What are the Benefits of Meditation

                     10 Scientific benefits  Of  Meditation

We all have heard that “meditation is good for you”. But good in what terms? Is that just reports from people doing it for 10 years, or are there good scientific studies showing specific benefits that I care about? Meditation has given me a Terabithia. I have created a clearing of calm and tranquility that I can enter into within seconds whenever I feel the need. I have a refuge no matter where I am or what I am doing. 

The worries of the world no longer threaten me.

Except this mental place isn’t imaginary, and it isn’t populated with trolls and wild creatures – it is as real as the world we live in.

Since starting my meditation habit, my brain has literally been rewired for happiness, peace and success. Here are just a few of the benefits:

1. I rarely become angry.
2. I find happiness in unexpected places.
3. I form deeper relationships and build friendships more easily.

By far the largest benefit, however, is that a deep, serene calm and peace is slowly permeating into every area of my life.

At first meditating felt unusual – like I was stepping out of normal life and doing something that most people find strange. I soon realized, however, that this wasn’t true – millions of people meditate and many successful people attribute part of their success to meditation.

Here are ten scientifically proven ways meditation rewires your brain for happiness, peace and success.

Meditation Reduces Stress:

Stress reduction is one of the most common reasons people try meditation. Feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders? Meditation is incredibly effective at reducing stress and anxiety. One study found that mindfulness and zen type meditations significantly reduce stress when practiced over a period of three months. 

Normally, mental and physical stress cause increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This produces many of the harmful effects of stress, such as the release of inflammation-promoting chemicals called cytokines.

These effects can disrupt sleep, promote depression and anxiety, increase blood pressure and contribute to fatigue and cloudy thinking.

In an eight-week study, a meditation style called "mindfulness meditation" reduced the inflammation response caused by stress.

Research has shown that meditation may also improve symptoms of stress-related conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia

Note: Many styles of meditation can help reduce stress. Meditation can also reduce symptoms in people with stress-triggered medical conditions.

Meditation improves your focus, attention, and ability to work under stress:

A study led by Katherine MacLean of the University of California suggested that during and after meditation training, subjects were more skilled at keeping focus, especially on repetitive and boring tasks.

Another study demonstrated that even with only 20 minutes a day of practice, students were able to improve their performance on tests of cognitive skill, in some cases doing 10 times better than the group that did not meditate. They also performed better on information-processing tasks that were designed to induce deadline stress.

In fact, there is evidence that meditators had thicker prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula, and also to the effect that meditation might offset the loss of cognitive ability with old age.(5,6)

Meditation practices help regulate mood and anxiety disorders:

Less stress translates to less anxiety.

For example, an eight-week study of mindfulness meditation helped participants reduce their anxiety.

It also reduced symptoms of anxiety disorders, such as phobias, social anxiety, paranoid thoughts, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and panic attacks (0)

Another study indicates that the practice of “Open Monitoring Meditation” (such as Vipassana), reduces the grey-matter density in areas of the brain related with anxiety and stress. Mediators were more able to “attend moment-to-moment to the stream of stimuli to which they are exposed and less likely to ‘get stuck’ on any one stimulus. ”

“Open Monitoring Meditation” involves non-reactively monitoring the content of experience from moment-to-moment, primarily as a means to recognize the nature of emotional and cognitive patterns.

Meditation may also help control job-related anxiety in high-pressure work environments. One study found that a meditation program reduced anxiety in a group of nurses

Note: Meditation may also help control job-related anxiety in high-pressure work environments. One study found that a meditation program reduced anxiety in a group of nurses

Meditation increases your sense of well-being:

Feeling a little disconnected from those around you? Try compassion meditation,Or want to fill your life with happiness and energy? Mindfulness meditation increases your psychological functioning and in the process improves your sense of well-being. Yoga and tai chi have been found to do this also – according to studies, they have significant therapeutic effects and increase quality of life when practiced regularly..

Source:Us national Library of medicine,Research gate

Meditation reduces risk of heart diseases and stroke:

More people die of heart diseases in the world than any other illness.

In a study published in late 2012, a group of over 200 high-risk individuals was asked to either take a health education class promoting better diet and exercise or take a class on Transcendental Meditation. During the next 5 years researchers accompanying the participants found that those who took the meditation class had a 48% reduction in their overall risk of heart attack, stroke and death.

They noted that meditation “significantly reduced risk for mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke in coronary heart disease patients. These changes were associated with lower blood pressure and psychosocial stress factors.”

