focus on the present and overcome stress and worries. Our mind will always want to demonstrate that consciousness is latent, so it may be difficult at first to deal with tickling, itchy scalp, or any other discomfort.
In any case, if you still do not know any meditation practice and would like to enter this world that brings so many benefits, your values, your beliefs and your needs. This, without a doubt, will be the first step you must take to make this wonderful and beneficial habit a habit.
