How Meditation Works & Science-​​Based Effective Meditations

Meditation: Science and Benefits

• Meditation encompasses a variety of practices 
  • Sitting or lying down with eyes closed, focusing on the “third eye center”
  • Body scan meditation, focusing on one area of the body
  • Walking meditation with eyes open
• Specific types of meditation activate certain brain areas 
  • Changes in brain state during and after meditation
  • Can impact sleep, mood, focus, and cognitive/​​physical performance
• Picking the right meditation practice for individual goals 
  • As one gets better at meditation, less time is needed to achieve benefits
• Meditation can reduce the need for sleep while enhancing cognitive and physical abilities

Underlying Biology of Meditation

• Brain areas and mechanisms activated during meditation 
  • Specific neural circuits for focus, creativity, motivation, and energy
• Areas of the brain and body that are reduced in activity during meditation
• How to get the most out of meditation practice 
  • Modifying practices based on goals, busyness, or lack of sleep

Selecting and Modifying Meditation Practices

• Variety of meditative practices to choose from 
  • Understanding why each works and how they can be directed toward specific goals
• Modifying meditation practices as one gets better at achieving desired brain states 
  • Less time needed for meditation as proficiency increases

• Meditation can reduce the need for sleep and enhance cognitive and physical abilities
  History of Meditation and Psychedelics

• In the 1960s and 1970s, meditation and psychedelics were closely related in discussions about consciousness and states of mind

• Timothy Leary and others at Harvard were interested in LSD and meditation, but were eventually fired for their emphasis on psychedelics
• Nowadays, the conversation about psychedelics is returning, with research on compounds like psilocybin and LSD for treating depression and PTSD

Meditation and Neuroscience

• Meditation can lead to specific brain changes and benefits, depending on the type of meditation practiced
• Brain imaging technology like MRI and fMRI allowed researchers to study the effects of meditation on the brain and body

Key Brain Areas in Meditation

• Prefrontal Cortex (specifically, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex): located behind the forehead, involved in interpreting emotions and bodily sensations, and making decisions based on those interpretations
• Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): interprets various bodily signals, such as breathing rate and heart rate, and determines if they are appropriate for the current context

Meditation Practices and Brain Changes

• Different meditation practices can lead to different results, such as increased focus, better sleep, or a combination of benefits

• Specific elements of meditation can be used to manipulate the activity of certain brain areas, such as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the ACC
  Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, ACC, and Insula

• Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: interpreter of what’s going on inside of you

• ACC (anterior cingulate cortex): brings in information about what’s going on inside your body and on the surface of your body
• Insula: interprets signals of what’s going on in your brain and body, works with ACC to understand internal sensations, also interprets information about what’s going on outside of you

Mindfulness and Meditation

• Mindfulness: being present to bodily sensations, breathing, and thoughts in the moment
• Meditation practices can enhance focus, improve mood, improve sleep, or benefit all of these areas

Neural Activity During Meditation

• Stopping movement, sitting or lying down, and closing eyes can shift brain and neural circuit function
• Closing eyes shuts down exteroception (sensing things outside of the body)
• Perception is distinct from sensation; perception is the sensations we pay attention to
• Spotlights of attention: can be narrow or broad, focused on one or two points of attention

Splitting and Merging Attention

• Most people can split attention into two spotlights, but not more than two
• Can practice focusing on one small location or broadening the spotlight to include the entire scene
• Can focus on a single point of attention or split attention between two points

• Merging two spotlights of attention into one is also possible
  Perception and Attention in Meditation

• Perception and attention can be adjusted in terms of acuity and focus

• Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays a role in directing attention
• Closing eyes during meditation shifts perception from exteroception (outside world) to interoception (inside the body)
• Interoception: sensing internal bodily states (e.g., heartbeat, stomach sensations)
• Exteroception: sensing external environment (e.g., reading a menu, listening to sounds)
• Meditation can train interoceptive awareness, but too much awareness can be intrusive for daily activities
• People should consider their natural tendency towards interoception or exteroception when choosing a meditation practice
• Closing eyes increases interoception, opening eyes increases exteroception

• For individuals with low or no vision, this process is translated to the auditory domain
  Interoception vs. Exteroception

• Interoception: awareness of internal bodily sensations

• Exteroception: awareness of external environment
• People can slide along the continuum between interoceptive and exteroceptive awareness depending on the situation

Factors Affecting Interoceptive vs. Exteroceptive Awareness

• People with social anxiety may be more focused on internal sensations (e.g., heart rate, blushing) during social interactions
• Context-​​dependent: awareness may shift based on the situation (e.g., being on a date vs. being with a close friend)

Default Mode Network (DMN) and Mind Wandering

• DMN: a collection of brain areas active when not focused on a specific task or activity
• Associated with mind wandering and shifting thoughts between past, present, and future
• Humans can split their thinking between two of these three time domains (e.g., past and present, present and future)

