The more I research meditation the more amazed I am. It is the best habit that we can adopt in our day to day if we want to gain in mental and physical health. It is the most complete and beneficial mental practice for our body: it can allow you to freeze like a block of ice, you can walk on hot coals under its "effects", you can sleep without being asleep, ...
Now, new research has discovered a new benefit to meditation: meditation makes your brain bigger.
Physical effect of meditation on our brain
Harvard researchers have shown that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex. Generally, the cerebral cortex thins as we age, but this area of gray matter thickens with age in those who meditate. Other benefits
The study involved 20 experienced meditators, and their brains were compared with that of 15 people who had never meditated in their lives. During the brain scan, meditators meditated and non-meditators thought whatever they wanted.
All the participants were adults and came from a wide range of professions (except 4 of the meditators, who were actually teachers of meditation or yoga).
The scans indicated that people who meditated an average of 40 minutes a day showed an increase in the thickness of gray matter compared to non-meditators. It should be noted that those who had been meditating for more years showed greater changes in the structure of the brain, which suggests that meditation is the cause of the increase in gray matter. Other changes that meditation causes in you
The thickening equals between 0,01016 and 0,2032 centimetersunfortunately you won't get a bulletproof brain 😉 However, the difference was significant between people who meditated and those who didn't. More studies are planned to examine how this change could affect a meditator's health. Meanwhile you can start in the practice of meditation by reading these two articles: Basic principles for meditation y 6 different methods of meditation
The reason why meditation can counteract the thinning of the cerebral cortex over time is still unknown but it has been shown that meditation reverses the aging of the brain so you should ask yourself meditate every day.
Researchers point out that monks and yogis suffer from the same illnesses as the rest of us as they age but they claim they have a increased attention span and memory so they will enjoy a lucid old age. Source
I leave you with a video titled «How to meditate in a moment»:
Daniel… .I would like to ask you something