Ohhhhhm Your Way to Recovery?

Meditation is much more than just chanting. A new study shows it can boost your brain power, strengthening the brain the same way physical exercise strengthens muscles. University of Wisconsin psychologist Richard Davidson, the leader of a relatively new field called contemplative neuroscience, has spent the last decade producing scientific evidence for the theory that meditation permanently changes the brain for the better. 

“We all know that if you engage in certain kinds of exercise on a regular basis you can strengthen certain muscle groups in predictable ways,” Davidson told CNN.com from his office at the University of Wisconsin, where his research team has hosted scores of Buddhist monks and other meditators for brain scans. “Strengthening neural systems is not fundamentally different,” he says. “It’s basically replacing certain habits of mind with other habits.” 

Meditation Strengthens Brain Circuits

Through their research, Davidson and his colleagues have come to believe that making a habit of meditation can strengthen brain circuits responsible for maintaining concentration and generating empathy. One study found that expert meditators (i.e. monks with more than 10,000 hours of practice) appeared to have permanently changed their brains to be more empathetic. An earlier study found that committed meditators experienced sustained changes in baseline brain function, in other words they had changed the way their brains operated even outside of meditation. 

Drug Treatment

If you or someone you love is in need of drug treatment that can include mediation, call The Canyon at our toll-free number. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.