Why Meditate? I was asked this question recently, and found myself at a loss for words, not sure where to even begin… there are so many reasons to meditate and more being found every day.
When I started practicing yoga and meditation in 1972, the answer was simple. Meditation was a spiritual practice. We meditated to help know ourselves. In 1975 Herbert Benson published The Relaxation Response and suddenly, meditation was seen as a way to relieve stress. Soon people began to recognize that meditation effects not just the individual, but those around them. As one special forces soldier once said when asked, ‘I cannot really tell any difference when I meditate or forget to practice… but my wife can!’. In addition to all of the aforementioned reasons, now meditation is seen as a way to improve concentration and performance on the athletic field and in the corporate boardroom.
In the 1990’s while teaching yoga at 3M, I lobbied the HR department to set up a meditation room for employees to use. I combed through the scientific literature on meditation and contacted friends and colleagues, asking if they knew of any studies that might support the benefits of meditation for health and job performance. The research was scarce at that time, but there was still enough to sell the idea to 3M. Once finished, the meditation room featured nice chairs, soft lighting, head phones, and an aquarium. I heard a rumor the year after I stopped teaching at 3M that the room had been closed due to management worries that it would be used for employees to sleep on the job.
Today, there is a general consensus that meditation can increase focus by up to 10 times compared to a control group. Immunity improves resulting in a 50% reduction in disease, 30% less anxiety, 65% more wellbeing, and 75% less depression. An study published in 2011 showed that as little as 20 minutes of meditation a day for 8 weeks promotes structural changes in the brain, including increases in grey matter concentration in areas of the brain involved in learning, memory, regulating emotions, sense of self, and having perspective.
Today there is so much research on meditation published every day that Instead of looking for more information, I now avoid it. I am already sold on the benefits of meditation and now prefer to use my time to practice and teach. Occasionally I still get curious, so yesterday took a quick look to see what is new and found a study, published 3 days ago by researchers from the Harvard Medical School, that suggests excessive activity in the brain is linked to shorter life spans, while suppressing such overactivity extends life. According to the authors of the paper, these findings raise the possibility that “… certain behaviors, such as meditation, could extend life span by modulating neural activity.”
If you are ready to start or resume a meditation practice you can find detailed advice and instructions in a variety of styles of meditation. I also have a meditation CD available through the website store.
