Meditation: Retraining the Brain

I just got back from the Dr., my 5th visit this year I believe. Everything we talked about, my seemingly never-ending list of symptoms & problems, it all seemed to point back to the big "S" = STRESS. Bah. She talked about the depletion of the adrenal glands when we live lives high in stress, that years of demanding them to function at high levels leads to adrenal fatigue, & an onslaught of other problems.

She did a fascinating test where she looked turned off most of the lights in the room & shined a bright light in my eyes, much like at the eye Dr. After looking in both eyes at different times she nodded & said it was just as she suspected. She explained that normally the pupil should shrink with the bright light, but people who experience adrenal fatigue have pupils that get small then dilate, then get small again - like a spasm of the muscle.

So the top of my to list? DE-STRESS. One of the best ways to do this? Meditation. So many people have a false idea of what it really is & the implications of it seem too bizarre for most conservative American minds. I want to compel you to strip away any ideas of religion when you consider it. I'm not talking about becoming Buddhist - I'm talking about retraining your brain cells to communicate properly.

When we live stressed lives, our brain cells will react to certain things in such a way that sets off an entire series of neurological firings that ultimately lead to disease over time. Heart attacks, hormonal imbalances, the list goes on. But when we sit in meditation/silence/stillness, we are teaching our brains what it is like to simply be present moment to moment in what I like to call a "noise free space." free from the white noise we live in 24/7, whether it's dreams, people, conversations, sensory experiences, movement, computers, ads, etc etc. Getting rid of that stuff for a designated time, ALL of it, will literally retrain your brain to not fire off under stress, under the pressure of the noise.

I recently went to a meditation & movement workshop, an integration of yoga & seated meditation with visualizations (I like to visualize the beauty of solid & rooted trees, something that doesn't MOVE - b/c I tend to do a lot of moving, especially my restless mind when I am sleeping). I swear that the rest of my day I felt a lightness, less reactive to normal things that would stress the hell out of me - driving on the highway, crowds of people, too many noises all at once. I was able to be focused on what my friends were saying when we were talking, because I wasn't hearing things racing through my head about what I had to do that day & what time the meter on my car was going to run out & how my skin might be looking today or what I was going to eat for dinner. My mind was at rest & I was PRESENT with our engagement.

I've read that monks who meditate for years have been recorded as not flinching when gun fire was shot. There are endless studies done on how stress & stress related diseases are reduced when patients meditate. Stress is a CHEMICAL & not natural to a state of internal balance. Meditation acts as a reversal of this process, with such results as reducing the plaque build up in the coronary arteries & increasing the number of immune cells that fight breast cancer.

How to meditate:
-I recommend looking for groups to meditate with when possible - Zen centers, or yoga centers often have free & open invitation sittings. There's a discipline involved when you have schedule time & drive somewhere :) I find this to be the most productive way.

-At home, you can find a stress free spot, a room or space you find peaceful. Sit on a blanket or a pillow to open your hips so your back does not fatigue. Avoid distracting noises/ bright lights, & sit. Focus on deep breaths in & out, & use images that work for you that ground you & create a sense of stability. Artists - you should use this to your advantage!! Trees, mountains, oceans - they all have something to teach us! Stillness, vastness, strength - what would it be like to think on them in this way, as teachers to US?

Meditation is not like sleeping in that the act of stillness while remaining conscious is a completely different physiological & spiritual experience than conking out in bed. It's present, real, & focused in the most ambitious of ways. Apart from the TREMENDOUS spiritual benefit (which I will blog about later) I highly highly recommend it purely for the physiological nurturing it provides those overworked, Americanized brain cells!