What Happens to Your Brain When You Meditate?

The practice of meditation has been around for centuries, and its popularity continues to grow. Today, research provides us insights that add to our understanding of the benefits and effects of meditation. And one insight in recent years has been a fascinating look into how our brains change when we meditate.

What happens to your brain during meditation?

Meditation can make changes to your brain that produce positive impacts on your wellbeing beyond the time of active meditation. Let’s take a look.

Meditation Affects Your Brain Structure

Brain imaging technology shows that meditation can change brain structure. One study followed a group of individuals participating in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program.

Those who took part in the program had MRI images taken before and after the program. The scientists found that those in the MBSR program showed changes in the gray matter concentration in the areas of the brain associated with understanding other perspectives, emotion regulation, learning, and memory.1

Improving Focus

Another study suggests that meditation can help reduce mind-wandering and increase focus on your ability to stay on task.In the study, participants took a 2 week mindfulness course. The researchers found that the mindfulness training improved reading comprehension scores and memory capacity, while reducing the…