Study: A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind

• Published in 2010 by Matthew Killingsworth and Dan Gilbert
• Large study using smartphones to assess people’s thoughts and feelings throughout the day
• Findings:
  • People’s minds wandered frequently, regardless of what they were doing
  • People were less happy when their minds were wandering than when they were not
  • What people were thinking was a better predictor of happiness than what they were doing
• Conclusion: A wandering mind is an unhappy mind, and the ability to think about what is not happening comes at an emotional cost

Importance of Being Present

• Being fully engaged in what one is doing at a given moment is the strongest predictor of happiness
• Mismatch between being in an activity and having one’s mind elsewhere leads to unhappiness, even if the thoughts are positive

• Focusing on the present moment can improve overall well-​​being
  Meditation and Mindfulness

• Meditation practice is about adjusting your place along the interoceptive-​​exteroceptive continuum

• Interoceptive: focusing on internal sensations
• Exteroceptive: focusing on external sensations
• Meditation can be both interoceptive and exteroceptive
• A wandering mind is an unhappy mind; meditation helps anchor the mind and improve mood

Assessing Interoceptive and Exteroceptive Dominance

• Close your eyes and assess whether your attention goes to internal sensations or external events
• This can change depending on context, situation, and how well-​​rested you are
• No technology can accurately determine your dominance; it’s a subjective assessment

Choosing a Meditation Practice

• Determine whether you are more interoceptively or exteroceptively dominant in a given moment
• Choose a meditation practice that goes against your default state to engage neuroplasticity and challenge your brain
• This can lead to both immediate state changes and long-​​term trait changes

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body

• Book by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson
• Captures essential elements of the science and history of meditation

• Discusses the distinction between state and trait changes in meditation
  Meditation and Focus

• Meditation can be divided into two types: interoceptive (focusing on internal sensations) and exteroceptive (focusing on external sensations)

• To get the most out of meditation, assess whether you are more in your head or focused on the external world and choose a meditation practice that counters your current state
• Interoceptive meditation: focus on breathing, bodily sensations, or the “third eye” center behind the forehead
• Exteroceptive meditation: focus on a point outside of yourself, such as a point on the wall or the horizon
• The key to meditation is the ability to refocus when the mind wanders; the more times you refocus, the more effective the practice
• Studies show that even short meditations (1–3 minutes) can have benefits if done consistently
• The Waking Up app by Sam Harris offers a variety of meditation practices and explanations of their benefits

The Third Eye and Pineal Gland

• The “third eye” is associated with the pineal gland, a structure in the brain that produces melatonin, which helps regulate sleep
• The pineal gland is unique in that it is the only structure in the brain that is not mirrored on both sides
• In some animals, such as birds and reptiles, the pineal gland can directly respond to light, which helps regulate their sleep-​​wake cycles

• In humans, the pineal gland does not directly respond to light, but it is still involved in the regulation of sleep through melatonin production
  Pineal Gland and the Third Eye

• Pineal gland is not the third eye in humans 
  • Located deep in the brain, near the fourth ventricle
  • Should not be exposed to light
• Third eye in art and ancient traditions 
  • Depicted as an eye in the middle of the forehead
  • Represents the seat of consciousness
  • Corresponds to the prefrontal cortex in the brain

Prefrontal Cortex and Attention

• Prefrontal cortex is involved in directing attention
• Damage to this area can lead to inappropriate behavior and impaired judgment
• Focusing on the prefrontal cortex (third eye) during meditation can bring attention to thoughts, emotions, and memories

Sensory Neurons and the Brain

• Brain tissue does not have sensory neurons 
  • No sensation in the brain itself
• Focusing on the prefrontal cortex during meditation can make thoughts and emotions more prominent

Interoception and Exteroception

• Interoception: focusing on internal sensations (e.g., heartbeat, stomach)
• Exteroception: focusing on external sensations (e.g., sights, sounds)
• Most people have an interoceptive bias, focusing more on internal sensations

Meditation Practices

• Determine whether you need an interoceptive or exteroceptive meditation practice
• Duration of meditation depends on consistency and personal preference 
  • 13-​​minute daily meditation has been shown to improve mood, sleep, and cognitive abilities
  • Shorter meditations (e.g., 5 minutes) can also provide benefits
  • Longer meditations may be necessary if practicing less frequently
    Meditation and Breathing

• Consistency is key in meditation

• Meditation can be done for varying durations, as long as it’s done consistently
• Breathing patterns can be a form of meditation

Breath Work

• Grown in popularity in recent years
• Wim Hof popularized a specific style of breathing called cyclic hyperventilation 
  • Involves deep, deliberate inhales and exhales
  • Generates adrenaline and raises body temperature
• Cyclic hyperventilation is not typically considered part of meditation, but can be incorporated

Breathing Patterns in Meditation

• Most meditation practices involve slowing or controlling one’s breathing 
  • Examples: slow cyclic breathing, box breathing, inhale-​​exhale patterns
• Focusing on breathing shifts attention to interoception (internal sensations)
• Controlling breathing patterns can be useful in meditation

