Michael Abrahams | Awesomeness of mindfulness meditation

The brain is the control centre of the body. Most of our voluntary and involuntary functions are controlled by this complex organ. Neuronal connections and brain chemistry affect our personalities, moods, behaviour and the ways our bodies perform. So, it should come as no surprise that optimising the functioning of our brains will have beneficial effects on our overall health.

One of the ways we can enhance our well-being is to practise mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness refers to the ability to be fully present and aware of where we are and what we are doing. It is about being invested in the here and now, and not being distracted or overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us.

Meditation is the process of venturing into and exploring the workings of our minds, such as our sensations, emotions and thoughts. Mindfulness meditation is a combination of the two, suspending judgement of our thoughts and allowing ourselves to embrace and savour each moment with warmth and kindness.

Mindfulness meditation has been in existence for thousands of years, originating from ancient Eastern and Buddhist philosophy. Research into the practice began relatively recently, with much of it being introduced to the Western world by Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn from work being done at his Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, beginning in the early 1980s.

HELPFUL DISCOVERIES

One of the most helpful and exciting discoveries made over the past few decades is that the brain can change in response to experience, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity. Not only can our brains be rewired, but we have the power to do it. And an effective way of achieving this is via mindfulness meditation.

The human brain is bombarded with 11,000,000 bits of information per second, and the average person has approximately 6,000 thoughts per day. That is a lot of stimulation to be processed. A Harvard study found that our brains wander about 47 per cent of the time during our waking hours, and much of this time is spent ruminating about the past or worrying or catastrophising about the future. Research has also found that a wandering mind is not a happy one, as our moods are better when we are focused on what we are doing, rather than on the thoughts that invade our heads.

By counteracting these thoughts, and utilising methods that help us to focus on our breathing and the sensations we experience in the here and now, mindfulness meditation helps us to navigate not just the clutter in our minds, but life itself.

The benefits of mindfulness meditation are constantly being discovered by research, and some of the findings have been compelling. For example, in a landmark Harvard University study at the Massachusetts General Hospital, MRI scans found that after an eight-week course of mindfulness practice, the amygdala, the brain’s ‘fight or flight’ centre, appears to shrink. This region of the brain is involved in the initiation of the body’s response to stress, and these reactions include fear, anxiety and aggression. Interestingly, as the amygdala shrinks, the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with higher-order brain functions such as awareness, concentration and decision-making, becomes thicker in those who meditate.

Further, the connectivity between these areas was also found to weaken with meditation. In other words, with regular meditation, fewer signals are sent to the amygdala, resulting in less agitation and psychological discomfort. Research has also found that the degree of these changes correlates with the number of hours of meditation practice a person has done.

CALMNESS AND INNER PEACE

Mindfulness meditation has been found to improve mood, focus, attention and creativity, and produces calmness and inner peace. Therefore, it is not surprising that it has been found to be useful in managing anxiety, depression, addiction and sleep disorders; and has also been found to have beneficial effects on productivity and teamwork at the workplace; and on reducing disruptive and aggressive behaviour in schools.

Because mindfulness meditation relieves stress, it can also have beneficial effects on the remainder of the body. Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, causing increases in heart and breathing rates and blood pressure. It also causes the adrenal glands to overproduce the hormone cortisol, which can negatively affect the brain, immune system and other areas. When stress is chronic it can contribute to headaches, depression, anxiety, heart disease and premature death.

Not surprisingly, mindfulness meditation has been found to be useful in managing physical maladies such as asthma, hypertension, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome and tension headaches. It has also been useful in the management of chronic pain. The practice is being gradually utilised in mainstream medical practice in the form of mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based pain management, contributing to improvements in the health of many.

Mindfulness meditation can significantly improve your quality of life and is definitely worth investigating. If you have been diagnosed with a mental illness, discuss the practice with your healthcare provider as it may worsen some symptoms, depending on the type and severity of the disorder. But for most of us, the potential benefits to ourselves and the society greatly outweigh the risks.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @mikeyabrahams.