Happy People Make a Happy World!
Oneness: Awakening San Diego
  • Awaken!
    • Community Call with Oneness Guide
  • Deeksha~Oneness Blessing
    • SCHEDULE SD Deeksha/Oneness Blessing
  • Oneness Meditation
  • Courses
    • Online Classes with Sri Bhagavan
    • Live Web Course from India's Oneness Temple
  • Village
    • Prayer Requests >
      • Deeksha Request Form
      • Oneness Village Healing Hour
    • Village Housing
    • Village Ad Form
  • Blog
    • Awakening Conversations Guidelines
    • Contact
  • Events
    • Volunteer & Donation Opportunities
  • Store

Meditation Literally Rebuilds the Brain’s Gray Matter in 8 Weeks

9/15/2015

 
Picture
Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University.  The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital. The team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter….. 

“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.”  Until now, that is.

The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.  McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”


“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. You can read more about the remarkable study by visiting Harvard.edu.


 
This article was first posted HERE
by FEELguide on November 19, 2014

Image: Artist unknown, source: FEELGuide


Comments are closed.

    Authors

    Writings are contributed by members of the Oneness community and  the spiritual community at large.

    Please click here to donate

    To subscribe, please use the RSS feed :

    RSS Feed

    Previous Posts

    All
    21 Habits Of Happy People
    Acceptance - Sri Bhagavan
    A Letter To A Friend
    And Ekam ~ Sri Bhagavan
    An Ocean To Give
    A Step Away From Peace
    Awakening Is Contagious
    Awake! The Movie
    Become An Ekam (Oneness) Meditator ~ Sri Bhagavan & Krishnaji
    Being Present - Sri Bhagavan
    Bhagavad Dharma
    Blessing Your Money
    Building A Future Of Hope ~ Pope Francis
    Christmas Spirit
    Coming Home To Oneness
    Consciousness Crowd
    Contribution - Sri Bhagavan
    Core Oneness Teachings
    Courage
    Deeksha In Fortune Magazine
    Design Your Own Divine
    Ekam Prayer - Krishnaji
    Embracing Abundance
    Enlightenment + 4 Dimensions Of Mind And Limitless Field - Krishnaji
    Enlightenment And Free Will - Sri Krishnaji
    Everything Is Holy Now
    Expanding Consciousness ~ Sri Bhagavan
    Forgiveness Happens
    Giving Up Role-Playing
    Global Awakening 2019
    God Lives Under The Bed
    Hands On Deeksha
    Heaven On Earth
    Hello My Loves...
    Hierarchies & Pecking Order: Wake Up & Break Out
    How Enlightened Families Argue
    How To Pray In Power
    If Tomorrow Never Comes
    Imagine Sung By Emmanuel Kelly
    In Honor Of Passover
    'Inside Out' & Embracing Emotions
    Integrity
    International Happiness & Causeless Joy
    Learning To Meditate
    Love Revolution
    Love Train
    Martinis & Meditation
    Matt Kahn
    Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain’s Gray Matter In 8 Weeks
    Mindfulness Can Help Your Sleep
    Miracles
    MONEY ~ Master The Game
    New Moola Mantra ~ Daniel Bellone ~ Live In Las Vegas
    On Abundance And Money
    On Divine Love - Yogananda
    Oneness Abundance & Prosperity ~ Part 1
    Oneness Meditation Article
    O&O
    Origins Of Oneness Deeksha
    Osho-on-love
    Paramjyoti
    Powerful-lessons-in-gratitude
    Respecting The Shadow
    Secrets To Loving Your Every Emotion
    Sermon On The Mount
    "So Scary" Dance
    Spiritual Politics
    Sri Bhagavan On Awakening
    Sri Bhagavan On Fear
    Sri Bhagavan On Forgiveness
    Sri Bhagavan On The Mind
    Stuck With U ~ Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber For First Responders
    The Beauty Of Sadness
    The Book Of Andrew
    The Little Soul And The Sun
    The Pathless Path
    The Whole World Is Family
    The Wisdom Of Conscious Communication
    Think Of That Love Letter
    This Changes Everything
    Three Oneness States ~ Sri Krishna
    Touched By An Angel
    Transcending Thought
    Trigger Happy
    Unsung Hero
    Walk With God
    Wayne Dyer And The Shift
    We Are This Love
    What Is Mukthi (or Awakening)? ~ Sri Bhagavan
    Why Acting Like A Toddler Is A Great Idea
    Witness Consciousness - Sri Krishnaji
    World Oneness Day
    Yoga For Brain Hemisphere Balance

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.