mediatation and brains
Submitted by Catherine Sword on Fri, 2006-12-22 20:18.
I am curious about the effects of meditation on the physical brain. I sometimes get a tightness in my head. Sure don't want to strain my brain.
Any thoughts?
Meditation and the Brain
Wonderful question. First let's separate the question into two areas: the feeling of strain you notice and the brain itself.
The brain, under healthy physical conditions, is not usually feeling a physical strain inside its case.
The bones and muscle tissue which support the grey matter are beautifully designed by nature to fit. In some cases, the blood vessels constrict and we get a headache. Otherwise the normal course of events is a pain free brain.
The sensation of tightness you mention is common in meditation. It is so common in fact that some traditions wear a bandana around the temples to indicate the sense of tightness. This kind of tightness or, as Namgyal Rimpoche called it "meditation band" comes about through the increase in concentration.
One way to experiment with the tightness is to move your head slowly. Gently turn to the right and the left while inhaling deeply.
In other words, become more aware of the tightness, make it part of the meditation and play with it. See what happens when you breathe deeply, when you turn your head, when you stand slowly and gently to your feet.
The tightness itself is an indication some progress is being made. I hesitate to state this baldly since some might interpret this to mean the tightness itself is to be desired. They might meditate to increase the tightness and ouch! that would mean at least a headache.
To avoid this, simply notice the tight sensation, focus on your breathing gently and try to relax!
The brain itself is being examined under the careful eyes of many researchers in the fields of neurology, and neurobiology. For a more complete look, type in "neurology meditation" and look at the results: over 500,000 articles on how meditation affects the brain.
Most of the results I scanned indicate positive preliminary findings: in general meditation helps build more grey matter, helps the grey matter that is in place function more smoothly and helps meditators respond consciously to their world.
Seems a natural: during a long training in meditation our brains physically change for the better.