There are also other researches pointing out similar conclusions, about related health conditions.

Source:Time Magazine,Health center

Promotes Emotional Health:

Some forms of meditation can also lead to an improved self-image and more positive outlook on life.

Two studies of mindfulness meditation found decreased depression in over 4,600 adults One study followed 18 volunteers as they practiced meditation over three years. The study found that participants experienced long-term decreases in depression.

Inflammatory chemicals called cytokines, which are released in response to stress, can affect mood, leading to depression. A review of several studies suggests meditation may reduce depression by decreasing these inflammatory chemicals.

Another controlled study compared electrical activity between the brains of people who practiced mindfulness meditation and the brains of others who did not. Those who meditated showed measurable changes in activity in areas related to positive thinking and optimism.

Meditation may make you live longer:

Telomeres are an essential part of human cells that affect how our cells age. Though the research is not conclusive yet, there is data suggesting that “some forms of meditation may have salutary effects on telomere length by reducing cognitive stress and stress arousal and increasing positive states of mind and hormonal factors that may promote telomere maintenance.”

Source: Wiley Online Library

Reduce Age-Related Memory Loss:

Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may help keep your mind young.

Kirtan Kriya is a method of meditation that combines a mantra or chant with repetitive motion of the fingers to focus thoughts. It improved participants' ability to perform memory tasks in multiple studies of age-related memory loss (1)

Furthermore, a review of 12 studies found that multiple meditation styles increased attention, memory and mental quickness in older volunteers (2)

In addition to fighting normal age-related memory loss, meditation can at least partially improve memory in patients with dementia. It can also help control stress and improve coping in those caring for family members with dementia.

Recommended Articles:

Spirituality and science can go hand in hand

The difference between meditation and spirituality

Meditation improves relationships:

Want to strengthen your relationships? Meditation has been shown to better your ability to relate to others. How? It improves your ability to empathize, and it hones your ability to pick up on cues indicating how others are feeling. Meditation also increases your emotional stability, making you less likely to be influenced by any negative people in your life.

Another study points out that the development of positive emotions through compassion builds up several personal resources, including “a loving attitude towards oneself and others, and includes self-acceptance, social support received, and positive relations with others”, as well as “feeling of competence about one’s life” and includes “pathways thinking, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and ego-resilience”(3)

Improves Sleep:

Nearly half the population will struggle with insomnia at some point.

One study compared two mindfulness-based meditation programs by randomly assigning participants to one of two groups. One group practiced meditation, while the other didn't.

Participants who meditated fell asleep sooner and stayed asleep longer, compared to those who didn't meditate(4)

Becoming skilled in meditation may help you control or redirect the racing or "runaway" thoughts that often lead to insomnia.

Additionally, it can help relax your body, releasing tension and placing you in a peaceful state in which you're more likely to fall asleep.

Note: A variety of meditation techniques can help you relax and control the "runaway" thoughts that can interfere with sleep. This can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep and increase sleep quality.

Things to Remember:

1. Meditation is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health.
2. You can do it anywhere, without special equipment or memberships.
3. Alternatively, meditation courses and support groups are widely available.
4. There's a great variety of styles too, each with different strengths and benefits.
5. Trying out a style of mediation suited to your goals is a great way to improve your quality of life, even if you only have a few minutes to do it each day.

The Differences Between Meditation and Spirituality

      Article about Meditation & Spirituality 

Meditation and Spirituality 

Spiritual meditation is at its core a practice of self reflection.  While spiritual awareness derives from various meditation techniques, the attitude of integrity and honesty in looking at ourselves and how we view the world is paramount.  Different religions practice meditation in different ways, the practice isn’t limited to any particular faith or religion – anybody can practice guided spiritual meditation, which benefits not only oneself but others.

The research. Due to advances in technology, particularly in the field of brain monitoring devices such as fMRI scanners, the long reported benefits of meditation are now becoming measurable. Now a formerly skeptical audience are curious to experience the benefits  of meditation first hand.

It promotes good health. A growing number of doctors and scientists recognise the beneficial physiological effects of meditation, especially in the areas of stress relief and relaxation.

 Meditation has received widespread coverage in the media. Sports people and health care professionals openly advocate meditation, and magazine editors and advertisers now portray meditation as a normal part of everyday life.

Meditation is a way for people to explore their own spirituality. At a time when many people are disillusioned with institutionalised religion, meditation offers us a method to enter our own inner world, and experience spirituality directly.

The Roles of Spirituality and Meditation:

The roles of meditation

Meditation has traditionally been associated with Eastern mysticism but science is beginning to show that cultivating a “heightened” state of consciousness can have a major impact on our brain, the way our bodies function and our levels of resilience.

Clinicians are increasingly looking for effective, preventative, non-pharmacological options to treat mental illness. And meditation techniques – such as quietening the mind, understanding the self and exercising control – show promise as an alternative tool to regulate emotions, mood and stress.

Body

Meditation influences the body in unexpected ways. Experienced meditators, for instance, can speed or slow their metabolism by more than 60% and raise their body temperature by as much as 8°C.

Even a little training in meditation can make people calmer, less stressed and more relaxed. As little as 20 minutes a day leads to physical changes, such as reduced blood pressure, lower heart rate, deeper and calmer breathing. Improvements in blood pressure as a result of meditation have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attack.

Meditation is also beginning to prove effective as a treatment for chronic and acute pain. One experiment showed that four days of mindfulness meditation substantially reduced the participant’s experience of unpleasantness and the intensity of their pain.

Mind, brain and beyond

Meditation increases left-sided, frontal brain activity, an area of the brain associated with positive mood. Interestingly, this increase in left-brain activity is also linked with improvements in immune system activity. And the more you practise meditation, the greater your immune function is likely to be.

Studies have shown that long-term meditators have increased volumes of grey matter in the right orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus regions of their brain which are responsible for regulating emotion. Similar changes have also been found in non-meditators who completed an eight-week course in mindfulness training.

So even a limited stint of meditation has the potential to change the structure of the brain.

Ageing

The cortex in the brain usually thins as we age – a type of atrophy related to dementia. Intriguingly, those who have meditated around an hour a day for six years display increased cortical thickness. Older meditators also show decreased age-related decline in cortical thickness compared to non-meditators of the same age.

Meditation may increase longevity by protecting the brain and heart from the damaging effects of stress. One study reported that meditation and yoga help to prevent cellular damage caused by chronic psychological stress. It has even been suggested that meditation may slow cellular aging.

Emotional stability

The causes and effects of emotional experience exist throughout the body and the brain, and as such they are deeply linked to physical and psychological stress.

Meditation enhances positive emotions and mood, and appears to make people less vulnerable to the stresses and upsets of daily life. Research shows that meditators are better at regulating immediate responses to negative stimuli and have reduced activity in the amygdala – a region implicated in response to threat. These findings reflect greater emotional resilience among meditators as well as less psychological distress and anxiety.

Mindfulness, which can be cultivated through meditation, is just one technique that can increase mental health and wellbeing. Several therapeutic techniques have been based on these practices, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. These treatments have had success in treating anxiety and mood disorders.

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Science and Spirituality

Spiritual Meditation 

Can I get spiritual power through meditation?

Can get spiritual power 

Some people believe erroneously that the point of performing spiritual meditation is to achieve superpowers such as:

• Telepathy
• The power of healing
• Knowledge of people’s past and future lives
• Levitation and defying gravity
• Fulfillment of wishes
• Invincibility

Some people are so fixated with acquiring these “superpowers” that they miss the entire essence of meditation: to achieve spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness starts with being honest, kind and a commitment to becoming the best human being we can be. This list also proves our obsession to magic and our blindness to the real miracles that occur around us every day: the air we breathe, the sunshine we enjoy, simple acts of kindness and compassion – the true magic around us is accessible in every moment. Gentle appreciation of the present moment and an attitude of compassion to all are the real fruits of spiritual enlightenment.

Keys to a successful spiritual meditation:

The first step is to start focusing on getting to really know yourself. In doing so, you’ll find issues within yourself you’d no doubt like to change. But spiritual meditation begins with acceptance, acknowledging who we are is the first step to truly making friends with yourself.  So you can stop worrying about spiritual experiences in meditation, how to get spiritual power or achieve spiritual enlightenment. Here are some tips to help you get real and start working on yourself

Release the grudges you’ve been holding:

The journey to spiritual awareness is often hampered when people refuse to forgive. Admittedly, forgiving someone who’s caused you harm can be extremely difficult. However, holding onto grudges is clinging on to your own pain, and naturally doesn’t help others either. The sooner you forgive, the quicker you can release this pain and move on. You can do this gradually over time by practicing mindfulness and awareness meditation, which trains the mind to let go.

