[Busted] 6 Magical Powers for Working People- How Meditation Changes the Brain

6 Magical Powers of Meditation

The potential of Meditation is often underestimated. Here we will explore how meditation assists working People.

[Meditation] Its benefits for working People

The falling sun depicting dusk may be the best visual on a hectic working day. Even though it marks the end of the day, we couldn't transcend the strain from our minds. It can be taxing to carry these oppressions to home, what’s further arduous is to emanate from these stresses to gear up for the next blooming day. In the expedition for a solution, you may realize professionals suggesting practices like meditation. 

That being the case, you may be bewildered about whether it actually works. How does meditation assist working people? To address the same, in this post we will traverse through the science behind meditation, possible edges, and tips to choose the best deliberation for you. 


How Meditation Changes the Brain

The brain is evidently meant to train. The more you perform a task, the better your brain gets habituated and trained to it, ensuring efficiency as time passes. Say, a person is working as a cab driver, his rigorous exposure to various maps, curves, and roads can adorn him with professional driving skills over time. The same is the case with meditation too. When you get to practice meditation, the positive effects drastically come in.  This can bring us to the answer to how does meditation change the brain.


That being the case, comprehending the science behind the meditations process can motivate individuals to opt for it. Sara W. Lazar[1] and his team have studied Meditation and its effect on the brain.  The result showed that mindfulness meditation activates and assists in the increase of Gray matter in the brain, especially in the hippocampus and other frontal regions along with anterior insula and cortical thickness. 


So, what do all these lead to? 


Gray matter is responsible for better learning, cognition, and memory. This implies the person can retain memories and facts better. On the other hand, improved anterior insula and cortical thickness ensure better attention to detail and self-awareness. 


The science behind Meditation- How it aid Working Professionals?

Are you feeling stressed out and frustrated due to your work schedules? Meditation can assist. 

Meditation practices have the ability to deactivate the sympathetic nervous system, which is evidently responsible for pain, depression, stress, and anxiety. Further, the Parasympathetic branch is turned on, which facilitates rest and relaxation of mind and body. This is the reason why professionals suggest meditations to reduce stress and anxiety. 



What is Meditation Used for? It is no less than an Occult! 

Some cult fans believe in meditation. Evidently, there must be a strong reason behind the practice that was practiced for thousands of years now. But we 21st-century humans often look for logic and validations. Consequently, many pieces of research were made to look into scientific evidence and its benefits. We thereby look into some edges that meditation offers along with testaments. 


    POWER 1: Improved Focus

Meditation Improves Focus and Concentration

Focus is something that holds an individual to a single task. Consequently, it turns out to be a crucial attribute to improving efficiency along with great health.  Meditations can assist in improving concentration, and mitigating irrelevant distractions. 


Dalvinder Singh[2] made a research article about his study on Improving Concentration and Mindfulness in Learning through Meditation. From the results, he outlined that meditation helps concentration and mindfulness, and these help better learning. This paper concentrates on how effective meditation improves concentration and mindfulness for effective learning. 

    

    POWER 2: Cures Stress and Anxiety

Meditation Cures Stress and Anxiety

Being an inexpensive practice, Meditating every day can have a positive effect on daily life and profession-related stress and Anxiety. Stress can be common in people who take responsibilities personally and at work. Nonetheless, addressing the same is crucial, as it can have severe health complications later. Fortunately, some meditative techniques can aid you in emerging from it.

 Simple pranayama along with Mantra meditation can be a great take in these cases. Mandy D. Bamber[3], in his research, concluded that mindfulness meditation shows promise in reducing stress and anxiety in college students. Additionally, there are a number of differences in mindfulness interventions including frequency, duration, instructional method, and inclusion of yoga, that need quantitative examination (meta-analysis) to determine which is most effective.


     POWER 3: Ameliorated Cognition

Meditations leads to Better Cognition

Cognition, as we all know, is the ability of an individual to acquire knowledge and process it with rightfulness through process, sense, and gained past experience. While these skills can be gained over time, one needs to be calm and mentally active, which is ensured by mindful meditation practices. 

Glen L. Xiong[4] studied how meditation aids in preserving Cognition and preventing dementia. In his investigations, he found that mindful meditation practices may affect multiple pathways that could be crucial for brain aging[5] and mental fitness. For instance, increased levels of derived Neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It is also observed that such practices improve lipid profiles and lower oxidative stress. 


    POWER 4: Boasting Memory

Meditation Boosts memory

Having too many tasks in mind, you may forget a few. In such scenarios, you may need to care about retaining the memory. Focusing on what’s going on now is often important and can be ensured by meditation. Alison Pearce Stevens[6] remarks that mindfulness can be applied via meditation. The process stipulates the practitioner to pay attention, thereby getting rid of stressful memories and thoughts.  Further, it is also outlined that meditation aids adults in improved working memory, ensuring they can retain a large number of facts. 


