Meditation and your health in the news
Listening to Holosync brain entrainment program is like teaching your brain to achieve deep zen meditative states in a matter of weeks. Without Holosync, most people are likely to give up on meditation, or else take years of practice to achieve the same results.
Western scientific methods are finally, finally being applied to meditation to examine the results in our bodies and brains. Check out these articles to see for yourself what kind of health benefits you could achieve even faster than normal meditation, by listening to Holosync.
| Thinking can change the brain: NeuroPlasticity |
How Thinking Can Change the Brain 29 January, 2007 The above link to the 14th Dalai Lama's web site archives delves into the question: "Can the mind shape brain matter?" Depressed patients were given either generic Paxil or cognitive-behavior therapy training. "All the patients' depression lifted, regardless of whether their brains were infused with a powerful drug or with a different way of thinking. Yet the only "drugs" that the cognitive-therapy group received were their own thoughts," and this group's limbic region also remained active while the drug group's limbic region was deadened. Monks' brainwaves were studied and found to emulate the gamma (compassion and empathy) wave long after meditation stopped. As we use our thoughts, our thoughts can shape our brains.
Meditation On Demand Scientific American, May 26, 2009 More on the lecture from the Dalai Lama at the Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, DC. The differences between 'focused attention' and 'open-monitoring meditation' styles are discussed. Read about a strange sounding experiment involving developing custom-designed viruses to infect only the fast-spiking interneurons in the prefrontal cortex of mice... I am left wondering why Holosync and brain entrainment in general were not discussed in this article. |
| the mind can change the brain |
| I am going to link you into the middle of a long article published by Time.com, of Time Magazine. Look for the "As Scientists Probe..." paragraph. This is evidence that people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can improve their condition using mindfulness meditation. The scientists conclude that "the mind can change the brain." Mindfulness meditation is the process of looking at thoughts as they arise, examining them, labeling them, and putting them down. It is this practice I am referring to when I say "you don't have to own every thought that crosses your mind." How the Brain Re-Wires Itself, pg 3 of 5. Time Magazine Jan 2007 On the next page of the same article, Time Magazine talks about the famous study of Buddhist monks who meditated while an MRI machine scanned their brains. The conclusion is that "the positive state is a skill that can be trained." So don't worry if you're depressed, just practice any kind of meditation! It's not an overnight fix, and it takes self-discipline. How the Brain Re-Wires Itself, pg 4 of 5 Time Magazine Jan 2007 |
| Benefits of Meditation |
| Here is a short article at Psychology Today that explains an experiment where participants had their brain waves scanned at three points in the study. It was found that those who meditate shift their brain activity to the left frontal lobe. The conclusion is that meditators are calmer and happier than non-meditators! Benefits of Meditation Psychology Today, April 24, 2003
"Ten volunteers were tested before and after 40 minutes of either sleep, meditation, reading or light conversation, with all subjects trying all conditions. The 40-minute nap was known to improve performance (after an hour or so to recover from grogginess). But what astonished the researchers was that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, despite none of the volunteers being experienced at meditation. ...meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula...yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing"." Meditation builds up the brain. New Scientist. 15 November 2005 |
| Buddhist-style meditation to prevent the recurrence of depression |
| This is an interview with Mark Williams, Professor of Psychology at the University of Wales. Mixing cognitive therapy with meditation does wonders to prevent depression-prone people from relapsing. Buddhist-style
meditation to Prevent the Recurrence of Depression The Health Report Radio National, |
| Larry King Live- Power of Positive Thinking |
There is an outstanding television interview on the power of positive thinking. Larry King interviews Jack Canfield, James Ray (many of whose quotes appear in my banner), Dr. Joe Vitale, Dr. George Pratt, and Jayne Payne. They don't mention meditation, but they do focus on emotional awareness, a skill gained through meditation and introspection. There is a lot of focus on the law of attraction, which Joe Vitale sums up: If you're focusing on lack, you're going to get more lack. If you focus on abundance, you're going to get more abundance.There is an entire section on "keys to using emotional awareness to control your physical health." For instance: KING: Are you saying you can think good health? RAY: You can. You can. You can just as easily think good health as you can think poor health. You've to give your attention to something, Larry. So energy flows where attention goes (editors note: see my desktop wallpaper with this phrase on it). If you get up every single morning and you are giving all your attention to how overweight, out of shape and broke you are, then energy is going to flow in that direction. Transcript
of the Power of Positive Thinking on Larry King Live |
| Stroke |
| The following article reveals how one study on TM (transcendental
meditation, simply a form/style of meditation) has proven that meditation
can lessen the plaque on arterial walls, and therefore lower one's blood
pressure. This spells out the positive benefit of warding off
heart attack or stroke. |
| Stress |
This article reviews several styles of meditation and emphasizes that if you feel better at the end of it you're doing it right. But everybody struggles with that internal mind chatter during meditation. That's what makes it difficult to persevere. "Studies have shown that, among other benefits, meditation can help reverse heart disease, the number-one killer in the U.S. It can reduce pain and enhance the body's immune system, enabling it to better fight disease."Scientists studied people who had meditated for four months and found they had less cortisol in their systems. They could adapt to stress much better than if they had never meditated. The
Science of Meditation |
| Blood Pressure |
The various health benefits of meditation are spelled out in this article, including better concentration, better relaxation, lower blood pressure, an increased sense of inner joy. Can Meditation
Help Lower My Cholesterol? "Probably the single most reported physiological benefit of meditation — indeed, of systematic relaxation techniques generally — is the drop in blood pressure. Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recommended meditation (along with salt and dietary restrictions) above prescription drugs as the first treatment for mild hypertension." WHAT SCIENCE KNOWS ABOUT MEDITATION AND THE TRANSPERSONAL SELF |
| Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) |
This is a backgrounder article on the practice of mediation. It is stated that people practice for many health reasons, including: Meditation for Health
Purposes |
| BBC articles on Meditation |
Scientists probe meditation secrets. BBC News. 31 March 2008. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is mentioned in the above article as being a very good treatment for individuals prone to depression. Meditation 'good for brain'. BBC News > Health. 5 February, 2003. Doctors recognize that meditation has positive effects on the brain. Meditation mapped in monks. BBC News > Sci/Tech. 1 March, 2002. The front part of the brain shows more activity in Tibetan monks while meditating. Meditation lowers blood pressure. BBC News > Health. 2 August, 1999 Meditation keeps the blood vessels open thereby reduing blood pressure. |
Improvement in measurements of personality