February 16, 2011 in Mindfulness and Meditation, Wellness by empoweringwellness

Mindfulness and meditation – Interesting info from this week’s Washington Post Health Section

I found a really interesting article in this week’s Washington Post health section and I thought I would share it with you.

The article, titled “Mantras and meditation may give your brain a boost“, Carolyn Butler writes that meditation may actually alter the structure of our brain for the better. She cites recent research published last month in Psychiatry Research which tracked people trained in a type of mediation called mindfulness-based stress reduction. The people in the study practiced this form of meditation for 30-minutes a day, and after eight weeks were given an MRI exam. The scans showed “significant gray matter density growth in areas of the brain involved in learning and memory. The researchers also pointed to an earlier study that found a decrease in the area of the brain affects fear and stress. Researchers conclude that for the first time we have identified a biological reason why people feel better when they practice meditation.

I’ve been an avid proponent of meditation and I work with my clients all the time to help them bring meditative practice into their lives. The article listed four ways to get started with meditation.

1. Find the style of meditation that’s right for you. There are many forms of meditation so it’s worth doing some research to find which style works best for you.
2. Practice makes perfect. Like anything else, adding meditation to your life requires patience and practice in order to make it a habit.
3. Practice mindfulness throughout the day. I call these activities “meditative snacks” or “McMeditations.” Ideally, everyone would have 30 minutes a day to practice some form of meditation. But, you can receive the benefit of meditative practice by just finding a few minutes here and there to center and balance yourself.
4. The mind will wander. People often get discouraged by this, but it is totally normal. Just allow those thoughts to come in and release them and slowly bring yourself back to the present.

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