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Insight and Meditations on Yoga, Health, and Happiness
Is Meditation Good For Your Brain?
People who meditate regularly will often tell you how much better they feel with a daily practice. In the past, skeptics might have questioned how sitting quietly, not working or studying, or frankly doing much of anything at all could be helpful. Now, new research is beginning to clarify the benefits of meditation and to help us understand more about the way the brain works.
People of all faiths and cultures have used meditation and mindfulness for thousands of years. Meditation is often used as a catch-all phrase to describe a purposeful clearing or focusing of the mind. Sometimes meditation involves focusing on the breath or other aspect of the physical body. Other times, meditation may involve holding a word, phrase, or image in the mind.
Meditation may be done as a form of prayer, but it can also be used in therapy, or simply as a way to slow down and disconnect from the chaos around us.
You don’t have to belong to any particular religion to experience the benefits of meditation.
Often meditation is done while seated, but walking or other forms of movement can also be part of a meditation practice. From the outside, it might look like much is going on when you meditate. But meditation may actually improve your brain health.
How Can Meditation help your brain?
People who meditate regularly will often tell you how much better they feel with a daily practice. In the past, skeptics might have questioned how sitting quietly, not working or studying, or frankly doing much of anything at all could be helpful. Now, new research is beginning to clarify the benefits of meditation and to help us understand more about the way the brain works.
Meditation can help your brain by
Improving the ability of the brain to pay attention to a task
Enhancing body awareness
Helping you to regulate your emotions
Increasing capacity for memory
Boosting your sleep quality
Given all these benefits, you might be tempted to start meditation at the end of a long day. However, it turns out that despite its calming effects, meditation can actually increase the brain’s wakefulness. So if you’re struggling with sleep, a morning meditation might be a better choice.
Getting started with meditation may feel a little overwhelming. But a good session may be as close as your smartphone. A few apps I like are
Meditation isn’t for everyone. Occasionally it can even cause feelings of anxiety or agitation. If you are dealing with mental health concerns, check with your physician or therapist before starting a meditation practice.
And if you are new to meditation, start slow. One study found that even five minutes of daily meditation could make a difference. You can find a variety of three to five minute meditations on line, including on my YouTube site.
Meditation isn’t magical or mysterious. But it may enhance your well-being, improve your focus, and even help you to sleep a little better at night.
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In Through the Nose? How Breathing in Meditation Can Enhance Your Well-Being
“In through your nose, and out through your mouth.” Have you ever wondered why you hear this instruction in yoga class? Nasal breathing does have some advantages over mouth breathing in a meditative practice. It encourages you to slow down and control your respiration. By doing so, you may activate your parasympathetic nervous system. And it might even improve your memory and your mood.
“In through your nose, and out through your mouth.” Have you ever wondered why you hear this instruction in yoga class?
You may have heard some of the theories about why nasal breathing is beneficial. Some might say that it warms and filters the air. In truth, unless you are a smoker or have lung a lung condition, your lungs are beautifully designed to do just that, no matter how the air gets to them. I’ve even heard yoga practitioners go as far as saying that “breathing from the mouth is unsafe”, and that mouth breathing will raise your risk for maladies that range from diabetes to crooked teeth. Of course, none of that is true, otherwise we would all be in big trouble.
Our noses and mouths are both designed to breathe.
But nasal breathing does have some advantages over mouth breathing in a meditative practice. For one, it encourages you to slow down and control your respiration. By doing so, you may activate your parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the nervous system that slows down your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. Sometimes we call it the “rest and digest” system. Even one session may help people who deal with anxiety. That’s likely because when you reduce the body’s stress reaction, the mind will often follow.
AND research from Northwestern University has also shown that nasal breathing may affect specific areas in the brain.
These areas, known as the amygdala and hippocampus, are involved in processing information. Simply put, that means that nasal breathing might actually improve memory and processing of emotions.
Another study from Stanford concluded that breathwork, especially with longer exhalations, could improve mood even more than mindfulness mediation. In this study, the participants who got the most benefit practiced something called “Cyclic Sighing” for just five minutes each day. This cyclic kind of breathing involves taking a deep breath in, then inhaling just a little bit more before slowly and fully exhaling. The inhales are through the nose, and the exhales can be through the nose or mouth.
It’s best not to overthink it, but next time you feel a little stressed, consider taking a few minutes to slow down and breathe mindfully, in through the nose. And when you’re listening to a meditation or beginning your yoga practice, try using this form of breathing.