January 03 2005

Title:

Studies done at Harvard

Researches

on long-time meditators also showed a degree of restfulness awareness. The key difference between the two studies was: 1. The amplitude of the brain waves was extremely high when tested on Paramahamsa Nithyananda, and even his disciples, during Kundalini energy activation. 2. All qEEG studies done at Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam during Kundalini awakening showed high-amplitude waves across the spectrum. In comparison, meditators across the world showed normal amplitude of the waves. 3. The sense of calmness, well-being and thought-less-ness happens when the emotional component of a thought or memory is separated from the memory itself, thereby allowing for a reduction in the number of thoughts. The limbic system is that part of the brain which is at the junction of the mechanical or involuntary system, and the highly evolved system which is the seat of the intellect, logic and cognitive processing (neo-cortex). Meditating on the Third Eye produces all the effects of calmness, well-being and thoughtlessness, while at the same time increasing awareness and cognition through unhampered processing by the cerebral cortex, which is no longer weighed down by emotions and random thoughts. This would allow us to conclude that the ajna chakra or the Third Eye consists of the entire complex of the limbic system, starting from the infero-medial pre-frontal cortex, and involving not only all the known structures of the limbic system like the hippocampus and amygdala, but also the pineal gland and the rest of the volitional brain involved in intuition, cognition, etc. Depending on the effects manifested, different parts of the cerebral cortex would presumably be involved at different times (for instance, in blindfolded reading, the primary visual cortex would be involved

MEDITATION Scientific research on meditation

Science is just now getting glimpses of the tremendous power of meditation to completely change the entire body-mind structure itself. The benefits of meditation are countless and across all planes – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Meditation can simply change the very quality of life.

Increased brain power

Until recently, it was believed that in the brain, the connections among the brain nerve cells were fixed in childhood and did not change, so the brain growth stopped early in life. Now scientists are finding that the brain actually grows and forms new connections all throughout life. Scientists call this ability neuroplasticity.

It was stated in the Washington Post on January 3, 2005 about research done by the University of Wisconsin to study the effects of meditation on the brain. The study was done on a group of Tibetan monks who had been meditating for years, and also on a group of students who were new to meditation but had been taught how to meditate. They found that the awareness was more and the brain activity was faster and much better organized and coordinated in the meditating monks than in the students who were new to meditation. Not only that, the brain region associated with happiness, positive thoughts and emotions, was also much more active in the monks than in the students.

One more important thing, the researchers found that the brain activity of the meditator monks was more intense and organized that that of the students, even before the monks started meditating. So the benefits of meditation are actually permanent. Meditation can simply change the very circuitry and the inner workings of the brain. Many top universities in the USA like Yale, Harvard and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), have also studied the effects of meditation. Studies using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) showed that meditation actually increased the very thickness of the brain in areas related to awareness and attention, as well as cognitive processing and emotional wellbeing. The researchers found that the blood vessels become wider, the support structures also increase in number and they have more branches and connections.

https://nithyananda.org/article/some-scientific-research-meditation#gsc.tab=0