Watching your breath might just save your life

 It isn’t until recently I recognized the positive impact meditation had to my overall health. Managing my anxiety in an unprecedented time like this seemed to be the key to my success in my professional as well as personal life. After a conversation with one of my professors, I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad I did. 

Mindfulness is one of the most popular meditation techniques. It typically involves directing your awareness to your breath, your thoughts, the physical sensations in your body and the feelings you are experiencing (Mindfulness Meditation, 2019). Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a mindfulness meditation protege who has the brain of a 33 year old while he was 41 years old. How can the simple practice of watching your own breath change the way your brain works? 

Scientists have shown that most of the time most people don’t know what they are doing, we are pulled by all kinds of forces around us, and we do things we just aren’t aware of. So part of the practice of mindfulness is bringing awareness to what it is that our minds are actually doing. This practice is similar to going to the gym. When we go to the gym, the exercises we do will develop our muscles and help us become more fit. Similarly, mindful meditation requires practice and consistency. During a session of meditation, it is natural for our minds to wander but recognizing when this happens and bringing out attention back to our breath is the moment of awakening. Scientists have shown that when we bring our attention back to our breath, a part of the brian lights up, called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). This is the region in the brain that helps us focus. Meditation strengthens its connection to the DMN so this could be the mental muscle that meditation sessions develop. 

So, something as simple as watching your breath could keep your brain healthy, young, and strong. 

Mindfulness meditation: A research-proven way to reduce stress. (2019). Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness-meditation