Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mindful Muscle - Meditation May Increase Gray Matter


Cool article from the Mindful Muscle blog. We should be treating meditation the same way we treat weight training - as a necessity for a healthy body-mind. Which means we need to make time for it in our daily lives. Even as little as little 10 minutes can increase/improve cognitive function.

The important aspect of this study is that it showed that meditators had significantly larger volumes in regions known for regulating emotions (the hippocampus, and two areas in the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus).

When we have greater ability to regulate emotions, we are less likely to be reactive and to lose our tempers or act out of destructive emotional states. We are more balance human beings.

Meditation Brain


But what can one do to build a bigger brain?








The other segments the brain into different tissue types, allowing researchers to compare the amount of gray matter within specific regions of the brain.







The students of Tibetan Buddhist Kalu Rimpoche and Providence Zen Center founder Seung Sahn arranged for them to meet and engage in dialogue. When Seung Sahn arrived, he picked up an orange, held it in front of Kalu Rimpoche, and asked: “What is this?” The students awaited an insightful reply, illuminating the nature of reality, but Kalu Rimpoche looked stumped. Seung Sahn repeated his question with greater emphasis but Kalu Rimpoche had no answer. Seung Sahn put forth the question a third time. Finally Kalu Rimpoche responded, “It seems that Seung Sahn has never seen an orange before.”

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