Happy Monks, Ascension Meditation, London, Ontario, Stratford, Yoga, Ishayas, Vegetarian, Corporate
Viewing entries tagged with 'stress'
Benefits of Meditation
I have personally experienced a lot of the positive benefits from meditation. More then you could really imagine. I thought it would be great to post some of the benefits that are being recognized by the medical community. Here are some quotes from a recent article on Meditation.
Current Scientific Information on the Benefits of Meditation
Science has proven that meditating actually restructures your brain and can train it to concentrate, feel greater compassion, cope with stress and more. Here is some of the latest research:
The current findings suggest that meditation - even in small doses - can profoundly influence your experience of the world by remodelling the physical structure of your brain.
A study published in the journal "NeuroImage" in 2009 compared the brains of 22 meditators with 22 age-matched non-meditators and found that the meditators had more gray matter in regions of their brains that are important for attention, emotional regulation and mental flexibility. Increased grey matter typically makes an area of the brain more efficient or powerful at processing information.
New research shows that meditation can help you improve your ability to concentrate in two ways. First, it can make you better at focusing on something specific while ignoring distractions. Second, it can make you more capable of noticing what is happening around you, giving you a fuller perspective on the present moment.
Research also shows that meditation can help people with anxiety disorders.
We typically think of our emotional range as something that is fixed or unchanging - a reflection of the personality that we are born with. But research is revealing the possibility that we may cultivate and increase our ability to feel the emotional state of compassion.
How much is enough?
As the evidence for the benefits of meditation grows, one of the most important questions is, How much is enough? Or from the perspective of beginning meditators, How little is enough to see positive changes?
Researchers agree that many of the benefits happen early on. And many studies show change in a matter of weeks, or even minutes, among inexperienced meditators. But, other studies suggest that experience matters. So while a minimal investment in meditation can pay off for your well-being and mental clarity, committing to the practice is the best way to experience the full benefits.
How do you learn?
Meditation is best taught by an experienced teacher. Although its very simple, it can be of extreme benefit to have sufficient guidance to ensure that simplicity occurs in your experience.
If you are interested in learning more about meditation simply contact us and we'd be happy to help you out.
Note: Information for this article is courtesy of "Yoga Journal: June 2010 edition".