We’ve talked a lot about meditation for general health and even for neuroplasticity. And yet . . .
. . . have you ever been curious about what is actually happening in the brain during meditation?
This was addressed by a recent study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Jim Lagopoulos, PhD, out of the University of Sydney in Australia, led a group of researchers who measured brain waves during meditation.
Within the same sitting and in random order, participants were asked to practice a 20-minute Acem meditation (a type of Norwegian-inspired nondirective mediation), as well as rest for 20 minutes while researchers used electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain activity.
During the meditation component, significantly increased theta power was found throughout all of the brain, but especially in the frontal and temporal-central regions as compared to the posterior region.
Alpha waves were also more abundant in the posterior portions of the brain during meditation than during simple relaxation.
Why do we care about theta and alpha waves?
Well brain activity occurs using electrical waves, of which there are four speeds: delta (associated with sleep and the slowest brain activity), theta, alpha, and beta (the quickest activity).
Studies have associated theta waves with the state that exists between sleep and full alertness (daydreaming for instance).
Theta waves are important because they are associated with free thinking, lack of judgment, and overall positive outlook.
Alpha waves are associated with deep relaxation while maintaining awareness of what’s occurring around us.
Would you like to find out more about the role of mindfulness in the brain?
Then check out our mindfulness programs here.
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wonderful… I’ve recently attended a saphrology course given by Dr. Issa from Spain… what a great way to connect with yourself!!!
Interesting when considering what I’ve just read in “The Power of Now” – From my interpretation, Eckhart Tolle says that when coming into the NOW fully (as one does in Meditation), one is able to come into what he calls “no-mind” where one de-identifies with the mind and connects to a state of pure consciousness instead. From what I can tell this means that the mind is not active – not even active enough to perform the tasks of “free thinking” and “lack of judgment”. For the mind to be in a state of theta waves, still operating even if only to allow for free thinking seems incongrument with Tolle’s philosophy – as he would say the experience we feel during pure meditation is not thinking at all, but rather the connection with pure consciousness which is mutually exclusive from thought and all brain activity as WE are not our MINDS. But then again perhaps it is just as simple as that being the dormant state the mind goes into so that greater consciousness can be experienced and accessed. Wondering how he would respond and explain this scientific evidence in relation to his philosophy.
I just completed offering a four week, once a week, class on mindfulness/meditation to women with cancer at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in Oakland. Along with the instruction given an important component was the sharing among the group. A strong connection was made which was greatly assisted by the open-minded awareness of the sitting together in stillness. At the end they commented that they much prefered this to a support group where the focus was on their illness. This group included the support but opened them to the possibility of a much more expansive way of being with their cancer. We are continuing to sit together.
Too bad that they didn’t explore gamma-waves…