background preloader

Meditation Health Benefits: What The Practice Does To Your Body

Meditation Health Benefits: What The Practice Does To Your Body
We hear it all the time: Meditation can improve our creative thinking, our energy, stress levels and even our success. Prominent artists, businessmen and politicians cop to the practice. Would it work for you? "It did to my mind what going to the gym did to my body -- it made it both stronger and more flexible," said Dr. Studies show that meditation is associated with improvement in a variety of psychological areas, including stress, anxiety, addiction, depression, eating disorders and cognitive function, among others. For one thing, it changes our brain. "Think of the end of a neuron as a hand, with thousands of 'fingers,'" said Dr. Want to learn more? This story appears in Issue 47 of our weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, in the iTunes App store, available Friday, May 3. Related on HuffPost: Related:  Neuroscience & Consciousness

The Enormous Promise of Psychedelics for Sustaining Health, Happiness and Sanity April 26, 2013 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. A researcher in a suit and tie strolls past with a graduate student in rainbow leggings and a red bandana. Lagging behind are Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and a gaggle of dinner attendees who hover around Doblin in hopes that they might share a few words with the man of the hour. It’s nearing midnight when the crowd finally dissipates and Doblin can be sequestered for an interview. “MAPS was founded based on adjusting to a major failure,” Doblin says. “I knew that there was going to be a crackdown because it was already being sold both as a therapeutic drug, and also some people were selling it as ecstasy,” he says. Doblin and fellow therapists formed a non-profit group called Earth Metabolic Design Laboratories (EMDL) to bolster awareness of the therapeutic use of MDMA.

Morning Routine: How Waking Up Earlier Can Help Weight Loss Being slimmer could be as simple as waking up early for some morning sunshine, US researchers suggested on Wednesday. A small study of 54 volunteers showed that the leanest ones did not necessarily eat better or exercise more than the rest. They simply were exposed to more bright daylight earlier in the day. The findings by Northwestern University researchers are published in the journal PLOS ONE. "The earlier this light exposure occurred during the day, the lower individuals' body mass index," said co-lead author Kathryn Reid, research associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "The later the hour of moderately bright light exposure, the higher a person's BMI." Participants' average age was 30. Morning light was found to have an influence on body mass, regardless of a person's physical activity level, caloric intake, sleep timing, age or the season. "The message is that you should get more bright light between 8 a.m. and noon," she added.

The Vagus Nerve and the Healing Promise of The Sudarshan Kriya Frank Huguenard, Staff WriterWaking Times At the center of our bodies resides a long, sinewy nerve that extends all the way from our medullas down through our chests to beyond our stomachs. This nerve, known as the Vagus Nerve, happens to be at a most fascinating intersection, not only between our two physical nervous systems (our central and autonomic nervous systems) but also between our conscious minds and subconscious minds. As such, it also acts as a bridge between our gross bodies and our subtle bodies. And it’s a nerve probably 99% of the population have never heard of nor even have a clue where it’s located. Research indicates that a healthy vagus nerve is vital in experiencing empathy and fostering social bonding, and it is crucial to our ability to observe, perceive, and make complex decisions. Automated Habit Formation Our consciousness’s natural tendency is to compartmentalize tedious tasks so that the brain can focus on higher priority activities. Dr. Effect on Depression

Organize your mind to organize your life The brain was not designed to focus on more than one thing at a time. The connection between disorganized minds and unhealthy habits is compellingBefore you can focus your attention, you must tame negative emotionsExercise, deep breathing or meditation, and a good night's sleep all help mentally Editor's note: Margaret Moore (aka Coach Meg) is the co-author of "Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life." She is the director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital and the founder and CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation. (CNN) -- If there's one big lesson I've learned over the past decade while training thousands of health and wellness coaches and coaching many clients, it's this: An organized mind enables full engagement in a health-giving style of life. The kind of organization I'm talking about is not decluttering your office or home, or purchasing the latest app to organize to-dos and projects. We know that disorganization is not just a problem of ADHD sufferers. Dr.

Scientists Declare: Nonhuman Animals Are Conscious Science leaders have reached a critical consensus: Humans are not the only conscious beings; other animals, specifically mammals and birds, are indeed conscious, too. It may have seemed obvious to you and me that Fluffy and Fido are aware of their own existence and are not simply biological machines. You may also take it for granted, when you stare into the eyes of a chimpanzee, that you're seeing a self-aware being. And that when the whale you helped to free from being tangled in fishing gear proceeded to swim around the boat giving you high fives, she was saying thank-you. But scientists (especially those who make money through experimenting on captive animals) have been very cautious in coming to this conclusion. Finally, however, the official decision was reached in late night discussions two weeks ago during the prestigious annual Francis Crick Memorial Conference . The group didn't attempt to define what consciousness actually is. Read the full declaration here . ShareThis

Men who are narcissistic may be at higher risk for more health problems - latimes.com Unhealthy narcissism was linked with higher cortisol levels in men in a… (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles…) Men who are narcissists may be at risk for some health problems, since they could have inherently higher levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol even when they're not under pressure, a study finds. Cortisol, which is released by the body when it's under duress or going through an intense activity, can have some benefits--lending an energy surge, helping the body burn fat, and boosting memory. But too much cortisol from chronic stress can have deleterious effects, such as higher blood pressure, lower immunity and higher levels of abdominal fat. Researchers tested the saliva of 106 undergraduate students (79 women, 27 men) twice in a lab setting to check their cortisol levels. The authors noted that more research is needed to determine why men who are narcissists have higher cortisol levels compared with women. The study was released Monday in the journal PLoS One.

