People tune in to Meditation for various reasons. Some are interested in the calming benefits meditation has to provide, some like to learn how the mind functions and some meditate simply because they have heard some benefits to the brain.
What is Meditation?
There are different ways to meditate, and since it’s such a personal practice, there are probably more than any of us know about. There are a couple that is usually focused on heavily in scientific research, though. These are focused-attention, or mindful meditation, which is where you focus on one specific thing—it could be your breathing, a sensation in your body or a particular object outside of you. The point of this type of Meditation is to focus intensely on one point and continually bring your attention back to that focal point when it wanders.
The other type of Meditation that’s often used in research is open-monitoring meditation. This is where you pay attention to all of the things happening around you—you simply notice everything without reacting.
So what does Meditation do to your brain?
We all know that brain is a complex organ of our body. However, we also know that Meditation does affect the brain by effectively working on our subconscious and typically rewiring it. This helps in replacing old, uneventful patterns by new, helpful ones.
When we engage in a meditative, practice, we are creating a habit of presence, attention, focus. Medical studies have shown that Meditation and Mindfulness release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which makes us feel happy. It also shrinks the parts of the brain connected to stress and unpleasant emotions. Hence, an increase in feelings of kindness and empathy are experienced through meditative practices.
To experience how Guided Meditation can help you find your inner peace, we recommend you register for our Workshop on “Journey to Inner peace through Mandala & Meditation”.