There is a misconception that meditation is only now just becoming mainstream in western cultures. In reality, meditation has been a cornerstone of western practices for thousands of years. The 3 major western religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have embraced their own forms of mindful contemplation and meditation. So this begs the question, why did religious sects from all over the world converge on this concept of meditation? Because it works. Scientists have found empirical evidence to suggest that meditation improves brain function. Let’s break it down.
From a cognitive perspective, both brief and long-term meditation have been found to improve subject performance on tasks requiring focus and creative problem solving (Müller et al., 2016; Norris et al., 2018). These results have been further espoused through brain imaging studies, where meditators were shown to have more connectivity amongst regions of the frontal lobe responsible for attention (Hasenkamp & Barsalou, 2012). These findings have even prompted further research on mindfulness based meditation as a treatment for ADHD and other attentional deficits. Meditation has since been shown to imrpove symptomology in ADHD, allowing for efficable treatment with reduced quantities of stimulants (Mitchell et al., 2015; Modesto-Lowe, 2015). The benefits of meditation do not stop there.
Meditation has also been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety and depression. Self-report studies have shown that individuals who engage in meditation see reductions in scores on depression and anxiety scales when compared to control groups. Correlated neural imaging studies provide us with evidence to suggest that these positive effects are mediated through downregulation of fear and anxiety networks within the amygdala of the brain and downregulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (an area of the brain associated with rumination; Harvard Health Publishing, 2018; Tang et al., 2015).
Meditation is here to stay. It’s philosophical and scientific benefits are too numerous to count, and I cannot recommend it enough as a means of improving your life. I know it can be hard at first, but I urge you to keep with it! Over time you will reap the rewards that come with mindful thinking.
