For many people meditation can feel like a waste of time.
Let’s say you have a brain that doesn’t shut off, and you try to meditate but your mind keeps churning out thoughts. You sit down anyway and try to focus on your breath. Let’s say you keep at it, and for a few seconds, maybe even a minute, you stop thinking. Then your face itches. Your legs hurt. You think of all the things you could be doing instead.Finally, your 10 minutes are up, and when you stand, you feel exactly the same as you did before you meditated. Not calmer. Not more peaceful. Not centered (whatever that means). Let’s say the rest of your day goes on to feel pretty much like every other day. Why bother doing it again?
Here’s why:
- Neuroplasticity
- Parasympathetic Dominance
- Synchronicity
1. Neuroplasticity
Until recently scientists believed that everyone was born with every brain cell they were ever going to have, and once neurons were damaged they couldn’t be repaired. Then, a 1998 landmark study showed that the human brain actually has the ability to grow new brain cells. It also showed that brains are able to create new neural connections--in response to learning new activities/information, and also to detour around damaged cells. It’s called Neuroplasticity, and guess what? Meditation is one significant way to physiologically alter your brain.
These days, study after study shows meditating for as little as 8 weeks can lead to increased cortical thickness, a decreased volume of grey matter in the amygdala (stress response area), increased grey matter density in the hippocampus (learning and memory), as well as other physiological changes measurable through an FMRI. So, even though you may not feel calmer the day you mediate—hang in there, because changes are happening whether you feel them or not. Four to eight weeks after meditating regularly you will likely begin to access different areas of your brain more easily, and situations that would have caused strong negative reactions like anxiety, worry, and fear won’t feel the same. You may also notice increased focus and improved memory.
Here are a few studies, but you can google “mediation research 8 weeks” and you will see a long list of articles.
http://www.massgeneral.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?id=1329
http://meditation-research.org.uk/2014/03/meditation-and-neuroplasticity-five-key-articles/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004979/
2. Parasympathetic Dominance
In caveman days, our stress was usually temporary. A tiger spotted you, your cortisol spiked, glucose flooded your arms and legs so you could run or fight to save your life. This process was controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and once the chase/fight was over, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) kicked into gear again, siphoning blood back to your organs so you could rest, repair, digest, and reproduce. In those days, PNS was the dominant state, and SNS was triggered only for short stressful periods. Today, most of us live in an SNS state, induced by watching the news, paying bills, worrying about jobs, relationships, children, finances, and getting everything done on time. Sadly, your body can’t tell the difference between the stress of a tiger and the stress of getting caught in traffic, and so we live in perpetual fight-or-flight mode (SNS-dominance). That means higher insulin levels, more fat storage, nutrient deficiencies, reduced immunity, and weaker health. Meditation, and particularly belly breathing, is a way to tell the body that the flight-fight is over, so the PNS can kick back in and be dominant again. That translates into lower insulin levels, reduced fat storage, increased immunity, balanced hormones, and better adrenal reserve.
3. Synchronicity
Synchronicity, a term coined by the psychologist Carl Jung, is similar to coincidence, but it’s the kind of coincidence that seems too improbable to be just a coincidence. Synchronicities can be small—like waking up in the morning with an old song stuck in your head, then getting into your car to hear that same song playing on the radio. Synchronicities can be big—like sitting down to write an apology letter to an estranged family member after years of silence, only to have the phone ring and it be that person on the line.
When you meditate, often the number of synchronicities you experience increases noticeably. Perhaps it happens because meditation slows down the brain, making the observer more aware of their environment. Or maybe it has something to do with accessing a higher level of our own consciousness that’s naturally in closer communication with the quantum field. No one knows, and these occurrences are difficult to scientifically document because they are so subjective. But I challenge you to meditate for a few weeks, and begin writing down anything that feels synchronous to you. Once they start, you’ll be amazed by how often they occur. (Quick note: Yesterday I was walking with a friend and after 2 miles of talking about other things, she brought up that her personal work these days is to let things go. She repeated the words “let go” and “let it go” several times, as did I. At that moment, I looked down and found a plastic hotel room key on the ground, and on the design in pink and orange script was written “It’s time to let me go.” Seriously. Have you ever seen a room key that says that? We hadn’t.)
If the 3 reasons above make you want to give meditation another try, here’s a bite-size challenge for the next 4-8-weeks:
Download a free meditation app, like Insight Timer (https://insighttimer.com) or Headspace, and set the timer for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can set a 10 minute timer on your phone (or ask Siri to do it).
Sit down anywhere, a chair, the floor, whatever works for you. You don’t have to sit like a yogi. No one cares.
Start your meditation app timer.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath in and out.
Think of one thing you’re grateful for. I mean truly, deeply grateful for, then make yourself feel that gratitude in your heart. I mean imagine that thing being taken from you—your home, your child, your pet, your health, your best friend, your spouse—and then feel how grateful you are to have it in your life right now. Feel that feeling in your chest for about 1 minute.
Then, for 9 more minutes, simply watch your breath as it goes in and out. Try to make each inhale go down into your belly so it rises, then let your belly shrink as you exhale through your mouth or nose (this is specifically to turn on the PNS—you can’t run from a tiger and belly breathe at the same time).
When your mind wanders, treat it like a puppy. Decide it’s cute, tell it to sit, and watch your belly breath go in and out again, knowing it’s going to keep happening—a lot. No need to scold or get frustrated. Just return to watching the breath. Over and over.
When your timer dings, you’re done. Open your eyes, stand up, and release any expectations about the rest of the day, as if nothing happened.
Namaste.