Sitting still doing nothing to become more beautiful, more intelligent, kinder, and calmer, it’s almost unbelievable… and yet, thanks to meditation you have a bit of the feeling of cheating at the game of life. With a little practice and a touch of technique, the many benefits of zen can change your life for the better and teach you how to fall asleep.
You destroy your negative emotions
When you meditate regularly, your brain transforms: the amygdala, the part of the brain that manages emotions (notably fear and anxiety), shrinks! The gray matter decreases, which means there are fewer neurons. Rest assured, losing these neurons is not a bad thing. It simply means that if you have fewer neurons to create and maintain negative emotions, it will be physically more difficult for you to be unpleasant and unhappy!
According to a 2012 study from Massachusetts General Hospital, two groups of novices did meditation exercises for 8 weeks, then were exposed to photos evoking positive, neutral, or negative emotions.
The first group did mindfulness meditation (breathing exercises): while looking at the photos, the activity of their amygdala decreased. Translation: they felt fewer negative emotions overall.
The second group did meditation exercises to become more compassionate towards others: as a result, there was less amygdala activity for positive and neutral photos, and more activity for negative photos. Translation: they felt fewer negative emotions, except when faced with a negative situation for someone else — they were more affected by that person’s suffering.
You become more benevolent
A 2010 study in the American journal Neurology offered patients with multiple sclerosis a meditation session program. Significant result: 92% of participants reported being in a better mood and less tired, with a 30% reduction in depressive symptoms. In contrast, patients who received only standard medical treatment were more tired and less happy.
While the gray matter of your amygdala decreases, the opposite happens for the left part of the hippocampus: this brain area manages memory, self-awareness, introspection, and compassion towards others.
A natural analgesic
Dr. Fadel Zeidan, neurobiologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of meditation on pain. And it’s very conclusive: meditation proved more effective at relieving pain than even morphine or some analgesics.
Here is the experiment: he exposed volunteers to a thermal probe at 48.8°C, hot enough to cause pain, and performed an MRI of their brains. Then, he divided them into several groups.
The first group received a placebo treatment, with a fake pain relief cream (scientists actually lowered the heat intensity).
The second group was taught a kind of “fake meditation,” consisting of slow breathing for 20 minutes, with a deliberately boring recording.
The third group was taught real mindfulness meditation.
Four days later, Zeidan re-exposed his patients to the thermal probe for surprising results: thanks to the MRI, he observed that volunteers with the placebo had only an 11% decrease in physical pain (and 44% for emotional pain). For the “fake meditation” group, the decrease was 9% and 24%. But the highlight: the mindfulness group showed 27% reduction in physical pain and 44% in emotional pain!
These people did not use the same brain areas to react to pain: their thalamus (pain integration) was less active, while areas of attention and cognitive control were more engaged.
Better memory & better concentration
According to a study from the University of Santa Barbara (California), people who meditate find it easier to stay focused and have better memory. Two groups were compared: one took nutrition classes, the other meditation classes. Before/after, all took memory and concentration tests.
After two weeks, only participants in the meditation classes saw their scores increase (from 460 to 520), not the “nutrition” group.
A small mindfulness meditation exercise
Here is an exercise taken from Eckhart Tolle’s book, Practicing the Power of Now, to dissipate suffering.
- Focus on the feeling that inhabits you. Identify this “pain body.”
- Observe this feeling, but do not think about it. Do not judge it, analyze it, or identify with it.
- Become aware of your suffering as a silent observer. Anchor yourself in the present moment.
- If the suffering is intense, also observe the “resistance” within you, the attachment to this identification.
- Observe yourself talking about it or thinking about it. The more you differentiate yourself from it, the more you feel it in the background.
Don’t forget to practice regularly: meditation changes your brain in a lasting way!
HoomBand, to accompany you in guided meditation practice
Guided meditation is an excellent way to get started and benefit quickly. The principle: a narrator guides you to relax your body and mind to reach a deep meditative state, conducive to sleep.
That’s why we launched Hoom, which brings together sleep specialists, hypnotherapists, and sophrologists to help you fall asleep peacefully thanks to audio content dedicated to relaxation and falling asleep.
The HoomBand mobile app offers guided meditations, immersive hypnotic stories, and relaxing atmospheres, to listen to with the HoomBand audio headband, specially designed for sleep.
You can discover the project on the HoomBand website!
And for a preview of guided meditations and immersive stories, listen exclusively on YouTube to our “Journey into Space” right here:
To take a look at the articles referenced in this article:
Neurology Article (2024) — Meditation for pain management is not a placebo
Fadel Zeidan’s study on the effectiveness of meditation as an analgesic
University of California study — influence of meditation on memory and concentration
On the same topic:
Discover the effects of sleep deprivation
Sleep and the child, a special relationship
