Meditation, Yoga, and Research Publications
Meditation
Today is the autumn equinox – which means different things to different people. The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night.” It is one of two days in the year when there is 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night and is the time of year that the harvesting of crops … Read more
Set your alarm for 5:30 am. Get up and start your day. Pour yourself a nice big glass of water. Just sit for 2 to 3 minutes on bed and invite peace, joy and compassion to life. Take a few deep breaths. Spread your love to every direction. Focus on the present moment. Feel the … Read more
Spirituality means transformation – transformation of negative energies into positive energies. There are many ways for transformation but chakra, but meditation is one of the most powerful one. Chakra meditation is a very slow step–by-step disciplined process. Relaxation and tranquility are the foundation of chakra meditation. The chakras are seven energy centers in our body … Read more
Mudras are the gestures that channelize energy patterns in the body. There are many forms of mudras, such as with the hands, fingers, eyes and the tongue. Hand mudras are very common. Our fingers contain hundreds of nerve endings which affect our brain, that we can feel in our body. Hand mudras are hand gestures that distributes vital energy patterns … Read more
Insula of the brain is one of the most vital components of the brain which controls our health and wellness. Meditation along with yoga helps the insula to work efficiently. Researchers observed that greater right anterior insular gray matter volume the greater is the accuracy in the subjective sense of the inner body, and with the negative emotions developed by the mind. .. Insula continuously scans the physiological state of the entire body and then generates subjective feelings. In vipassana meditation, when we observe the bodily sensations, we activate our insula. Through awareness meditation we gradually develop more gray matters in the brain, which provides a framework that is higher than the normal insula. Insular cortex continuously receives signals from receptors in the skin and internal organs like gut, heart and the lungs.
Brain Fitness and Yoga The more complex the yoga posture, the more complex the synaptic connections. Just as yoga postures and exercises reverse the decaying process of the muscles, almost in a similar way they slow or reverse the process of brain’s physical decay. Yoga influences the brain on numerous ways. Yoga postures releases a … Read more
Emotional-Intelligence and Yoga Yoga trains us to pay attention specifically to the feelings in the body during the movement. For effective emotional intelligence we need to bring our awareness first to the body and then to the mind. Yoga prepares us for building body-intelligence. Body-intelligence includes the successful processing and interpretation of information from all … Read more
Meditation and Yoga has an important role for building emotional-intelligence and leadership skills for corporate people as well as for the individuals in every social endeavor. Meditation and yoga improves our alertness, personal values and beliefs. They help building strength, character, good relationships with others, our connection to the Nature and beyond. Emotional intelligence brings compassion, love, sharing, caring and humanity to the business and work areas. ..
Our self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced by the excessive and chronic release of adrenaline in the system. Excessive stress deprives the brain of the oxygen needed to keep our thinking calm and rational. Thus excessive stress reduces our emotional awareness. Hence, with chronic stress we can’t focus our attention and we lose our ability to identify our own emotions and those of others….
Yoga trains us to pay attention specifically to the feelings in the body during the movement. For effective emotional intelligence we need to bring our awareness first to the body and then to the mind. Yoga prepares us for building body-intelligence. Body-intelligence includes the successful processing and interpretation of information from all our senses and responses.
Meditation increases self-awareness. It helps us to breathe slowly, which keeps us relaxed and allow us to listen better. With the increase of self-awareness we manage our behavior and we don’t say things impulsively that will get us in difficulty.
Yoga and meditation improves brain fitness at four levels. First, it helps to develop new stem cells in the hippocampus; second, it improves the optimal blood flow in the brain, which enhances the cerebral metabolism; third, it encourages nerve cells to bind to one another; and fourth, it enhances the production of BDNF which creates new neural pathways in the brain. It is observed that regular systematic mental challenge by novel stimuli increases production and inter-connectivity of neurons and nerve growth factor. It also prevents cell death and loss of connections between neurons. The brain is capable of producing new brain cells at any age. Hence considerable memory loss is not an obvious result of aging. But just as it is with muscle strength, you have to use it or lose it. Our lifestyle, health habits, and daily activities have a huge impact on the health of our brain. Independent of our age, there are several ways through which we can improve our cognitive skills, prevent memory loss, and protect our grey matter. Yoga influences the brain on numerous ways. Yoga postures releases a plethora of hormones, all of which participate in aiding and providing a nourishing environment for the growth of brain cells. Most yoga postures increases heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to the brain.
Empathy, meditation and loving kindness are intimately interconnected. What is empathy? The love of Mother Teresa, the love of Dalia Lama are the examples of empathy. Empathy is that aspect of human quality, which makes people to be kind towards other. Empathy is the mental capacity to experience the emotions, thoughts, feelings, or state of another person. It is the capacity to truly understand another person’s point of view. There are two major elements to empathy. The first is the cognitive component: Understanding the others feelings and the ability to take their perspective and the second element to empathy is the affective component. This is an observer’s appropriate emotional response to another person’s emotional state. Empathy are influenced by the environment, hormones and the genes. People with the “GG” gene displayed more caring and trusting nonverbal behaviors, like smiles, love, head nods, and eye contact, while listening to a loved one describe a time of suffering. Vipassana meditation loving kindness and yoga meditation all are interlinked. If one is missing, one can not complete the other. Although genes and environments are related to empathy, positive empathy and loving kindness meditation is a good way to expand the consciousness.