violently with a serious illness such as heart attack, cancer, infection, or depression. If the immune system is out of balance, we suffer disease. So how can we avoid this?
Clinical studies have shown that meditation enables the immune system, our main defense against illness, to return to balance. The following table outlines some of the illnesses that result from an immune system that is out of balance. For example, if you have an inner stimulus such as emotional distress combined with an underactive immune system, you are particularly susceptible to getting cancer. You are more prone to suffer from autoimmune diseases (such as lupus or arthritis) if you have an overactive immune system.3 (I am asserting not that meditation will prevent these ailments but rather that people who are less stressed and have balanced immune systems may have a better chance of staying well and resisting the onset of these diseases.)
Through Mental Resilience Training we develop the mental muscles to deeply rest the mind. We start clearing it of all the stressful thoughts that move through it, day in and day out. The rested mind allows the body to come back into harmony and the immune system to find a healthy balance.
Clinical Research Supporting Mental Resilience Training
There has been significant medical research on the benefits of the meditative aspects of Mental Resilience Training. While meditation practitioners have known the effects for centuries, only recently have scientific investigations given credence to these ancient claims. I have summarized some of this research here, but these findings are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Power of Attention
Indian researcher and professor B.K. Anand found that yogis could meditate themselves into trances so deep that they didn’t react when hot test tubes were pressed against their arms. He also found that they could regulate their heartbeats at will.4 In the book, Zen Meditation and Psychotherapy, Japanese scientist Tomio Hirai studied and measured the brain activity of forty Zen monks. He showed that longtime Zen meditators were so focused on the present moment that they had never habituated themselves to the sound of a ticking clock. Most people eventually become desensitized to such noises, but the meditators remained aware of it for hours on end. Instead of zoning out in their meditations, they were able to maintain a high level of awareness and focus.5
All We Need Is Love (or a Bigger Left-Prefrontal Cortex)
In his work at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Richard Davidson observed Buddhist monks’ brain activity during their meditations, using the latest technologies, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalograms (EEGs). Davidson found a much greater level of activity in the left prefrontal lobes of meditating monks’ brains than of non-meditators. Further studies have shown that even after a short period of regular meditation, ordinary people can develop more activity in the left-prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is said to be the home of peace and acceptance.6
Davidson has shown that through regular meditation the brain is reoriented from a stressful fight-or-flight mode to one of acceptance, a shift that increases contentment. This change is directly correlated with a shift in prefrontal activity. People with a negative disposition tend to be right-prefrontal oriented, whereas people with a left-prefrontal orientation are more enthusiastic, have more interests, take time to relax more, and tend to feel more content, without buying a Ferrari or a penthouse.
Davidson explains that the reason these people may feel happier has to do with neurotransmitters. Chemicals that carry signals from one neuron to another, neurotransmitters are your body’s communication system. The prefrontal cortex is filled with various kinds of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin. All these chemicals have been linked with positive emotional states. Certain studies with animals show that dopamine is very active in the signal transfer of positive emotions between the left-prefrontal area and the emotional center in the brain.
At Stanford University, Brian Knutson also conducted meditation research using fMRI. The result reported similar outcomes: participants who meditated had more left-prefrontal lobe activity than those who didn’t meditate. This research confirms that meditation increases activity in the left side of the frontal region.7 We know that when this area of the brain is more active, we have an increase in positive emotions and motivation. We are strengthened in our resolve to meet our goals.
Davidson also studied the effects of meditation on health. In this study, flu vaccines were given to two groups; one group received only the vaccine, while the other received the vaccine and were conducted in meditation. The results showed that the meditation group had a more significant increase in antibody levels than the control group. This confirms what many have said about meditation’s effects of increased health and immunity.
How Having a Thicker Head Eases Aging
One of the benefits of Mental Resilience Training is equanimity, the feeling that we have the energy to adapt and handle life’s trials. Research has shown that our brains actually become more robust after undertaking this type of training.
Neuroreport published research undertaken by Sara Lazar and her team at Harvard indicating that the areas of the brain linked with attention, interoception, and sensory processing (including the prefrontal cortex and right-anterior insular cortex) were thicker in participants who meditated than in control participants. There were distinct differences in the prefrontal cortical thickness of older participants between the two groups, directly associated with meditation, which indicates that meditation might delay the cortical thinning that occurs in the aging process. This research offered the first scientific evidence of cortical elasticity linked to meditation practice.8 This basically means that your brain becomes tougher or more resilient, which can help counter the effects of aging as you grow older. This is a good thing to bear in mind if you want to age gracefully.
Why Counting Your Breaths Is Better than Counting Calories
Jean L. Kristeller and C. Brendan Hallett, from the psychology department at Indiana State University, investigated the efficacy of meditation for binge eating disorder (BED). Results suggest that meditation and mental training may be effective components in decreasing both frequency and severity of binge-eating episodes in persons with BED. Reported binges decreased to a quarter of what they were for people who undertook the meditation training.9 When you have a sense of control over your impulses, all sorts of binges will decrease — so, yes, meditation can help you lose weight as well.
Faster Healing
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues from the University of Massachusetts published research in many journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry and Journal of Behavioral Medicine, indicating that patients heal four times faster if they meditate; cancer patients who practiced meditation had significantly better emotional outlooks than a control group; and not only did meditation relieve symptoms in patients with anxiety and chronic pain but the benefits also continued for up to four years after training.10 So it’s not merely about keeping a positive outlook but, rather, getting the brain into a state where a positive outlook is natural. Health and well-being will follow.
Significant research has been conducted on meditation and its effects in many areas of life. As a result, increasing numbers of psychologists and physicians are incorporating it into their treatment regimes with great success. But why wait until we are sick? Mental resilience, including meditation, is a proven preventive and a way of creating lasting happiness.
Self-Awareness: Knowing Your Body
Mental Resilience Training focuses directly on the body. The goal in meditation is to become keenly aware of each and every one of your sensations. This can help you in many ways.
A simple example is being attuned to the feeling of fullness when you eat, which probably prevents overeating. (Of course, not all meditators are at their optimal weight, but for some, merely reducing calorie intake can be a significant achievement.)
Sensual Awareness
A common misperception is that meditators deprive