In today’s busy world of working, networking, and the ongoing assaults of emails, texts, and family problems, we are saturated with the stress of psychological overload. Our minds are rarely at rest and our bodies are paying the price. You finish the end of a normal day and find that stress has become your partner.

Meditation is one easy way to combat the effects of daily stress, and take back control of your health. Just 20 minutes a day can reduce stress and help your brain to recharge.

The Benefits of Meditation

Throughout my own work as a researcher and educator with a Ph.D. in psychology and a Doctorate of education, I have found that simple meditation techniques can do so much, including:

  • Lower your blood pressure
  • Increase your circulation
  • Throw more blood to the prefrontal cortex
  • Enhance your executive function, working memory, concentration, and visuospatial processing
  • Help you hold images longer
  • Process information better
  • Allow for contemplation, intuition, and creativity to thrive.

The Neuroscience Behind Meditation

Scientists and neuroscientists, through the use of functioning magnetic resonance imaging and cat scans, can now demonstrate the effect of meditation on the brain. Cortisol, the stress hormone, can be reduced by simply controlling your breath through the use of mindful meditation. The default network in your brain which is connected to both introspection and concentration slows down activity when meditating. When the mind wanders it tends to concentrate on negative issues thus creating stress but through meditation that function is less active.

In a 7-year study at MIT with the Dalai Lama, several of his monks, and non-meditators, it was established that not only could meditators hold images longer, have more blood sent to the pre-frontal cortex and have their memory and cognitive function increased, but also non-meditators who were instructed to meditate over several months saw the same benefits. Further, experienced meditators use their brain like an orchestra, connecting various networks whether meditating or not.

There are many neurological advantages to meditation, including:

  • Calming the amygdala where our fight or flight and emotions live
  • Strengthening impulse control, which allows you to self-manage stress, pain, depression, and drug and alcohol issues.

Mindfulness Programs at Work and in Healthcare Facilities

Emerging data indicates that by lowering stress and anxiety, meditation can be a beneficial practice in the workplace, as a calming tool for overwhelmed workers. In fact, Google has a very popular program called “Search Inside Yourself,” which teaches mindfulness.

Moreover, some universities, public schools, hospitals, and health care centers have initiated meditation and mindfulness programs. Because stress has been connected with illness over the years, the approach of using meditation in hospitals and healthcare facilities is a particularly important one. As a result, meditation has moved from an outlier position, into the mainstream of American culture.

How to Begin a Meditation Practice

Meditation does not have to be associated with any religious practice. Viewed as secular and scientific, it is easy to get started.

  1. Set your alarm for 20 minutes, twice a day. This is the time you will be meditating. By setting your alarm, you relax and don’t have to worry about how much longer you have to go.
  2. Simply sit or lie down with your eyes shut in a comfortable position.
  3. In the beginning, your mind will wander and bring in outside sounds and thoughts; just invite all of your distractions into your meditation, don’t resist them. What resists persists. Ultimately, all of these distractions will fall away as you learn to focus your mind in meditation.
  4. Some people like using a mantra, some people like using a word. The power of a mantra is that you can’t assign a meaning to it, therefore you can’t associate any thoughts with it as you empty your mind. A simple mantra such as “om” will do.
  5. Before you begin to meditate, relax your body by isometrically tensing and releasing all the muscle groups starting from the tips of your toes and ending at the top of your head. Just squeeze and release and check in with your body, making sure that you are relaxed.
  6. Then, follow your breath. As you breathe in you will notice that the breath is cool, as you breathe out you will notice that your breath is warm. Focus on your breath and bring in your mantra while concentrating on the bridge between your eyes.

This is how you meditate.

The Power of Meditation

Through meditation, you actually develop consciousness. In fact, by accessing your own unconscious you gather insight into your conflicts and find the capacity and resources to meet them. Meditation is so powerful, that if I were dying and had only one gift to give to my family, it would be the word meditation.

In my own life, faced with the death of my daughter Dawn, the only solace I could find was the time I spent in meditation. In all major religions, the deepest traditions concentrate on the practice of meditation to access the unconscious — whether Sufism, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity — in the deepest meditations, the practice will lead you inside and connect you back to your central core.

