Can Meditation Make your Brain Stronger?

If we want to build up strong muscles, we assume we've got to hit the gym and lift some weights. But what if we want to strengthen our brains? Try meditation, according to a recent study.

In the study, published in the journal NeuroImage, UCLA neuroscientist Eileen Luders and her colleagues compared the brains of 22 people who had practiced various forms of meditation—for anywhere from five to nearly 50 years—with the brains of 22 people (of similar ages and education levels) who had never practiced any kind of meditation. Using a brain imaging technique that allowed them to view changes across the entire brain, the researchers looked to see if any particular brain regions were bigger in one group or the other.

They found that two brain regions were bigger in the meditators than in the non-meditators, while non-meditators showed no advantage in any brain region. The regions that had greater volume in the meditators have both been linked to our ability to manage our emotions; one of them, the hippocampus, located in the temporal lobes of the brain, near the ears, has also been found to play a role in our skills of attention. Additionally, the authors found evidence that meditation may actually improve the hippocampus' ability to grow new neurons into adulthood, which may be particularly important to keeping our brains sharp as we age.

Previous studies have shown that an active meditation practice is associated with a stronger ability to regulate one's behavior and emotions, and with reductions in physical and psychological symptoms of illness. With this study, Luders and her colleagues have found further evidence for these links, down to the neural level. They note that more research in this area is necessary before they can draw any definite conclusions. But they argue that if effects of meditation are linked to the particular brain changes they observed, then meditators are strengthening the brain regions necessary for the "singular abilities and habits to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior.

By Madeline Goodkind

Being Present in the Presence of all those Presents

So here we are smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, celebrating all manner of spiritual, religious and cultural activities, drawing families and friends together to eat, drink, and be merry. But when the last of the leftovers have found their way into your lunchbox, and all the gift wrapping has been recycled, what’s next? There will no doubt be digital media footage to look at, pictures to post on facebook, perhaps a video on youtube, and maybe some thank you cards to write. But when that second flurry of after the holiday-madness occurs before you return to your life as it was before we began celebrating merry christmahanakwanza, what will your remember about the holidays in 2010?

I for one intend on focusing on the time spent with my family. Knowing more then ever that the giggles, belly laughs, snorts and guffaws  shared while making Christmas dinner will long be remembered more so than the gift card I give as a present. That sitting down with the aunt or uncle that I see once a year, (if I’m lucky), and asking them what’s happening in their lives and then listening to their answer will be more meaningful then hoping they like the socks I got for them is.  I intend to be present for my family this year. Not in a hurried flustered let’s get this over with type of present. More in the way I treat my friends. Meaning, I am going to try not to take them for granted. I want to learn who they are, what they like, and share those things about me with them. I want in short to create a loving Christmas with joyful moments where I just am, and we are simply just together.  

So whatever brings you and your loved ones together this season, cherish the little things. Take time out for you. Set boundaries as needed. And breathe. When you are ready to create a day just for you, to thank yourself for doing your best and being your best- we’ll be here. Our massage tables patiently waiting to create another loving joyful moment where you are free to just be.