What Is Meditation And How Does It Change Your Brain?

Hi,

I'm Keziah Gibbons.

My pronouns are she and her.

And today we're going to look at what is meditation and how does it change your brain?

So.

.

.

Firstly,

To define meditation.

Meditation is an intentional practice which alters the state of the mind.

Body,

Emotions,

Energy system or spirit.

That's a nice working definition that I use and it is quite a powerful claim.

And I would add to that that The alterations that take place don't only happen while we're meditating,

So while we're in practice.

Quite soon as we establish a practice.

These changes become embedded and long-term,

And I'll return to that in more depth in a moment.

But to continue the definition of what meditation is.

Or rather what it is not.

Meditation is not limited.

What does this mean?

I know that some of you may be familiar with meditation and have your own meditation practice.

And also a lot of people,

When they first come to meditation or have it suggested to them,

Say something like,

Well I've tried it but I can't empty my mind.

And you may have limited beliefs about what meditation is.

Or you may know everything and just be watching this video to hear it a different way.

I don't know.

Just to reiterate,

Meditation is an intentional practice.

So,

Emptying the mind is one intentional practice which can be used in meditation and some people do that,

But it's not the only kind of meditation.

Meditation can be passive,

Meditation can be active.

What do I mean by active and passive?

And in active meditation you may intentionally direct your attention in some way.

This is a great approach if you're someone who doesn't find it easy to sit still and clear your mind because it gives you something to do in your practice.

Whereas in a passive meditation you might just sit there and allow whatever arises to arise.

Or you may even listen to guidance which bypasses your conscious mind and speaks directly to the unconscious.

And there are lots of different meditation techniques within each of those styles but I just wanted to give you that awareness that we don't have to limit ourselves when approaching meditation.

Which is why there is a place for meditation in everything and for everyone.

And what happens to your brain in just eight weeks of meditation.

Earlier I mentioned meditation practice creates long-term change in our state.

And one of the ways that this happens is via alterations in your neural pathways.

Your neural pathways are networks of nerves.

You have an extremely high concentration of them in the brain,

But they also extend out to all the rest of your body.

And your neural pathways are the paths by which information is transmitted and action is taken within your body.

So everything,

Your senses,

Your movements,

Your thoughts,

Travel down these neural pathways.

Now,

Here's where it gets interesting.

Within the last couple of generations,

Scientists discovered a phenomenon called neuroplasticity.

So we used to think that the brain didn't change once you reach adulthood,

But we now know that the neural pathways are constantly forming,

Being reinforced,

Changing,

Or dying.

And that this changing of the neural pathway happens in response to our behaviours.

You can picture it like this.

Imagine a field or a meadow with knee-high or even waist-high plants in it.

They might be this high.

And if you walk through it once,

It might be possible by looking at that field to tell where you walked through,

But if you walk through it every day for a year,

You'll probably carve out a path in that field or meadow.

And if 10 people walk through it every day for a year.

That path will get wider.

If people stop walking through the path,

Then the plants in the meadow will grow over it again and eventually the path will disappear.

That's what happens in your brain when you do any behaviour and this includes mental behaviours.

And once we do a behaviour often enough and that path becomes ingrained,

Then it's so easy for the neurons to travel down that path that they can take it automatically,

Or at least with a lot of ease.

Let's come back to that definition of meditation and intentional practice.

Which alters the state of the mind,

Body,

Emotions,

Energy system or spirit.

Research shows that when we use meditation to achieve a particular state regularly,

We create neural pathways that make it very easy to recreate that state,

Even when we're not meditating.

So if a meditation helps you to achieve peace or relaxation or gratitude or joy,

Then simply by practicing for a few minutes each day,

You'll find that it's much easier to access that peace,

Relaxation,

Gratitude,

Joy,

Whatever it is,

At any given moment in life.

With the neuroplastic changes of regular practice,

We can reinforce these desired states,

Competences,

Beliefs to become the default.

So meditation is a simple tool to empower ourselves to greater freedom in accessing those states where we need them.

I hope that all made sense.

It's just a brief overview of what happens in your brain when you meditate and your body,

Of course brain and body are the same thing.

And I hope it's inspired you to go and try a practice or a new practice for eight weeks and see what happens.

Be curious.

Thank you for your presence and your time.

I wish you a wonderful rest of the day.