Study reveals gene expression changes with meditation

With evidence growing that meditation can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body.

A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation.

The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice,” says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Most interestingly, the changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs,” says Perla Kaliman, first author of the article and a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain (IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS), where the molecular analyses were conducted.

The study was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Click here for the complete article – Gene Study.

Developing the Observer Self, or Witness, aids growth and awareness

If all of a person’s consciousness is tied up with experiencing, say, pain, sadness, or anger, it is as if that person is living in a small trailer home: existence is cramped and uncomfortable; there is much suffering. But if that same person is able to disidentify, or do what mindfulness advocates call centering (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002), s/he can gain a much wider perspective: akin to moving to from the trailer to a mansion.

This process happens when people are able, though mindfulness and other practices, to develop what is called the Witness, or Observer Self. It is, metaphorically, as if someone has gone from swimming in a turbulent stream tossed around by all of its currents and eddies“ to a position on the banks of the stream, where all of the relentless activity of the stream can be watched, and thus not experienced as intensely. As we gain in the capacity to observe ourselves, we accrue some of the benefits of mindfulness.

Focus and concentration improve: This seems paradoxical, because in mindfulness practice, there is no intention to focus or concentrate on a single thought. Yet practitioners find that, by allowing all thoughts to come and go but choosing which ones they engage with, they have still practiced the art of directing awareness. Improved focus and concentration are the result.

Self-awareness increases: When someone has, for instance, a Worrying Self (referred to more generally as the Thinking Self) and also an Observer Self, the Worrying Self may be caught up in the worries. But the Observer Self is able to say, I’m having worrying thoughts or  see that I am thinking worrying thoughts.

In that moment of shifting one’s centre of consciousness from the Worrying Self to the Observer Self, a person has gained self-awareness. S/he comes to understand that he or she worries, but is more than the worrier; there is a distinction between the person and his/her thoughts. Moreover, the person becomes aware of how and when the worrying occurs, and what the contents of worrying are.

In some situations, separating from one’s thoughts allows the person to become aware of what s/he has been avoiding. By tuning into the body that is responding to the mind that is worrying, a person becomes more aware of the body, and the environment in which it functions. Moreover, by experiencing the relative calm of the Observer, a person is able to know a more inclusive, expanded sense of him/herself beyond body, feelings, and mind (Harris, 2008; Walsh, 2006).

The head clears, and one is fully present: Reducing worrying (or whatever preoccupation one is engaging in) as an uncontrolled endeavour and standing (metaphorically) to the side of the gushing waters of thought allows a clear head: a cleared space, psychologically speaking, that is not consumed with, say, worry.

One can be fully present in the here and now, more connected to self, others, and the external world. A by-product of this experience is that of having more direct contact with the world, rather than living through one’s thoughts (Harris, 2008).

For the complete article, click here – Benefits of Mindfulness.

What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness?

Research suggests that mindfulness practices offer psychotherapists a way to positively affect aspects of therapy that account for successful treatment. This paper provides psychotherapists with a synthesis of the empirically supported advantages of mindfulness. Definitions of mindfulness and evidence-based interpersonal, affective, and intrapersonal benefits of mindfulness are presented. Research on therapists who meditate and client outcomes of therapists who meditate are reviewed. Implications for practice, research, and training are discussed.

Click here for the full article – American Psychological Association.

Alan Wallace on Genuine Happiness

This is a great 30 minute video by Alan Wallace on cultivating mental and emotional balance, thus finding genuine happiness.

 

Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them without believing, for instance, that there’s a right or wrong way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future. Click here for the full article – Greater Good.