Meditation

What is Meditation from a Scientific Perspective

Many of you are asking this question, the short answer to what is meditation is an altered state of consciousness. All humans and animals experience this state, for example while we sleep our brains operate at frequency ranges of 13Hz to 4Hz. Generally meditation falls in the Range of 13Hz ~ 7Hz, experienced meditators can fall in the range of 7Hz ~ 4Hz having said that you are Meditating when you are sleeping for very short periods of time.

A trained meditator can hold the frequency for very long periods of time. A classic example would be a Shaolin Monk that can hold this state of consciousness for hours on end. However, most people find it hard to stay in this frequency for 5 to 10 minutes. This discipline only comes with practice, practice and more practice, most people don't have the time or discipline to master this art. There are many methods that alter our brain frequency such as music, including classical or rave, strobe lights, float tanks, sounds, not to mention the worst of all mind altering drugs that have severe side affects. Meditation is simply just another state of mind but in practice is not so easy to master.

Researchers from Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found evidence that meditation does change the physical structure of the brain. The data findings imply that meditation promotes cortical plasticity in adults in areas of the brain that are important for emotional and cognitive processing and also well-being. Brain scans showed that experienced meditators had increased thickness in the areas of the brain that manage processing sensory input and attention.

During meditation the brain activity does alter as shown in EEG's. The brain wave state that is most generally noted in various mediation techniques is the Alpha State, although other brainwave states including theta can occur. The Alpha wave range is between 13Hz ~ 7Hz. These Alpha waves are known to be associated with relaxation of the nervous system.

Types of Meditation

• Clearing the mind - allow the mind to clear, ignoring thoughts, or allow all thoughts to float in and out of your awareness.
  
  
• Concentrating on the breath - having a conscious awareness of breath such as the movement of air flowing in and out of the nostrils.
  
  
• Focusing on an object - concentrating your attention on the object, including its shape, texture or sound if any, a rose or flower can be used.
  
  
• Bodily Movement - specialized technique like Tai Chi, yoga, or Qi Gong.
  
  
• Use of a mantra - repetitively using a word or phrase, this can be done silently with the mind or out loud, this can also be timed with breath. "Aum" would fall into this category.
  

Sound has been used in tribal rituals to induce trance like states, by methods of drums beats. What happens is the brain synchronizes with the frequency of the drum beat.

For an more in-depth look at Meditation see our Neuro Lab Page. 

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