For at least three decades, scientific research into meditation has found that meditation not only boosts the immune system, but is also an antidote to stress-related conditions, such as high blood pressure, anxiety and depression, and that individuals who had already suffered a first heart attack were less likely to suffer a second one if they practised a stress-reduction exercise such a daily meditation. Meditation has also been prescribed for conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and also as a pain reduction strategy for the pain associated with AIDS and cancer.
Doctor-staffed stress reduction clinics all over North America offer classes in various types of meditation as do integrative health clinics staffed by naturopaths, homeopaths, physiotherapists and massage practitioners. Private classes, classes at community centres, Buddhist centres, fitness centres, and at universities and colleges abound. Meditation, though still widely practised with a focus on spirituality, has moved more into the mainstream and scientists are now focusing on the mind/body science of meditation.
Psychologist and science-writer, Daniel Goleman (who became internationally famous after he penned the very popular, “Emotional Intelligence” in 1995) has followed the science of meditation for decades as well as the spiritual principles of meditation espoused by the Dalai Lama. In Goleman’s book, “Destructive Emotions” (2003), which recounts a dialogue on meditation by a group of western psychologists and neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama, exciting new research is described as to how meditation can train the mind and reshape the brain because our brains remain ‘plastic’ right into old age (which means they retain the ability to restructure themselves to a certain extent).
Stepping back to the 1970’s, it is of note that Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute reported in his book, “The Relaxation Response”, that transcendental meditation counter-acts the fight-or-flight stress response and produces happier, calmer dispositions in those practising this form of meditation. Even though one session of meditation can provide positive stress-reduction results, over the course of several weeks of daily meditation, meditators increase their brain’s production of theta waves, essentially deactivating the frontal lobe of the brain that receives and processes sensory information. They show a shift in brain-wave patterns away from the alpha waves of aroused, conscious thought to theta waves that dominate the brain during periods of deep relaxation. Other research carried out throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s indicated that meditation has the ability to slow the heartbeat, control respiration and change core body temperature.
Brain imaging studies have shown that during meditation, activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain (the area behind the forehead) shifts from the right hemisphere to the left. This is a good thing. Studies have shown that people suffering from shyness, pessimism, depression and anxiety show a high level of activity in their right frontal cortex and that more optimistic, relaxed, happier, extroverted individuals exhibit more activity in the parallel region on the left side of the brain. By meditating regularly, the brain can reorient itself from a negative state to one of acceptance and contentment in which happiness, enthusiasm, joy, high energy and alertness dominate. People who meditate have reported that upon leaving a session, they feel more buoyant, calmer, happier, and more at peace. They feel more alive and see the world as a more colourful, beautiful, peaceful place.
According to the Dalai Lama, one of the payoffs of further scientific study is that through training of the mind people can become more calm – especially those who suffer from too many ups and downs. Happiness is not a fixed characteristic, a biological set point that will never change. Instead, our quota of happiness can be increased through mental training because the very structure of our brain can be modified.
Science seeks to better understand altered states of consciousness which foster well-being. Can we transform the brain and personality so that positive emotions become a more permanent state? We each have a characteristic ratio of right/left activation in the prefrontal lobes that is our emotional set-point, or the mean around which our daily moods may swing. Each of us has the capacity to shift our moods and change this ratio to a certain extent through our daily experiences. Experiences that lift our mood (e.g. playing with our pet or children, or watching a comedic play or movie) cause increased left-brain activity, at least on a temporary basis. These changes are usually modest, though, but when individuals meditate with a focus on generating compassion for others, a remarkable leftward shift in the functioning of the prefrontal lobe occurs.
This corresponds with other studies which have been done that examine how good we feel when we give as opposed to when we receive. (A more positive state of mind occurs when we give, or are generous, and expect nothing in return.) The very act of concern for others which is fostered during meditation on compassion creates a greater sense of well-being within the meditator. The Dalai Lama maintains that the person doing the meditation on compassion is the immediate beneficiary: loved by people, a serene mind, deep sleep with pleasant dreams, and peace upon waking. (This actually begs the question: giving without expectation of return - and meditating on compassion for all beings – is this the ultimate in self-interest as it makes us feel good; would we ever do any of these things without self-interest – which in this case is feeling really, really good within, and about, ourselves?)
The big questions, though, which arose from the topic of debate at the conference: are destructive emotions (e.g. anger, jealousy, negativity) a fundamental, unchangeable part of the human legacy? Are these emotions essential for human survival? How can we lessen their threat to our own happiness and stability? How much neuroplasticity do we have and how might we shift our neural systems that harbour destructive impulses in a more positive direction and how can we overcome these impulses?
So now, after decades-long research in university laboratories which showed the remarkable ability of meditation to control respiration, brain waves, and core-body temperature, decrease stress and fortify the immune system, new, deeper issues were being probed: specific links between highly disciplined, mental strategies and their impact on brain function are under investigation. Focus: to assess meditation as mind training with respect to how we can best handle our destructive emotions.
While modern science has focused on formulating somewhat harsh chemical compounds to help us overcome toxic emotions, meditation offers a different, though labour-intensive route. To what extent can the brain be trained to dwell in a constructive range: contentment rather than craving, calm rather than agitation, compassion rather than hatred? Can lasting, positive changes in brain function occur that are more far reaching than those achieved with pharmaceuticals (which usually come with a plethora of negative side effects which often sound scarier than the disorder itself)? Can such training be helpful to adult and child sufferers of destructive emotions whether or not there is a spiritual component involved? And, is there always a spiritual component involved no matter what as different ideas of one’s spirit, of one’s spirituality are bandied about?
The Dalai Lama has been a prime mover in inspiring this type of research. He has been an active collaborator in turning the lens of science on the practices of his own spiritual tradition. The possibility of freeing the mind completely from the hold of destructive emotions through the type of training of the mind seen in many forms of meditation practice surpasses all traditional assumptions of modern psychology.
D.
