Seven evidence-based reasons to start meditating yesterday

Yes, starting today is OK too. I started meditating soon after 9/11. I was living in Manhattan, an already chaotic place, at an extremely chaotic time. I realized I had no control over my external environment. But the one place I did have a say over was my mind, through meditation. When I started meditating, I did not realize it would also make me healthier, happier, and more resilient. Having witnessed the benefits, I devoted my PhD research at Stanford to studying the impact of meditation. I saw people from diverse backgrounds from college students to combat veterans benefit. In the last 10 years, hundreds of studies have been released. Here are seven evidence-based reasons you might want to get on the bandwagon as soon as you can: 1. It Changes Your BRAIN for the better Increases grey matter (good study here) Increases volume in areas related to emotion regulation, positive emotions & self-control (see here and here) Increases cortical thickness in areas related to paying attention (see here) 2. It Boosts Your Self-Control Improves your ability to regulate your emotions and quiet your mind (see here) Improves your ability to introspect (here) 3. It Makes You Wiser … by giving you perspective. By observing your mind, you realize you don’t have to be slave to it. You realize it throws tantrums, gets grumpy, jealous, happy and sad but that it doesn’t have to run you. Meditation is quite simply mental hygiene: clear out the junk, tune your talents, and ...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness brain emotion regulation happiness meditation mental hygiene mind productivity self-control Source Type: blogs