How An Unlikely Drug Helps Some Children Consumed By Fear : Shots - Health News hide captionGeorge McCann has been diagnosed with a subtype of bipolar disorder called the "fear of harm" profile, and finds that a prescribed dose of ketamine every few days alleviates his symptoms. Michael Rubenstein for NPR George McCann has been diagnosed with a subtype of bipolar disorder called the "fear of harm" profile, and finds that a prescribed dose of ketamine every few days alleviates his symptoms. As far back as he can remember, George McCann lived in fear. George spent his childhood certain that something very bad was going to happen. It was a frightening place for a fearful kid. "I was strapped down at the ankles, across the chest and at my wrists," he says. Today, George is 22 and back at home with his parents, two younger siblings and a dog named Tressel. When George answers the door, it's clear he's grown into a big, sturdy guy. George's passion is movies, which he reviews on his blog. George's struggles with fear and rage started before he could talk.

Nurturing mothers rear physically healthier adults Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they're gaining merit for their offspring's physical health in middle age. In a recent study published in the journal Psychological Science, Brandeis psychologist Margie Lachman with Gregory Miller and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles reveal that while children raised in families with low socioeconomic status (SES) frequently go on to have high rates of chronic illness in adulthood, a sizable minority remain healthy across the life course. The research sought to examine if parental nurturance could mitigate the effects of childhood disadvantage. "The literature is very clear that people who are low in socioeconomic status have worse health than their same age counterparts," says Lachman, a phenomenon called the social gradient in health. The study is innovative in several ways.

Pop neuroscience is bunk! By now you’ve seen the pretty pictures: Color-drenched brain scans capturing Buddhist monks meditating, addicts craving cocaine, and college sophomores choosing Coke over Pepsi. The media—and even some neuroscientists, it seems—love to invoke the neural foundations of human behavior to explain everything from the Bernie Madoff financial fiasco to slavish devotion to our iPhones, the sexual indiscretions of politicians, conservatives’ dismissal of global warming, and even an obsession with self-tanning. Brains are big on campus, too. Take a map of any major university, and you can trace the march of neuroscience from research labs and medical centers into schools of law and business and departments of economics and philosophy. Brains are in demand. The prospect of solving the deepest riddle humanity has ever contemplated—itself—by studying the brain has captivated scholars and scientists for centuries. The problem is that brain imaging cannot do any of these things—at least not yet.

Breast cancer survivors benefit from practicing Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed. Now, University of Missouri researchers in the Sinclair School of Nursing say a meditation technique can help breast cancer survivors improve their emotional and physical well-being. Yaowarat Matchim, a former nursing doctoral student; Jane Armer, professor of nursing; and Bob Stewart, professor emeritus of education and adjunct faculty in nursing, found that breast cancer survivors' health improved after they learned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a type of mindfulness training that incorporates meditation, yoga and physical awareness. "MBSR is another tool to enhance the lives of breast cancer survivors," Armer said.

Low dose psychedelics increase neurogenesis, help mice unlearn fear | Psychedelic Frontier A new study of mice published in Experimental Brain Research shows that low doses (but not high doses) of psychedelics increase the rate of neuron creation in the hippocampus, and help the mice to rapidly unlearn conditioned fear responses. From the abstract (paragraph breaks added for readability): Drugs that modulate serotonin (5-HT) synaptic concentrations impact neurogenesis and hippocampal (HPC)-dependent learning. This will not surprise anybody who has been able to process deep-seated fears and insecurities with the help of a psychedelic. Research continues to confirm psychedelics’ ability to reduce the conditioned fear response, enabling patients to confront fearful stimuli without the usual baggage of anxiety and defense mechanisms. As head researcher Dr. With the right therapeutic approach, psychedelics allow us to rewire our brains in a positive manner. via Psychedelic Research Google+ community

Humans are still evolving: study Even though humans are still evolving, don’t expect any winged mutants. On TV shows like “Heroes” and movies like “X-Men, ordinary people seem to evolve to have extraordinary capabilities. But people in real life don’t have genetic mutations that give rise to extraordinary capabilities such as telepathy or wings. But human evolution is still happing according to scientists. Researchers at the University of Quebec at Montreal examined a very detailed database of church records for residents of Ile aux Coudres, a tiny island northeast of Quebec City, Quebec, between 1799 and 1940. The data allowed scientists to track the ages at which female residents had their first-born children. “The study is the first to demonstrate a genetic response to selection in a very important demographic trait in a human population in such recent times,” said Yale University professor of evolutionary biology Stephen C. The evolutionary change is likely due to falling mortality rates, says Stearns. Via CNN

Related: