Meditation
Background:
There are many different types of meditation and it is worth spending some time trying various types so that you can experience which feels good to you. I am sharing information on the effect of mindfulness meditation here, translating knowledge from this field of research. This is in part because I believe most people are familiar with this type of meditation. In general, there is robust evidence to support the incredible health and wellness benefits of having a regular meditation practice. At the end of this post I will share a couple of my very favourite meditation practices (some of which fall under the mindfulness catergory, and some that do not, but also have robust evidence to support them) and provide you with links to explore for yourself.
How Mindfulness Meditation Works/ What the Research Tells us:
8 Brain Regions were consistently altered (structurally) in meditators across studies (meta-analysis):
1.Frontopolar cortex - related to enhanced meta-awareness following meditation practice
2.Sensory cortices and insula - areas related to body awareness and sensory perception (including pain)
3.Hippocampus - related to memory processes
4.Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) - related to self and emotion regulation
5.Mid-cingulate cortex - related to self and emotion regulation
6.Orbitofrontal cortex - related to self and emotion regulation
7.Superior longitudinal fasciculus - involved in intra- and inter-hemispherical communication
8.Corpus callosum - involved in intra- and inter-hemispherical communication
Studies have reported various positive effects mindfulness meditation on emotional processing such as:
•Reduction in emotional interference by unpleasant stimuli
•Decreased physiological reactivity
•Facilitated return to emotional baseline after response to a stressor
•Decreased self-reported difficulties in emotion regulation
•Lowered intensity and frequency of negative affect
•Improved positive mood
Studies suggest that mindful emotion regulation works by:
•Strengthening prefrontal cognitive control mechanisms
•Down-regulating activity in regions relevant to emotion processing, such as the amygdala
•Decreased emotional arousal (RF and ANS, etc)
Mindfulness Meditation studies have also shown increased activity in areas involved in:
•Cognitive regulation of nociceptive processing (ACC and anterior insula- the area involved in pain perception)
•Areas involved in reframing the evaluation of stimuli (orbitofrontal cortex)
•Decreased activity in the primary somatosensory cortex
*Importantly, these changes have been correlated with symptom improvement in various studies
How To Do It:
There is no one right way to meditate. There are many different practices and techniques that you can utilize and it is important to experiment with different types of meditation practices to see which you like best and which feels the most impactful to you. If you are new to meditation, you might start with a short guided meditation that feels manageable and then allow that practice to expand and change as you go. Remember that meditation is a practice, and just like beginning a new workout routine, your experience with it will change as you go and you will start to notice amazing shirts internally and in your world if you stick with it.
Here are some links to some various meditations (again, not only mindfulness meditation practices listed below):
Mindful Movement Meditations can be found on youtube and there are many different themes/topics that can be found here (ie. grounding meditations, meditations for pain reduction, etc) (see www.themindfulmovement.com or look to do their free meditations on youtube). Here is a short grounding meditation you could try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCorElLKFQE&ab_channel=TheMindfulMovement
Meditations by Dr. Joe Dispenza (see his website at www.drjoedispenza.com or try one of his 2 free meditations on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7GWg6KQbY&ab_channel=DrJoeDispenza
