Meditation = Medicine for the Brain

Developments in technology have made it possible for neuroscientists to unravel some of the mysteries of the brain. Increasing evidence supports the benefits of meditation.

Meditation helps reduce stress levels, which is both a cause and a component of most diseases; it can lead to impaired immune response and various metabolic syndromes, autoimmune disorders and even cancer.

In its simplest and most general sense, meditation is a mental discipline. Taming the mind has long been considered a challenge and requires training.

In ancient texts the mind was compared to a ‘mad drunk monkey’; the monkey mind is constantly busy, jumping from one thing to another, worrying, ruminating and rehearsing.

Mind wandering and over-thinking is a common practice for almost all of us and is present in over 50 percent of our waking hours. It is associated with less happiness, and correlates with neural activity in a network of brain areas known as the default-Mode Network (DMN).

Increased activity in this network has been associated with attention lapses, anxiety and other clinical disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation decreases activity in the default mode network. Researchers from UCLA and ANU Canberra found that long-term meditators had better preserved brains than non-meditators as they aged. It supports the hypothesis that meditation protects the brain and is associated with a reduced age-related tissue decline.

Mindfulness Based Stillness Meditation or (MBSM) is a rather long name for a process of meditation especially tailored to the western mind. It was developed by the Gawler Cancer Foundation of Australia and is taught over a five-week period allowing the student time to practice and build on their skills in a supportive environment. It incorporates four easy to learn steps.

As the old Chinese saying goes – Gently, gently catch a monkey.

n Lorraine Morrow is a Gawler Cancer Foundation trained meditation teacher, holding meditation classes at Waipu Natural Health, 3 Cove Rd, Waipu. Phone (09) 432 1325 or 027 478 8377.