Ancestral Meditation Benefits Elucidated by Science

Have you heard the words meditation and mindfulness tossed around more often these days? Well, there are reasons behind this. Believe it or not, the origins of the practice of meditation trace back to ancient times in India. The science of life or Ayurveda includes meditation as one of the modalities used in ancient Vedic texts (1).

Since then, many different forms of meditation have come about. One of such practices is mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Interestingly, structural, and functional brain changes occur in people with a long-term traditional practice as well as those that have undergone a MBSR program; both reap the added benefit of lower anxiety, depression, and pain score levels (2).

How do these structural and functional brain changes may come to pass? One clue is a pilot study showing how gray matter volume and/or glucose metabolism was higher in older adult experts in the practice of meditation compared to age-matched controls in the prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, insula, and temporo-parietal junction (explanation of the function of these in a post coming soon). In a context of brain reserve capacity and maintenance, this evidence suggests that a long-term meditation practice might preserve brain structure and function in the context of age-related decline (3).

Furthermore, the practice of meditation has been interlinked with brain neuroplasticity and the improvement of cognition. Brain connectivity changes in people with a meditation practice; as neuroimaging. Evidence suggests that compared to controls, the number of connections upon a given neural node is greater in the hippocampus in meditators. It is important to note that the hippocampus has an important role in the processing of memory. Not to mention that it is importantly implicated in Alzheimer´s disease. This suggests that meditation might have a preventive role for this disease (4).

Mediation strengthens our relaxation response. Additionally, it lowers cortisol (an important stress hormone). These days it is almost seen as a normal thing to be anxious and stressed. If this resonates with you, mediation can be what you have been looking for (5). Just even a few minutes invested in meditation can restore your inner peace. In addition, anyone can practice meditation. Not only is it simple, but it is rather inexpensive (5–7).

Plenty of peer-reviewed articles continually report on the multiple benefits of meditation for well-being. Numerous institutions, among them Harvard and Mayo Clinic recommend mediation practice to reduce your body's stress response (5,7).

Building your own meditation practice can bring you calm, peace and balance. Not only that, but the benefits also obtained by being consistent with your meditation journey carry over even after your meditation session ends (5–7). Like any skill, your meditation practice needs continuous learning and consistency. However, the return on time-investment is more than generous as evidenced in this post.

Stay tuned for more specific reviews of key aspects for your meditation practice, as well as guided meditation videos, relaxing sound videos, and deeper detail into more tools for you to master your meditation practice.

Jorge A Cevallos, MD

References

1. Sharma H. Meditation: Process and effects. Ayu [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2022 Jan 18];36(3):233. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC4895748/

2. Behan C. The benefits of meditation and mindfulness practices during times of crisis such as COVID-19. Irish journal of psychological medicine [Internet]. 2020 Dec 1 [cited 2022 Jan 18];37(4):256–8. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32406348/

3. Chételat G, Lutz A, Arenaza-Urquijo E, Collette F, Klimecki O, Marchant N. Why could meditation practice help promote mental health and well-being in aging? Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy [Internet]. 2018 Jun 22 [cited 2022 Jan 18];10(1). Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC6015474/

4. Lardone A, Liparoti M, Sorrentino P, Rucco R, Jacini F, Polverino A, et al. Mindfulness Meditation Is Related to Long-Lasting Changes in Hippocampal Functional Topology during Resting State: A Magnetoencephalography Study. Neural Plasticity [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2022 Jan 18];2018. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC6312586/

5. Meditation: Take a stress-reduction break wherever you are - Mayo Clinic [Internet]. [cited 2022 Jan 16]. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858

6. Anderson T, Suresh M, Farb NA. Meditation Benefits and Drawbacks: Empirical Codebook and Implications for Teaching. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement. 2019 Jun;3(2):207–20.

7. How mindfulness can change your brain and improve your health. 2016;