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In this health coaching video, we're going to talk about the health habit of meditation. Let me start by saying this: Type A personalities like me, probably like you, hate timeouts. And that's what meditation is; it's a timeout. So I'm just going to tell you right up front, this is a grit skill.
Meditation and brain research have been steadily progressing for years, with new studies frequently released, illustrating the new benefits of meditation and confirming some ancient benefits through brain scans. The practice appears to have an amazing variety of neurological benefits, from changes in your gray matter volume to reduced activity in the "me centers" of the brain to enhanced
The Importance of Meditation
Meditation is one of the foundational health habits that every person should do. It's so important that it's one of the seven major health habits we teach at Tiger Medical Institute. Skeptics often ask, "What good are a few brain changes if the psychological effects aren't simultaneously being illustrated?" Well, that's a fair concern. However, there's very good evidence on how meditation helps relieve our subjective levels of anxiety and depression, as well as improving our ability to focus—what we call "flow."
What Is Flow?
Flow is the ability to focus our attention for 30 to 90 minutes on a critical aspect of our lives to move us forward toward our goals. Meditation is a grit skill that can enhance your ability to enter a flow state and be more productive. Moreover, meditation helps our overall sense of well-being.
"Flow does not need to be some mystical state. It's really the ability to focus our attention for 30 to 90 minutes on a crucial task in our lives."- Steve Adams
Why Trust Meditation? The Science Behind It
Our aim at Tiger Medical Institute is to be a trusted source for you, curating actionable steps to optimize your physiology and health. There's a lot of noise out there with hundreds of biohackers screaming for your attention. Our goal is to help you avoid the four horsemen of chronic disease: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, which leads to stroke and cancer. If you can avoid these, you will increase both your longevity and quality of life.
Simple Steps to Start Meditating
Keep it simple. You can find numerous resources, be it the Calm app, YouTube videos, or books, to get started with meditation. If you follow a faith system, remember that meditation isn't a bad word. Whether it's the Bible, Quran, Torah, or any other holy text, meditating on these words is a great way to practice.
The Benefits of Meditation
Preserving the Aging Brain
A 2015 study at UCLA found that long-term meditators had better-preserved brains than non-meditators as they aged. For those who had been meditating for an average of 20 years, there was more gray matter volume throughout their brains. While older meditators still had some volume loss compared to younger meditators, it wasn't as pronounced as in people who didn't meditate at all.
Florian Keurth, the author of the study, said, "We expected rather small and distinct effects located in some of the regions that had previously been associated with meditating. Instead, we found a widespread effect of meditation that encompassed regions throughout the entire brain."
The Default Mode Network
The Default Mode Network (DMN) occupies 47% of our time during a typical day. This is the vaunted "me center." When not thinking about anything in particular, our mind wanders into this me-centered state. This state, often called the "monkey brain," makes us less happy and more prone to ruminate on past mistakes or future worries, activating the stress response and potentially leading to chronic disease.
Studies have shown that meditation has a quieting effect on the DMN, allowing us to snap out of it quicker due to new brain connections formed through meditation.
Reducing Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Pain
A 2014 study by Johns Hopkins looked at the relationship between mindfulness meditation and the ability to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and pain. The researchers found that the effect size of meditation was moderate, comparable to the effect size of antidepressants. This makes meditation's impact quite impressive, considering it's a form of brain training.
Dr. J. David Creswell, another researcher in the field, noted, "Meditation is active training of the mind to increase awareness. Different meditation programs approach this in various ways."
Changes in Brain Volume
Sarah Lazar and her team at Harvard found that mindfulness meditation could actually change the structure of your brain, consistent with findings of brain plasticity over the last 15 years. Their study found that eight weeks of mindfulness-based stress reduction increased the cortical thickness of the hippocampus, which governs learning and memory. Additionally, there were decreases in brain cell volume in the amygdala, the area responsible for fear, anxiety, and stress.
Enhancing Entrepreneurial Resilience
If you're an entrepreneur, you are constantly battling between the proactive thinking of your prefrontal cortex and the self-preservation instincts of your amygdala. Meditation helps you win this internal battle, making you more resilient and better able to handle risk and stress.
Improving Concentration and Attention
Just a few days of meditation training can improve concentration and attention, leading to a flow state. Poor attention span isn't just a problem for kids; it affects millions of adults due to cultural habits. Meditation acts as an active strategy to counteract prior conditioning like social media scrolling and frequent phone checking.
Cellular Aging and Meditation
Elizabeth Blackburn, a Nobel Prize winner in physiology, and Alyssa Epel studied the impact of meditation on telomere length. Telomeres are the end caps of DNA that shrink as you age, leading to deteriorations in cellular division and signs of aging. Meditation and mindfulness can reduce stress, helping to elongate telomeres and improve cellular health.
Conclusion
Meditation is one of the seven Tiger Health Habits that are active strategies not controlled by a doctor. When combined with other habits like fasting, diaphragmic breathing, sleep improvement, daily movement, better nutrition, and hydration, meditation synergizes to create an ideal inner environment that enhances immune function, cellular health, and overall longevity.
Thank you. I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment!
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A Word From Our Founder, Steve Adams
Hey there! I'm Steve
I spent 20 years in high-pressure corporate banking, constantly traveling and neglecting my health. By 50, I was sleep-deprived, getting only 2-3 hours of sleep despite lying in bed for six hours. I suffered from acid reflux, IBS, cramping, constipation, anxiety, fatigue, and brain fog, affecting my performance and relationships.
Then I found a Functional Medicine Doctor
He conducted extensive testing on genetics, gut biome health, and hormones. He discovered several issues and created a personalized medical plan and coached me for a year on lifestyle changes. The results were transformative!
Today, I feel like a new person. I can engage in high-intensity interval training, weight lifting, and running without any symptoms. Inspired by this journey, I founded Tiger Medical Institute to help others achieve similar health transformations - to help you live healthier, better life!
