Does Meditation Really Work? Research of Brain Imagining Scans

What do most monks do on a daily basis? Meditation. While the life of a monk is not inherently stress free, as they are human just like us, monks do have less reactive brains because of their daily meditation practices according to research done using brain scans.

In reviewing these images, you can see a brain where there is a lot of activity or noise, and another where there is more open space and calmness. Bottomline, images can show when our brain is reacting to stressors and when our brain is calm.

In the west, we tend to put all of our belief into science and fact, when in fact, meditation has been around for thousands’ of years before modern pharmaceuticals derived through science. Meditation truly helps the brain be less reactive and when we have a less reactive brain, we have better hormone control within the body, as well as we have better executive and cognitive function and the ability to be better business people in the business world. Meditation has also been linked to healing the neural pathways in the brain. In simple terms, your brain has a highway system that helps signals get from one end to another. When we experience trauma, there are pot holes or damaged neural pathways that are in need of restoration. In comes meditation. Meditation can help pave over those potholes to heal the brain in time when the work is done consistently. Stop meditating, the pot holes can reappear. Think of meditation as the restoration company that has to be put on a lifelong retainer to keep up the good work for a smooth road ahead.