Meditation, the Brain & Extreme Calm

Modern science is slowly proving the ancient yoga teachings that Mindful Meditation & Yoga generate vitality, well-being, wisdom, happiness and extreme calm, to be true.

Thousands of years ago, yogis taught that each human being can evolve their behaviour, intelligence and the health of the body. To do this they must learn to upgrade their responses from negative, to positive and that meditation is the way to do it. Nothing has changed. Meditation is still the simple, gentle way to upgrade ones mind. All meditation is mindful ... if it isn't, then it isn't meditation!

Science has identified chemicals and areas of the brain which are related to well-being and happiness - and they have shown that meditation and extreme calm supports the functioning of these chemicals and brain areas.

The name for the process of extreme calm that meditation causes, is telencephalisation.

Yogis taught that natural breathing, stillness and mudras help to achieve telencephalisation.See meditation at end of this article.

It takes approximately 8 - 12 minutes to shift from primitive brain to higher brain functioning. One then stays a minimum another 10 minutes to help establish the pattern for higher brain functioning. 

Natural breathing, stillness and mudras are part of the easy, natural meditative process which leads into the state of meditation. The technique is to put the breath under surveillance whilst lying down or sitting in complete stillness.  

During mindful breath awareness e.g. in the chest, or nostrils, navel, abdomen, brain, the heart chakra, in any one place, the breath will express in many different ways as it goes through its process. Some of the changes and expressions you can expect to experience temporarily in the breath during this meditation, are deep breathing, shallow, rhythmic, arhythmic and erratic breath, gasping, etc, etc, until, eventually, the breath settles into a soothing rhythm. 

When the rhythmic breath is established in an unchanging soothing rhythm, the process of telencephalisation has been completed. Functioning is now coming from the higher brain.

Remaining focused, simply observing in this way, is known as mindfulness meditation. Start with 3 minutes and the attitude of self-development. Each week or fortnight increase by one minute, until you are up to 30 minutes.
15-30 minutes of extreme calm will allow:

1. the entire cellular body to be soothed and settled into higher functioning
2. the hypothalamus to recognise there is no danger present and the amygdala to switch off, generating relaxation
3. feelgood chemicals to be released e.g. seratonin, oxytocin, endorphins
4. the precuneus to thicken as feelings of happiness are generated & prevail
5. the insula to activate greater self-awareness
6. the mind to think clearly with energy & tranquillity. 

       Simple, Mindful Breath Meditation

1. Sit on the floor or on a chair, as comfortably as possible. No straining.
2. Eyes and mouth gently closed, hands softly relaxed on the knees. Shoulders softly relaxing down through the arms. Feet flat on the floor.
3. Become still, and, despite any urges to move, remain still for a minimum of three minutes on your first attempt.
4. Focus your awareness inside the nostrils and become aware of how the breath feels there, coming in and out, on the lining of the nostrils.
5. Over time, slow the breath down. Feel the texture of the slow breath on the lining of the nostrils - from the entrance to the nostrils right up to the bridge of the nose.
6. Continue doing this for as long as you can manage - or until the breath becomes rhythmic. Each breath should be of interest to you. The breath changes often during the meditation until it settles into a rhythm.
7. When the breath is clearly established in a rhythm, and feels easy and extremely calm ... then telencephalisation has occured.
8. Try to stay there for another five minutes to prolong telencephalisation.

In recent decades scientists have explored and experimented re the effects of meditation on the brain, here is one article, in part:

 "A number of studies have linked meditation practice to differences in cortical thickness or density of gray matter.[41][42][43] One of the most well-known studies to demonstrate this was led by Sara Lazar, from Harvard University, in 2000.[44] Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, has led experiments in cooperation with the Dalai Lama on effects of meditation on the brain. His results suggest that long-term, or short-term practice of meditation results in different levels of activity in brain regions associated with such qualities as attention, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, the ability of the body to heal itself, and so on. These functional changes may be caused by changes in the physical structure of the brain."

 Read whole article, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity