Meditation found to increase brain size

Wow.

Meditation actually encourages certain parts of the human brain to grow.

I find the fact that the part of the brain responsible for sensory input processing grows larger from meditation very interesting. Just need some time to reflect on this and its implications.

www.physorg.com...

[edit on 25-6-2008 by Chonx]

Chonx...thank you so much for posting that link...it's totally fascinating! Use it or lose it, I guess!

Cait

I wish it wasn't so damn difficult for me to do. It is borderline disheartening that something as simple as sitting down and shutting up can be so difficult for me.

It probably says a lot about me I suppose.

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

I had heard that meditation could awaken certain areas of the brain that aren't used, but it was interesting to read about the "thickening" etc.

Thanks! Star and flag.

reply to post by Karlhungis


Don't feel all alone. Quieting my thoughts is usually very difficult and a definite cause of insomnia for me. Trying to stay awake and quiet my thoughts? Infinitely harder.

This is amazing. Thanks for finding this article Does anyone here ever feel that the brain is just how fast we communicate with our subconscious mind? I mean it seems like everything we do is subconscious, down how we attract the opposite sex. Could be that the brain is nothing more then a mediums to get our real Mind(the subconscious)?

[edit on 25-6-2008 by YAHWEH333]

I fall asleep everytime I try to meditate.

As soon as I clear all thoughts from my head, my brain gets bored and decides to go to sleep.

Is it brain size or brain area capability? Thickening in one area might just mean areas that are more used. People who suffer brain damage may have other areas that take over. Some losing as much as half their brain. I think it may also depend on a persons area of work and age. I've yet to be sucessful at meditation as some describe. But, recall remote viewing. Does meditation affect vivid dream capability then?

Neurons? web.mit.edu...



[edit on 25-6-2008 by aleon1018]

Mediation and breathing exercises at least a few days a week to relax and calm down are great for the overall health of the body.

Its no surprise that the benefits extends to the brain as we are actually training the brain to work better and to control the way we function.

Excellent, i have it in writing.

I never thought that the brain would actually expand though, that's certainly a surprise.

I thought it was merely serving to bridge the gap between the concious and subconcious.

Awesome thread. I know that meditation has changed me. I have garnered control over my heartrate and blood pressure. The things revealed to me from higher self and perhaps outer energies has been most enlightening. Now this just adds to the list of benefits.

You guys that have a hard time quieting the mind, have you tried any meditation music, such as The Monroe Institute? Sometimes having background sounds (particularly ones designed to synchronize brain-wave patterns) can be extremely helpful at clearing internal chatter. The Hemi-Synch stuff from Monroe Institute has been very helpful to me, as well as my G/F, who is slightly ADHD.

I wanted to add that the greatest things that meditation has given me have been spirit guide communication..which has to be worked at consistently, I will admit...and access to my own creativity, which in a way, I think is linked to using the massive cababilities we don't even know we possess yet...it's really intriguing that this research confirms what meditators have known for a long time.

Meditation has done wonders for me too. I've become more calm and patient. It's helped with improving my focus and ability to concentrate as well. I've developed spiritually to a great extent which has affected me in a wonderful way.

I use something called Holosync. It's a special recording that you listen to with headphones and it introduces slightly different tones into each ear which causes your brain to, well... exercise I suppose. I can really recommend it if you haven't tried it already. I've been doing it for over a year now.

You can read more about it here: www.centerpointe.com...

The website is a bit messy but it has loads of articles about meditation in general and how the brain works and stuff.
www.centerpointe.com

Reconnection...

Thank you for the links...I have heard of Holosync, but I havent tried it yet. All the meditations I do are guided meditations, a bit like storytelling, but that's just the way I find easiest to work, although recently I've been using music to journey to...Delerium is excellent for this! What gives me the biggest buzz from how I've developed through meditation is that I'm finding that I'm doing and creating things that I never imagined for a second I would do...like there's a secret path that Spirit can see that I can access only through meditation...it's very cool!

Cait

reply to post by Karlhungis


Same boat as you mate, I CANNOT quieten my thoughts for the life of me!!

Started when I was 15 I think, found it hard to sleep as random 'thoughts', 'ideas' and 'scenarios' pop into my head. Wasn't really into anything like this back then so I took the easy way out, weed

Going to give up soon and try and handle my thoughts 'naturally', although I'm expecting alot of insomnia

EMM

Thanks for posting that. Meditation is my goal for 2008. I want to do more of it.

I created this site to help me do just that.

[link removed]

focus baby focus. ok so maybe the baby part doesn't help too much.

4) Advertising: You will not advertise or promote other discussion boards, chat systems, online communities or other websites on ATS within posts...

[edit on 26-6-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

Arion...very interesting site you have there...beautiful idea! I would love to register, if that's ok. How long has it been up and running?

And EMM, maybe this will help you switch off...maybe you found it already, but just in case, here it is again. Enjoy!

www.abovetopsecret.com...


Cait



[edit on 26-6-2008 by caitlinfae]

This is fascinating, thank you for posting this.
On an energy level I know there is increased activity in the 6th (third eye) chakra when people meditate. Energy precedes matter, so I wonder if this thickened part is the part of the brain which corresponds to the 6th chakra.

Can anyone tell me, I don't see any pictures in the link.

I'm glad so many people are taking an interest in this, its amazing to have scientific conformation that meditating actually has postive physical effects on the brain. I wonder if there are any other noticable benifits, circulation, oxygen intake, digestive efficiency etc... fascinating.

To the people who have trouble quieting their minds to meditate effectively, your not alone and it can take a long time to master your own thoughts. I'm not there yet by a long shot, but reading articles like this certainly give me encouragment.

Leapoffaith, I think what you may be talking about is the pineal gland which has long been associated with the metaphysical.

en.wikipedia.org...

This gland resides deep within the brain and is not one of the parts talked about in the article, which pertains to the grey matter of the cerebral cortex.

Good luck with your efforts everyone, lets make our brains bigger!

Meditation used with psychedelics is very good for a personal journey of yourself..this is no surprise to me,there are many things which science will not look at definitively when it comes to the human conscious experience...cant blame them,its a tough thing to evaluate,personally i prefer psychedelics vs meditation when it comes to life evaluation,but its apples and oranges i guess.Anyway good link!

Oh and for meditation i focus on the buzzing sound in the ears i get..i think most people get it,that helps,course its just anything that clears your mind.I dont like music though,puts me off...And yes the pineal gland can account for alot of things NDE,REM sleep etc etc...funky.

[edit on 26-6-2008 by Lethil]

[edit on 26-6-2008 by Lethil]