Choosing Breathing Patterns

• Ask yourself if you want to be more relaxed or more alert after meditation
• Inhales longer/​​more vigorous than exhales = more alertness
• Exhales longer/​​more vigorous than inhales = more relaxation
• Balanced inhales and exhales = maintain current state of alertness/​​calmness

Breath Holds and Complicated Breathing Practices

• Box breathing and Wim Hof breathing involve breath holds

• Complicated breathing practices can shift much of your attention to the breathing practice itself
  Breathing and Meditation

• Breathing patterns can be a form of meditation 
  • Non-​​cyclic or complex breathing patterns require more attention
  • Can be used to shift focus from internal to external or vice versa
• Interoceptive bias: focusing on internal sensations 
  • Beneficial for those who need more awareness of their body and stress levels
• Exteroceptive bias: focusing on external sensations 
  • Beneficial for those who are overly focused on their bodily sensations and need to shift attention outward

Interoception and Dissociation

• Interoception: sensing, interpreting, integrating, and regulating signals from within the body 
  • Provides a moment-​​to-​​moment mapping of the internal landscape
• Dissociation: a lack of bodily awareness or removal of conscious experience from bodily experience 
  • Often associated with traumatic events
• Optimal mental and physical health involves finding a balance between interoception and dissociation 
  • Being too dissociated or too interoceptive can be problematic

Narrative Distancing

• Some people have challenges with narrative distancing, where they feel the emotions and sensations of others too strongly 
  • Can be problematic when it leads to losing oneself in the experiences of others

• Balancing empathy and rationality is important for maintaining mental health and well-​​being
  Meditation and Mental Health

• Interoceptive dissociative continuum 
  • Interoception: feeling everything in your body
  • Dissociation: reacting to the environment but bodily response is shut down
• Ideal mental health state 
  • Balance between interoception and dissociation
  • Able to make rational decisions while still feeling emotions
• Mental health and mood model 
  • U‑shaped model: balanced between interoception and dissociation
  • Flat continuum: shifting between interoception and dissociation
  • Convex shape: extreme interoception or dissociation, considered pathological
• Practices to maintain mental health 
  • Sleep: foundational layer of mental health
  • Meditation: helps move along the interoceptive-​​dissociative continuum 
    • Can increase interoceptive awareness or create narrative distancing
    • Must be aware of individual biases towards interoception or dissociation

Meditation Effects on Mood

• Being present to one’s experience correlates with increased happiness
• Mind wandering correlates with unhappiness
• Meditation can make us more present, but awareness of interoception or dissociation is crucial 
  • Meditating on internal state may not be beneficial for those with high interoceptive awareness
    Meditation and Sleep

• Meditation is a focusing practice, while falling asleep involves focusing less

• Regular meditation can reduce stress and cortisol levels, potentially reducing overall sleep need
• This does not mean that if you can’t sleep, you can just meditate and be fine
• Yoga Nidra and Non-​​Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) practices can help improve sleep and reduce cortisol levels 
  • These practices involve body scans and reducing prefrontal cortex activity
  • They have been shown to replenish levels of neuromodulators like dopamine and reduce stress hormones

• To improve sleep, consider incorporating Yoga Nidra or NSDR practices into your routine
  Yoga Nidra and NSDR

• Reduces stress hormone cortisol

• Replenishes neurotransmitters
• Can reduce total amount of sleep needed
• 30-​​minute practice can replenish dopamine levels

Meditation vs. Yoga Nidra and NSDR

• Meditation is excellent for adjusting the default mode network for more happiness and mindfulness
• Yoga Nidra and NSDR are more effective for enhancing sleep and replacing lost sleep
• Meditation can help with anxiety and sleep issues, but not as targeted as Yoga Nidra and NSDR

Hypnosis

• Distinct from breathwork, Yoga Nidra, NSDR, and meditation
• Designed to address specific problems, such as quitting smoking, reducing insomnia, or managing pain
• Clinical hypnosis has research-​​backed effectiveness

STB (Space-​​Time Bridging) Meditation

• Balances interoception and exteroception
• Balances interoception and dissociation
• Crosses various time domains using vision
• Involves focusing on different distances while maintaining awareness of breath

• Can lead to interesting insights during and outside of meditation
  Stepping Through Interoceptive and Exteroceptive Continuum

• Practice to improve awareness and perception along the interoceptive and exteroceptive continuum

• Steps:
• Focus on three breaths
• Acknowledge your body on Earth, floating in the Universe
• Close your eyes and focus on interoception for three breaths
• Repeat the process, moving through different locations (palm of hand, distance in front, horizon, globe, universe, back into the body)
• Benefits:
• Exercises the ability to deliberately place perception at specific locations along the continuum
• Helps prevent getting locked at one location along the continuum
• Enhances functionality in work, life, relationships, and sleep by dynamically adjusting attention
• Reduces fatigue and maladaptive behaviors by matching awareness to the appropriate spacetime domain