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This Is How Meditation Actually Works
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Meditation
It is a practice to control the power of thought and to cultivate more peace, clarity and happiness.
Meditation enables us to move from higher frequency brain waves to lower frequency waves, which activates different centers in the brain.
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5 Categories of Brain Waves
- Gamma State: (30 - 100Hz) The state of hyperactivity and active learning.
- Beta State: (13 - 30Hz) It is associated with the alert mind state where we function for most of the day.
- Alpha State: (9 - 13Hz) Brain waves start to slow down out of thinking mind. We feel more calm and peaceful.
- Theta State: (4 - 8Hz) The verbal/thinking mind transitions to the meditative/visual mind.
- Delta State: (1-3 Hz) Most of us reach this final state during deep, dreamless sleep.
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Breath meditation
- Sit comfortably in your chair with your shoulders relaxed and spine tall.
- Place your hands mindfully on your lap.
- Try to eliminate any stimulus that may distract you.
- Focus on your breath to slow the brain waves down from Beta or Alpha to the Theta State.
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Open awareness
One of the valuable skills in meditation is called open awareness, where you rest in the awareness of awareness. You can then approach situations with fresh eyes, and let go of your habitual reacti...
The power of open awareness
Some find that being aware of awareness is confusing or even bizarre.
However, upon further reflection, they consider it very peaceful.
Social neuroscientists found when practicing open awareness meditation, Gamma waves that usually occur briefly and in one spot of the brain are elevated all across the brain. It makes you feel a sense of vastness and spaciousness.
Our brain is an anticipation machine
We typically see the world through a set of filters that can limit our experience and keep us stuck in painful patterns of emotion.
Filters help us anticipate what is going to happen next and influence the information our brains receive. When we begin to filter too much, we lose touch with the beginner's mind that is open and without preconceptions.
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Mindfulness Meditation
Practitioners of mindful meditation focus their attention on only one thought. The goal is to be firmly affixed to the present moment. This typically means concentrating on the breath - observ...
Changes to the Brain
Buddhists have meditated for literally thousands of years. Buddhists are trying to hack their own minds, to harness them.
Only in recent times have neuroscientists discovered that meditation changes the brain physically.
Health Benefits
- Meditation improves attention. Studies show that 20 minutes a day are sufficient to get beneficial results.
- Meditation reduces stress after eight weeks of training.
- Meditation has also been shown to increase levels of empathy.
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Exercise Benefits The Brain
Any kind of exercise, be it aerobic, walking or Yoga, changes the brain's composition, structure and the way it operates. The changes that happen to the brain:
- Brain wa...
Brain Waves increasing
The brain's electric impulses change, and the Beta waves increase during and after exercise, putting it in a better, more alert state.
More Sensitive To The World
Exercise makes our senses sharper and clearer, and we are more perceptive and have better sensitivity to our surroundings.