It’s often told that one must meditate… but why? What will breathing for twenty minutes, situated in one spot, doing utterly nothing and thinking of utterly nothing do for us? Is it even possible not to think about absolutely anything? I was always boggled by this question and with a curious soul, I was coaxed into figuring out what the phenomenon was all about.
You may reckon that mediation is mostly for stress-reducing and calming purposes, but it actually is much, much more. Its effects reach the very networking within your brain. If you want to optimize cognition, learning, perception, sleep, information processes, and sensory input… meditate. How though you may ask? How the heck does relaxing and breathing in a ritualistic manner contribute to such immense benefits? Here’s how:
You’ve got five brains waves activated in your brain at this very moment. These include gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta. Each electrical pattern or “brainwave” contributes to one’s mental functioning. It is pivotal to understand that no brain wave is better or more optimal than another. They are all important in daily functioning but used when performing different tasks. Being that you’re reading this article, your beta waves are probably prevailing amongst the others because beta waves are commonly observed when we are awake and involved in conscious thought and logical thinking. Gamma waves, the ones linked to meditation, are associated with learning, memory and information processing. Having too little can cause ADHD, depression and learning disabilities while having too much can cause anxiety, high arousal, and stress. So, how do you optimize these wondrous gamma waves?
Meditation.
Through focusing on compassion and guiding your brain into a relaxed state, neuroscientists have found a significant increase in brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (associated with self-control, happiness, and compassion) and reduced activity in the amygdala (associated with fear and aggression). Most studies have been performed on experienced meditators such as the Tibetan Buddhist monks. The data revealed that when the monks were asked to focus on feelings of compassion their brain almost immediately went into the gamma frequency in a very coherent and rhythmic manner.
Playing a meditation audio or following a guide to get you into a relaxed state will teach you how to lose your sense of self and how to enter this world of universal consciousness. It will be difficult in the beginning. An experienced meditator named Jeffery Kleykamp once explained, “In the beginning, you will fall into the gaps in between thoughts — after practicing for years, you become the gap.” Such practicing is worthwhile, especially when the stress hormone cortisol can kill brain cells, and chronic stress can cause memory loss.
Start small. You don’t need to begin with an hour-long meditation session. Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., President and Medical Director of the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, found that Kirtan Kriya, a type of mediation that takes 12 minutes a day, has been proven to improve genetic health, lengthen telomeres (end of chromosomes that control aging), reverse memory loss, and much more. You can get more information on this study here.
Once you master the art of meditation, it will no longer seem like a chore or something you need to set reminders for on your calendar. Meditation will become routine and a daily desire just like water. It’ll cleanse your mind all the way down to every little vein in your body. The essence of becoming intensely conscious of the present moment has the most miraculous culmination. You will reach a feeling of existential bliss and have such a sense of heightened, euphoric ecstasy that it will make you wonder why you didn’t start meditating sooner.
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