Meditation may be tough to master in this busy, plugged-in world, but regular practice can moderate stress, promote emotional well-being, and foster physical health. If those benefits aren’t enough to sell daily relaxation, consider this one: meditation can actually make your brain better.
Consistent meditation over a period of years has been linked to positive changes in both the structure of the brain and the strength of synaptic connections. Researchers at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging found that long-term meditation promotes gyrification, which is more desirable than it sounds:
…Gyrification or cortical folding is the process by which the surface of the brain undergoes changes to create narrow furrows and folds called sulci and gyri. Their formation may promote and enhance neural processing. Presumably then, the more folding that occurs, the better the brain is at processing information, making decisions, forming memories and so forth.
Do you know someone who’d like to process information faster and exhibit guru-like levels of emotional control and self-regulation? Meditation may be the key. There is one catch though: the meditators studied by UCLA had practiced their craft on average for 20 years. Better get started now!
Mike Bergin