    POWER 5: Emotional Balance

Meditation leads to Balance in Emotions

Expediting through the ups and downs of life, you may come across several disturbing scenes that can touch you emotionally. Being stable and rigid against such thumps turns obligatory. It can be challenging to ensure the same; fortunately, meditation can be magical to assist you.  Mindfulness stimulates the perception of mental stability which can mitigate you out of timely emotional whacks.
Ran Wu[7] claims that Anapanasati (Buddhist Vipassana meditation)  may be an effective, convenient, safe, and standardized way to help practitioners remain focused and peaceful without any negative effect on emotion, implicitly making sure of emotional balance. 


    POWER 6: Cure many diseases 

Meditation can aid  Many Diseases

With the scientific proof and evidence being gathered related to the science behind meditations, it is found to be a cure for many diseases like Alzheimer, insomnia, and ADHD. One can evidently rely on meditative techniques to ameliorate physical being. 


A research by Neela Iyer[8] and the team at VM University found that meditative guidance characteristics for multiple subjects at various levels are exhibited by the inference from the experimental results including a unique phenomenon of guided dual consciousness state awareness in meditation. Further analysis and inference indicate that the Divine Omdasji Sound Meditation can be used as a cure for mental depression, sleep disorders, anxiety, drug addiction, and loss of immunity.


Further, HL Dhar[9] clarifies that Yoga in which meditation is a major component has been known for decades as a remedy for various psychosomatic disorders. Currently, clinical meditation (CM) has been introduced as a new psychological discipline. Of late, Medical meditation has been claimed to treat various diseases but one requires to learn different techniques for different disease conditions.


Types of Meditation- How to Choose the Best Meditation Style?

Meditation is known as a single word; however, it can be segregated into multiple categories. Accordingly, choosing a befitting one can be strenuous for you. Nonetheless, going through some working strategies can take you a step closer to easing out the expedition. In a bird-eye view, meditation can be of the following distinct types:

  • Focusing on Breath- Exhaling and Inhaling 

  • Mindfulness meditation/Vipassana- Relishing the present moment and sensations of the Body

  • Mantra Chanting- Also known as Transcendental Meditation

  • Activity-based mediation like- Yoga, Walking, and Tai Chi


Each of these categories has common as well as a distinct set of advantages that can make your choice facile. Focusing on breath and mindfulness are effortless to practice and can be performed in any peaceful location. Mantra chanting has a religious inference ensuring peace and ultimate satisfaction. Finally, Activity-based meditation, as the name depicts, stipulates physical exercise too. Individuals can make out the right choice by comprehending the essence of each category.  


Concluding thoughts

By now, you must have comprehended the benefits in detail making sure how directly meditation assists you. Such deliberations are all about relaxing yourself. Accordingly, focusing on relishing the activity can lead to ameliorated results rather than perceiving your meditating skills. Keeping away from baseless perceptions, and incepting meditation can ensure you a number of benefits apart from the above-mentioned generalized manifestations. 


References:

[1] Lazar, Sara W., et al. "Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness." Neuroreport 16.17 (2005): 1893.

[2] Grewal, Dalvinder Singh. "Improving concentration and mindfulness in learning through meditation." IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 19.2 (2014): 33-9.

[3] Bamber, Mandy D., and Joanne Kraenzle Schneider. "Mindfulness-based meditation to decrease stress and anxiety in college students: A narrative synthesis of the research." Educational Research Review 18 (2016): 1-32.

[4] Xiong, Glen L., and P. Murali Doraiswamy. "Does meditation enhance cognition and brain plasticity?." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1172.1 (2009): 63-69.

[5] Gard, Tim, Britta K. Hölzel, and Sara W. Lazar. "The potential effects of meditation on age‐related cognitive decline: a systematic review." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1307.1 (2014): 89-103.

[6] Stevens, Alison Pearce. "Meditation may boost teen memory." Science News for Students (2015).

[7] Wu, Ran, et al. "Brief mindfulness meditation improves emotion processing." Frontiers in neuroscience (2019): 1074.

[8] Iyer, Neela, et al. "Human-Machine Interactions based on Psychological Acceptance of the Divine Omdasji Sound Meditation as a Universal Cure for Human Diseases." International Journal of Bioengineering, Neurosciences and Technology 1.1 (2011): 1.

[9] Dhar, H. L. "Meditation as medicine." Bombay Hospital Journal 50.4 (2008): 620-624.


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