The Brain on Meditation
Be honest: how many browser tabs do you have open right now? In addition to the multiple calendar alerts and inbox notifications demanding replies, feeling stressed or restless can be hard to avoid with so many things happening at once.
Meditation is an ancient practice that many have tried to cultivate in order to mitigate the symptoms of stress and anxiety. To explore the topic of meditation and its effects on the brain, we invited yoga and meditation teacher Georgia Deane, Founder and Executive Director of Live Free Yoga, to host our first-ever virtual Recess.
During an hour-long break from our workday, we gathered online with members of our community to learn about the impact of meditation on brain functions, and got to apply different methods we learned from Deane during a guided meditation practice.
There was a general consensus that it’s difficult to cultivate a consistent practice:
“My meditation practice has been pretty sporadic. I can be pretty easily distracted and can fall asleep at any moment while practicing. I move between those two places of trying not to fall asleep or struggling to focus on something.”
“I don’t have a consistent practice at all. People say that it’s best to do it in the morning, but I find that my mind is racing with what I need to get done.”
We also discussed how movement can be an alternative to a seated meditation practice:
“I used to walk my two large dogs in the morning while it was dark [before the sun came up]. I really enjoyed that quiet time because there weren’t people or traffic around. That’s when I realized that it was a meditative time for me.”
DID YOU KNOW?
MRI scans show that with a consistent meditation and mindfulness practice, the brain’s “fight or flight” section, the amygdala, appears to shrink.
Originally published in The Harvard Gazette, April 2018: “Functional MRI (left) showing activation in the amygdala when participants were watching images with emotional content before learning meditation. After eight weeks of training in mindful attention meditation (right), note the amygdala is less activated after the meditation training. Courtesy of Gaelle Desbordes.”
“I think it’s important to remember that our meditation practice doesn't need to be this extended 30-minute or one-hour long session each day,” Deane explained. “Meditation practice can be as short as a minute long, where you're focused on taking ten deep breaths. Making those [short practices] a habit can bring about profound shifts,” she recommended.
Do you practice meditation? Let us know your thoughts on what has or hasn’t worked for you in the comments below.
About the Host:
Georgia Deane is a yoga and meditation instructor with over 800 hours of training and years of personal practice. Relying on both Eastern and Western wisdom, she references neuroscientific studies to inform her teaching of this ancient practice. She is focused on making meditation accessible and practical so that more people can feel confident to try it and stick with it. She is a Georgia Tech Alumni who holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, and is currently working on her Master’s degree in Counseling at Albany State University.