The science behind mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness, meditation, and MBSR (mindfulness meditation) are all practices that aim to quiet the mind, bring a sense of peace and stillness, and enhance awareness of self and emotions

They are similar but also different :

✔️Mindfulness is bringing attention to the present moment and aims to increase appreciation of our emotions, senses, and environment

✔️Meditation is bringing awareness inward (rather than out), and is the practice of finding stillness, peace and contentment within.

✔️Mindfulness meditation (MBSR) is a type of meditation and was developed in the late 1970s by John Kabat-Zinn. It's often run as an 8 week course, teaching people to cultivate awareness of their body, mind, and thoughts in the present moment, without passing judgment - improving the mind body connection

Its been extensively used in clinical trials and is run in many health clinics around the world

So what is the science behind mindfulness and meditation and why they're so often recommended for improving our health?

Much of this has come from the use of functional MRI scans, which can detect changes in our brain in ‘real time’, studying how our brains react with different interventions or tests. These have shown that meditation and mindfulness actually alter the brain by :

✔️Changing our brain wave patterns to a relaxed state

✔️Stimulating the growth of new brain cells/ connections in areas involved in attention, memory, and executive function

✔️Increasing blood flow to the parts of the brain controlling self control, concentration, creativity, and decision making

✔️Reducing activity in the amygdala (the 'alarm centre'), reducing the stress response

✔️Increasing the size of the frontal lobes and hippocampus (the parts of the brain controlling attention, emotional stability, and memory)

✔️Slowing down age related brain loss

Many of these changes occur within a little as 8 weeks of daily mindfulness meditation!

Meditation and mindfulness also affect the body by :

✔️Shifting the nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic (helping stress recovery)

✔️Measurably reducing cortisol and adrenaline levels

✔️Reducing blood pressure and heart rate

✔️Improving immune function and reducing inflammation (detectable on blood testing)

✔️Improving sleep, mental health, energy

✔️Turning inflammatory genes off

✔️Increasing longevity by altering telomerase activity (the enzyme that stops DNA ageing)

✔️Potentially helping cancer outcomes

MBSR has even been shown to reduce the need for doctors visits and tests by up to 50% - in one amazing study, people who participated in an 8 week MBSR programme had a significant reduction in doctors visits, emergency room visits, and even need for xrays and other medical imaging for up to a year afterwards!

It's simple, free, and powerful - and once you learn how to do it, can be used anywhere at any time.

If you'd like to try it, check out our movement and mind section for some guided meditations.

Remember like with many things, the key is finding something you enjoy, that works for you, and doing it regularly to get the benefits ❤️