Focus your spiritual aspirations on others:

Along with the physical and mental benefits of mindfulness, spiritual meditation leads to a healthy spiritual life. A key to true spirituality is focusing on benefiting others rather than yourself. But to do this, we have to start with ourselves first. Looking at our own minds, we learn to accept who we are with loving-kindness. It’s important to foster kindness by inculcating love. As you continue your spiritual practice, it is interesting that the more you focus on the benefit of others, you become more patient with the pain that others might try to inflict on you. You begin to see that we are all just trying to be happy and not experience pain. In this way, we are all the same. It may seem contradictory, but if you think about it, the more we think of others, the less we focus on our own problems and dissatisfaction, and the happier we become. Over time, you naturally think of others more than yourself – you see the bigger picture in every situation.

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What exactly is meditation?

Meditation has been described as a kind of concentrated thinking, but this does not mean just any kind of concentrated thinking. Concentrating on a pet rock or an ice cream is not meditation. Meditation is the process of concentrating the mind on the source of consciousness within us. Gradually this leads us to discover that our own consciousness is infinite. This is why the goal of meditation is sometimes described as ‘Self Realisation.’

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Stress can weaken your immune system

 What is Self Realisation?

The goal of meditation is to realize who we really are at the core of our being. The philosophy of yoga says there are two different levels to our inner self: our mental or emotional self and our spiritual self.

The mental self is sometimes called the individual mind. It is limited because it is strongly associated with our limited physical body and is the cause of the feeling “I am this individual person” – our ego.

But our real sense of self-awareness comes from our connection to a wider, subtler form of consciousness. Yogic philosophy says there is a reflection of an infinite, all knowing form of consciousness within our minds. This Infinite Consciousness is unchanging and eternal, and is at the core of our true spiritual ‘Self’.

When we identify with the small ego-centred self this is called relative reality, because that small self is prone to change and death. But when we realize that there is a subtler, permanent reality behind the relative one and we see that our true nature is pure unlimited Consciousness, this is known as Self Realisation.

What is spirituality?

Spirituality is that which concerns Infinite Consciousness.

First let me make it clear that ‘spirituality’ should not be confused with ‘spiritualism’, which is concerned with mediums, communicating with the dead etc. Spirituality concerns Infinite consciousness – the same ultimate Truth that was released by the great spiritual teachers throughout history such as islam, Buddha, Jesus, and Krishna. According to spirituality, the goal of life is to merge the individual mind into Infinite Consciousness, and the way to attain this is by practising spiritual meditation and similar or associated practices.

If you’re having challenges at first, try out guided spiritual meditation.mindfulness blended with awareness practice that leads to spiritual benefits.

And as the biggest benefit of meditation and spirituality, consider this: as we become more in tune and connected to our spiritual self, we become more attuned to who we are, and what we’re supposed to do in this life. Need purpose? Try meditation for a spiritual purpose

Spirituality and science can go hand in hand

Facts about Science & Spirituality 

science & spirituality 

There is an ancient Sanskrit saying that can be translated “There is no religion higher than truth”

Larry culliford written in his book

"When I was at school, people often asked, “Are you an artist or a scientist?” This was the 1960’s. “Why restrict oneself?” I always thought. “Galileo and Da Vinci were both artists and scientists, so, why not both?” Likewise science and spirituality need not be thought of as separate for, it seems to me, they are also highly compatible. They are complementary, needing each other to make something whole, something bigger than either of them alone. Properly integrated, they permit a level of understanding that amounts to much more than their sum.

What do I mean by ‘properly integrated’? I’m suggesting a truly deep and intimate engagement between human beings and science, both at the individual level and at the communal level of society. To illustrate, here is a quote from science writer and particle physicist, Jeff Forshaw(link is external): “I am struck by the astonishing beauty of the central equations in physics, which seem to reveal something remarkable about our universe… the natural world operates according to some beautiful rules… We are discovering something at the heart of things… It feels like a personal thing – like we are relating to something very special”.

Difference between science & spirituality 

What is Difference Between Science & Spirituality ?

Central to both science and spirituality is the seeking of truth and grasping the essential nature of reality.   The goal of science is a complete understanding of the fundamental principles underlying the physical universe in all its diverse forms.  Spirituality is the awakening of wisdom concerning how we effectively relate to each other and to the world.  Science seeks to enlighten our minds, while spirituality seeks to awaken our hearts.  Each is necessary for a full fruition of the other.  Although some may consider science to be antagonistic or contradictory to their religion and spirituality, the truth is that compulsive attachment to particular doctrines and dogmas are inimical to both science and to a deeper realization of spirituality.

Things are different in the sense that the religious and spiritual communities are much more open to information and evidence that help us to understand the true nature of reality. Many religious and spiritual teachings are actually being confirmed by science, and that is evident by the list below. Take, for example, the Dalai Lama. He’s never been a stranger to science, and throughout his leadership he’s constantly advocated for the collusion of science and Eastern philosophy.

As Vice News points out:

"This intersection of interests was manifest in the diversity of His audience, which was comprised of roughly 150 Tibetan bhikkhus, academics, and students who had piled into the conference center at Jawaharlal Nehru University to listen to the Dalai Lama and a panel of physicists and monastic scholars discuss the intersection of quantum physics and Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy."

modern day science is in fact catching up to this ancient knowledge. Personally, I believe science can take us far, but only so far, as we are burdened today by scientific dogmas and an industry plagued by corruption.

“Despite the unrivaled empirical success of quantum theory, the very suggestion that it may be literally true as a description of nature is still greeted with cynicism, incomprehension and even anger.” 

– T. Folger, “Quantum Shmantum”; Discover 22:37-43, 2001

science seek truth

Science seeks truth, but can never say that absolute Truth has been attained.  Scientific theories are models of reality, and must always be considered essentially tentative.  Science makes a fundamental distinction between a theory, and the reality the theory is attempting to describe.  There are no facts in Science, just observations and theories. A theory is an attempt to explain the observations, and to predict phenomena as yet unobserved.  Theories are models of reality, not reality itself.  Although theories can never be proved, all it takes is one (repeatable) observation to disprove a theory! The biggest impediment to the evolution of Science has always been scientists themselves (or others) being too attached to their old and inadequate theories. To be true to Science, a scientist should be willing to sacrifice her pet theory at the drop of a hat (should that hat’s dropping in some way contradict the theory). As soon as the old theory is thrown on the theoretical scrap heap, it’s time for scientists to have fun creating a new theory that’s consistent with all the observations at hand. Throwing out an outdated theory should be a time of exaltation and celebration, 

Non-material science began to emerge at the turn of the nineteenth century when physicists started to explore the relationship between energy and the structure of matter. When they did this, the belief that a physical, Newtonian material universe was at the very heart of scientific knowledge was abandoned, and the realization that matter is nothing but an illusion replaced it. The very make-up of an atom is comprised of what we believe to be empty space. At this point, scientists began to recognize that everything in the universe is made out of energy, and this has been known in the scientific community for more than one hundred years.

“Some materialistically inclined scientists and philosophers refuse to acknowledge these phenomena because they are not consistent with their exclusive conception of the world. Rejection of post-materialist investigation of nature or refusal to publish strong science findings supporting a post-materialist framework are antithetical to the true spirit of scientific inquiry, which is that empirical data must always be adequately dealt with. Data which do not fit favored theories and beliefs cannot be dismissed a priori. Such dismissal is the realm of ideology, not science.”

 – Dr. Gary Schwartz, professor of psychology, medicine, neurology, psychiatry and surgery at the University of Arizona

science & religion

Science with heart will be the religion of the future.  Science uncovers the abstract principles underlying nature, and spirituality informs us of the proper way to regard all this – with vast love and awe.  Although in English the word for mind is distinct from the word for heart, in Chinese the word xin translates into English as heart/mind.  And indeed, heart and mind are not really separate. One can’t have one without the other, and every great scientific discovery was an epiphany not only for the scientist originally discovering it, but also for those who later come to understand it.  Despite the common misapprehension of science as a dispassionate endeavor, it’s actually a very passionate endeavor.  As Einstein noted,

"The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religion."

As far as spirituality is concerned, the idea that you can control your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and use them to manifest your reality, is commonplace. The existence of “Chi” or “Prana” from ancient Eastern traditions both acknowledge this non-material world. Also known to some as the “Akash” or “Aether,” or that from which all comes. The primary source of creation in these realms is non-physical forces that our senses cannot identify, but modern day scientific methods can.

“The aakaash is not destructible, it is the primordial absolute substratum that creates cosmic matter and hence the properties of aakash are not found in the material properties that are in a sense relative. The aakaash is the eternally existent, superfluid reality, for which creation and destruction are inapplicable.”

– Paramahamsa Tewari, engineer, physicist and inventor

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Of course, this same feeling is also at the very heart of science.   Science hones and clarifies our spiritual realizations, even as our spiritual epiphanies inspire the evolution of science.  Thus will be forged a great cosmic religion of the future

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Spirituality and Meditation