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Science And Meditation
By
Bill Cozzolino |
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Discovery TV recently aired “All you need to know about the brain” in which they reveal that scientists can place an electromagnetic probe inside an average brain and produce instant savant abilities. The implications of modern neuroscience research clearly point to the fact that the brain is quite malleable and adaptable and virtually unlimited in its abilities!
We can now look at what is happening inside the brain!
The human brain is a physical organ that produces a steady flow of electrochemical activity resulting in what we experience as an ‘ocean’ of conscious awareness. Modern scientific instruments can display and record the electrochemical brainwave patterns as they change, so we know what is happening inside the brain while it is working.
We know that there is a direct relationship between where our attention is focused, what mental tasks we are performing and the resulting electrochemical brainwave patterns. Differing mental processes such as problem solving, sleeping, dreaming and changing emotions produce different brainwave patterns.
The most common map of these patterns is:
State Frequency State of mind
Delta 0.5Hz - 4Hz Deep, dreamless sleep
Theta 4Hz - 8Hz Drowsiness and the first stage of sleep and dreaming
Alpha 8Hz - 14Hz Relaxed but alert
Beta 14Hz - 30Hz Highly alert and focused
These brainwave patterns change when we take conscious control of our attention and deepen as we consciously isolate our attention on any single focus. The term commonly assigned to consciously controlling where our attention is focused and the resulting brainwave activity is ‘meditation’.
Dr. Tomio Hirai reports that Zen meditators are able to alter Alpha/Theta frequency according to their depth of meditation. According to Dr. Hirai,
"Meditation is not merely a state between mental stability and sleep, but a condition in which the mind operates at the optimum. In this condition the person is relaxed but ready to accept and respond positively to any stimulus that may reach him."
Doctors and mental health professionals are prescribing meditation for their clients. Hospitals are beginning to offer meditation services. Insurance companies are beginning to pay for prescribed meditation programs. Many Olympic Game athletes are now meditating before competition.
Studies show that when placed in positive or enjoyable conditions, cancer patients suffering pain experience a change in blood chemistry, a decrease in the body’s pain response and an increase in the effectiveness treatment, regardless of the treatment!
Simply changing the focus of attention changes the body’s ability to respond!
Extensive scientific research verifies that meditation increases the immune system response, reduces stress, decreases pain, improves overall health and increases mental acuity.
The bottom line is – it works!
And, it’s very simple!
1. Brainwave patterns change when we change the focus of our attention and
2. our ability to choose where we focus our attention gives us control over our brainwave patterns!
One of the most important things to remember about the brain is that it is like any other muscle or organ of the body; if exercise the brain, it becomes stronger and more efficient! If you began doing twenty pushups each morning, you would soon notice an increase in the physical ‘muscle mass’ of your arms. What many people don’t realize is that the same thing happens in the brain. Practicing any mental task establishes more and stronger neuropathways associated with that task. The brain responds physically to everything that we do and to our prolonged thinking process!
The question is, what aspects of our lives do we spend the most time focusing upon? Although the term ‘meditation’ often carries mystic, metaphysical or religious connotations, the fact is; we are all making choices as to where we focus our attention, so to some degree, we are all meditating, all the time!
Attention is the Power Function of the human mind!
Cognitive ability, the ability to carefully consider options and come to an informed decision, is unique to the human mind. There is a direct correlation between our cognitive ability and our emotions.
Emotions result from chemical changes in the body, and these changes are driven by our attention. You must agree that you can’t be upset about something that you know nothing about or be deeply touched by something you haven’t experienced. Information received through the five senses or from memory drives the emotional experience only as long as we remain aware of the information.
But, there’s a catch. The intensity of the feelings or emotions that we have in any experience is inversely proportional to our ability to use judgment and reason in that experience!
To put it another way, as emotions increase in any sensory experience, the brain’s ability to exercise judgment and reason is proportionally decreased. This is true of any sensory experience, be it deep emotional love or raging emotional hatred. In extreme emotional situations, a phenomenon known as the ‘amygdala hijack’ takes place. A purely ‘fight or flight’ response arising from the reptilian cortex, the amygdala hijack virtually eliminates cognitive ability altogether!
The brain responds to sensory information. How are we able to choose not to be attentive to that information?
Classical science commonly explains our cognitive decision making process as a function or ‘byproduct’ of mental activity in the physical brain. However, classical science cannot explain why we are able to choose to ignore information or to place our attention on information that is not arriving from memory. The brain is simply an electromechanical device that processes sensory information. From a simple scientific perspective, consciousness and cognitive ability cannot be a byproduct of that device.
No other creature on the face of the earth can choose where the attention is focused.
Our ability to choose where we focus our attention gives us control over our brainwave patterns and the physical development of our brain! If we are constantly in a ‘worry mode’, our brain responds physically and worrying becomes much easier! Life does, on occasion, require us to look hard and long at the ‘negative’, but that does not stop us from taking time to balance this mental activity with some good, healthy meditation!
Removing the mystery through science reveals that meditation, defined as the focus of attention, is a fact of everyday life. It’s a ‘happening thing’ every waking moment of our lives as our brain adapts and changes in response to our attention.
Taking responsibility for our attention is optional, but since the brain is a physical organ, the ‘use it or lose it’ rule still applies.
For additional information and instructions on meditation, download The Nuts and Bolts of Meditation from Skyhero.com.
Bill Cozzolino
www.Skyhero.com
Author's Bio
Epistemologist and author.
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