Mindfulness Meditation & Measurable Changes in Brain's Gray Matter

[Sushi]

Participating in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress. In a study that will appear in the Jan. 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reported the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s gray matter.

Read more here.

 

[maddietod]

This appeared in the January 30, 2011 issue; it's not a new study.

But it's pretty amazing! It makes me wonder if the changes are permanent. And for us long-term meditators, is daily meditation necessary to keep the gains? Or is occasional meditation enough, assuming the depth of the experience is maintained?

 

[Sushi]

And for us long-term meditators, is daily meditation necessary to keep the gains? Or is occasional meditation enough, assuming the depth of the experience is maintained?

Hi Madie, I didn't realize it was old as it just popped up in my newsfeed.

Now, that is a question that will prod us not to be lazy about our meditation practice!

Sushi

 

[Ema]

The Kirtan kriya meditation has also been studied and found helpful for the brain in Alzheimer's patients and their carers.

I suck at sitting quietly but will happily sing for a half hour. . It's the first and only meditation practice I've ever enjoyed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dharma-singh-khalsa-md/meditation-alzheimers_b_3625181.html

 

[Iquitos]

I had been meditating for a long time before I got ME. Now I see that mindfulness meditation can prevent or lessen anxiety and panic attacks. I've never had anxiety or panic attacks so I now wonder if it's because I've been meditating for 40 years.

 

[mango]

I too had been meditating for a long time before I got ME (about 20 years in total, started about 12 years before ME). I've never had anxiety, panic attacks, depression or anything like that. However, I have no idea if my meditation practice has had anything to do with that or not... It definitely has been a great help in finding acceptance, coping with stressful situations, getting deep rest when sleep wouldn't come etc. It hasn't made me less sick, though.