Neuroplasticity: Brainwaves, Meditation, and Relaxation

Author

Peter Logos
January 01, 2024

Everyday, the world gives us opportunities to expand into a new version of ourselves in ways that are more loving and authentic…

We simply have the opportunity to witness the importance of relaxation and gratitude in everyday life.

When we get really quiet, and focus on feelings of gratitude, while we relax the body and breathe in that stillness, we can call that meditation.

Meditation, like gratitude, has shown to produce beneficial structural changes in the brain, exhibiting hallmark characteristics of neuroplasticity in diverse individuals, even in short-term practice of only a few weeks - which means we are not entirely beholden to our biology and have the ability to re-write our epigenetic code through existing neural interfacing practices like meditation.

Depending on who you ask, meditation has a few components, generally focusing on relaxed breathing with a straight spine is most essential, then focusing energy in the forehead (3rd eye/pre-frontal cortex), chanting, affirmation, visualization and prayer or other movements like dancing, shaking, yoga, taichi or walking, come in to support. In addition, we all may find many activities meditative, so the next step where all of life becomes a meditation.

“Meditation” as a global practice with distinct roots in many cultures, is much like the concept of “a tree”, with humanity extending mental branches of relaxation and gratitude toward the sunny sky.

In biology, a tree doesn’t belong to a specific phylogenic plant category, rather “tree” emerges from many various plant families. Oak trees are more related to roses and pumpkins than to pine trees.

Meditation then, is something arising from within the human experience rather than from external dictates, something we all have a different relationship to, yet are all connected to - “the tree of life” - from the nervous system, to each other, to the cosmos.

What this all means, is that we all approach the circle of life in different ways, even though we are all working toward the same thing (whether we know it or not), we all have a unique expression of it, that we celebrate and honor as a collective.

The individuated, whole person is essential to the flourishing of society - and while wholeness is our birthright, it often has to be reclaimed, until permanently established in one’s state of consciousness.

As we reclaim inner wholeness, we change the world around us, until we reach a tipping point of critical inflection, setting the flywheel in motion, where we begin to light our path and share that light with everyone who connects with us.

Brainwaves and heart-coherence offer great scientific insight into age-old questions about the human experience, yet science only points to the evolving understanding that truth is stranger than fiction, and the nature of reality still is up for interpretation, and dependent on one’s level of perception.

Through deep understanding of scientific meditation principles, we can use advanced technology alongside the myriad traditions, teachings and techniques carried from the ancient past, combining the best of all worlds.

All that to say, technology is not a magic bullet, it augments ability when used correctly, and the validated accomplishments of self-realized sages (i.e. controlling brainwaves and heartbeat at will) puts our modern understanding of the mind-body connection into perspective.

“The instrument is blessed by that which flows through it.” — Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

In addition, if nothing else, the neuroscience of meditation substantiates the fact that externals are not required to access higher states of consciousness, and that we all share this super-technology of the brain and nervous system dreamweaving this experience of life together, so let’s do it with love and care.

As we awaken to the mystery of us, may you unfold your petals with grace.

In heart,

Peter

P.S. A passage from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz set to music.

Neuroscience of Meditation Resources:

May All Beings Be Happy and Free • Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu ॐ