Whether it is a psychological journey or spiritual journey- the model is the same: the path to consciousness. In our secularly materialistic culture, dominated by tabloid journalism, and thriving with celebrity, meditation gives you time out and has the capacity to open you to the wholeness in yourself. In our world of artificial images, meditation can awaken you to your own magnificent source and by doing so transform you.

Author(s)

  • Dr. Gail Gross

    Author and Parenting, Relationships, and Human Behavior Expert

    Dr. Gail Gross, Ph.D., Ed.D., M.Ed., a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and member of APA Division 39, is a nationally recognized family, child development, and human behavior expert, author, and educator. Her positive and integrative approach to difficult issues helps families navigate today’s complex problems. Dr. Gross is frequently called upon by national and regional media to offer her insight on topics involving family relationships, education, behavior, and development issues. A dependable authority, Dr. Gross has contributed to broadcast, print and online media including CNN, the Today Show, CNBC's The Doctors, Hollywood Reporter, FOX radio, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Times of India, People magazine, Parents magazine, Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine, USA Today, Univision, ABC, CBS, and KHOU's Great Day Houston Show. She is a veteran radio talk show host as well as the host of the nationally syndicated PBS program, “Let’s Talk.” Also, Dr. Gross has written a semi-weekly blog for The Huffington Post and has blogged at EmpowHER.com since 2013. Recently, Houston Women's Magazine named her One of Houston's Most Influential Women of 2016. Dr. Gross is a longtime leader in finding solutions to the nation’s toughest education challenges. She co-founded the first-of-its kind Cuney Home School with her husband Jenard, in partnership with Texas Southern University. The school serves as a national model for improving the academic performance of students from housing projects by engaging the parents. Dr. Gross also has a public school elementary and secondary campus in Texas that has been named for her. Additionally, she recently completed leading a landmark, year-long study in the Houston Independent School District to examine how stress-reduction affects academics, attendance, and bullying in elementary school students, and a second study on stress and its effects on learning. Such work has earned her accolades from distinguished leaders such as the Dalai Lama, who presented her with the first Spirit of Freedom award in 1998. More recently, she was honored in 2013 with the Jung Institute award. She also received the Good Heart Humanitarian Award from Jewish Women International, Perth Amboy High School Hall of Fame Award, the Great Texan of the Year Award, the Houston Best Dressed Hall of Fame Award, Trailblazer Award, Get Real New York City Convention's 2014 Blogging Award, and Woman of Influence Award. Dr. Gross’ book, The Only Way Out Is Through, is available on Amazon now and offers strategies for life’s transitions including coping with loss, drawing from dealing with the death of her own daughter. Her next book, How to Build Your Baby’s Brain, is also available on Amazon now and teaches parents how to enhance their child’s learning potential by understanding and recognizing their various development stages. And her first research book was published by Random House in 1987 on health and skin care titled Beautiful Skin. Dr. Gross has created 8 audio tapes on relaxation and stress reduction that can be purchased on Amazon.com. Most recently, Dr. Gross’s book, The Only Way Out is Through, was named a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Silver Medal finalist in 2020 and Winner of the 2021 Independent Press Awards in the categories of Death & Dying as well as Grief. Her latest book, How to Build Your Baby’s Brain, was the National Parenting Product Awards winner in 2019, the Nautilus Book Awards winner in 2019, ranked the No. 1 Best New Parenting Book in 2019 and listed among the Top 10 Parenting Books to Read in 2020 by BookAuthority, as well as the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Gold Medal winner in 2020 and Winner of the 2021 Independent Press Awards in the category of How-To. Dr. Gross received a BS in Education and an Ed.D. (Doctorate of Education) with a specialty in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston. She earned her Master’s degree in Secondary Education with a focus on Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Dr. Gross received her second PhD in Psychology, with a concentration in Jungian studies. Dr. Gross was the recipient of Kappa Delta Pi An International Honor Society in Education. Dr. Gross was elected member of the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta.