How meditation Reduces Stress and Supports the Nervous System

How meditation changes the brain, reduces stress, and helps regulate the nervous system in a world of constant overwhelm.

Many ideas explored here are part of a larger framework in my book. Free excerpt from The Ripple Effect here

The Scientific Benefits of Meditation

Once dismissed as a cult-like mystical practice, meditation has now become one of the fastest-growing wellness trends in the world. After Maharishi Mahesh Yogi first taught meditation to the Beatles in the 1960s, the practice has quickly become mainstream and is now practised by millions of people across the globe. A key reason for its popularity is because it helps people to relax. Highly acclaimed books such as “The Relaxation Response” by Dr Herbert Benson, “The Science of Meditation” by Goleman and Davidson and “Siddhartha’s Brain” by journalist James Kingsland showcase the abundance of scientific evidence for meditation’s health benefits. While early research was small and lacked experimental controls, the quality and quantity of studies have grown exponentially in recent years, and there are now countless studies highlighting its benefits, from stress management and mental health gains to improved immunity and sleep quality, boosted digestion and energy levels, reduced pain and addictions, as well as cognitive benefits such as greater focus, productivity, and creativity. The benefits of meditation seem endless, so it is little wonder that so many people from all walks of life have embraced this ancient spiritual practice.

The efficacy of meditation as a stress-management technique is now well-established, and there are meta-studies galore on the subject. The reason for its stressing-busting effect is that it limits incoming sensory stimuli and increases internal self-awareness, allowing the mind to ease up and become more restful. As we stop thinking about our countless daily tasks, the brain moves from its normal busy beta-wave state to the slower alpha-waves, which activate the parasympathetic nervous system and induce relaxation. Meditators can also dip into the deeper theta state, which normally occurs during sleep. Research has found that the practice triggers a kind of “hypometabolic” state similar to animals hibernating, with many aspects analogous to deep sleep while awareness remains responsive and alert. This makes meditation a highly effective—as well as time-efficient—way of overcoming the burnout that so often accompanies the hustle and bustle of modern life. For instance, a 2020 study by Oregon State University found that just 10 minutes of meditation replaced 44 minutes of sleep in exhausted business entrepreneurs. Other studies have found that just 15 minutes of meditation is comparative to the relaxing effects of a whole day of vacation.

Studies have found that meditation not only lowers our “sleep debt” (the difference between the amount of sleep we get and what we actually need), but it also helps us to get better quality sleep. A 2019 meta-analysis of 1645 people by the National Institute of Health found that sleep quality was significantly improved with meditation, concluding that the practice is an effective way of treating insomnia and other sleep disturbances. By allocating time during the day to lower stress levels before bed, the practice means people have less trouble falling asleep and staying asleep at night. It may also mean you need less sleep, so you wake earlier and are more productive the next day. Many people resist meditation because they feel they just don’t have the time, but paradoxically, regular practice can increase the hours in one’s day due to its many beneficial effects.

Research has found that meditation has countless physical health benefits, the most notable of which include strengthened immune systems, decreased inflammation, and improved gut health. Meditation makes us feel generally healthier, more relaxed and vibrant. Because it helps the gut, it can increase energy levels, regulate the metabolism, modulate hormones and even increase fertility by aiding the rest-and-digest process. Because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol and corresponding blood pressure, studies have found that meditation lowers our heart rate and improves heart rate variability (a measure of stress), thus boosting heart health and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Meta-studies show that meditation reduces pain and improves the quality of life for sufferers of chronic conditions such as cancer, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. Meditation can also decrease the recovery time of athletes and help injuries heal faster. 

In the acclaimed book, “Super Brain”, Deepak Chopra and Alzheimer's expert Professor Randolph E. Tanzi highlight that meditation can even slow down the ageing process. Not only does meditation encourage the growth of new brain cells and thus help to prevent brain disorders like dementia in old age, but studies by the University of California have found that intensive meditation increases “telomerase”, which are the tips at the ends of our DNA strands that deteriorate as we get older, leading to cell damage. Meditation can slow down this deterioration, leading to greater longevity and rejuvenation. In the book “The Telomere Effect”, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Elizabeth Blackburn and psychologist Elissa Epel describe their research into the effects of stress-related thinking on telomerase and how it speeds up cellular ageing and disease. As epigenetics has shown us, negative thoughts can do serious damage to our DNA, and meditation can reverse this.

Interestingly, according to MRI scans, long-term meditators have brains that look quite different to non-meditators. One of the most fascinating findings of meditation studies is that the practice synchronises the left and right sides of the brain. While the different brain hemispheres clearly have an intimate working relationship, they work somewhat independently, the left brain being associated with language and logic and the right being associated with creativity and intuition. Any activity that increases coherence between these two spheres gives major boosts to cognition. In “The Effortless Mind”, Will Williamson describes this as “peak performance thinking”, when your brain is firing on all cylinders, creativity is flowing, and brainstorming, problem-solving and decision-making come easily. When the mind is relaxed in an alpha wave state, our brain capability is significantly enhanced, which means we can focus better, think sharper and process more information. Interestingly, of all the cognitive functions, Williams explains that meditation has the biggest impact on creativity. This is because the corpus callosum (the bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain) becomes thicker and stronger the more meditation we do, which in turn helps to increase brain connectivity. Because of this, researchers have found that meditation cultivates what could be thought of as a “creative brain dance” of spontaneous connections, eureka moments, divergent thinking (thinking outside the box), and openness to new ideas and possibilities.

Studies have discovered that meditation changes the physiological structure of the brain in other ways, too. Research by Harvard Medical School found that it shrinks the amygdala (responsible for the flight-or-fight response) and thus reduces people’s reactivity to stressful situations. Meditation really does make us feel more “zen”. It also increases cells in the hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory), in the prefrontal cortex (responsible for reasoning, emotional regulation and empathy), and in the limbic system (which processes emotions). Meditation not only makes us sharper learners and thinkers, it makes us kinder, more emotionally intelligent people, too. Another key finding is that meditation makes us feel good. Because it floods the brain with the happy hormones serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, it creates positive moods, which can increase self-esteem while reducing anxiety and depression. In Candace Pert’s latest book “Everything you Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d”, she asserts that we are “hardwired for bliss,” which is why the body makes its own natural opiates in the first place, drenching the prefrontal cortex (the highest, most intelligent part of our brain) with receptors for endorphins. Science has proven the old yogis right—one of the best ways to experience a blissful life is to meditate.

Meditation also reduces activity in the brain’s “me centre”, what scientists call the “default mode network”, responsible for mind-wandering—also known as the “monkey mind”. A journal article from Harvard University cites research which found that, incredibly, the mind wanders almost half of all our waking hours—and, according to the author, “a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” The monkey mind plays a major role in feelings of self-consciousness and social awareness, as well as in emotions such as anger, fear and disgust. The monkey mind thus has a bad reputation for rumination, worrying and other potentially destructive thought patterns. Regular meditation is instrumental in dialling the monkey mind down, allowing us to be less self-absorbed and more emotionally intelligent.

The healing effect of meditation doesn’t end there. Will Williamson describes how meditation allows us to process layers of accumulated stress, not just from our normal daily routines but from the backlog of negative experiences and trauma from our past. As the nervous system “de-excites”, it gives the body the bandwidth it needs to rid itself of old baggage stored in our cellular memory. When the nervous system is in its least excited state, it goes to work like a computer, deleting old files and creating order in our system. This allows the brain to use more of its computing power for the task at hand because we are no longer using up our precious energy, keeping a lid on built-up stress and repressing emotions. Meditation thus gives us more “adaptation energy”, which means we are better able to go with the flow and roll with life’s ups and downs.

Regular meditators can even reach a state that yogis call “samadhi”, which means “at one with God” in Sanskrit—a state of pure bliss where the deepest levels of self-awareness and enlightenment can be realised. Experienced meditators regularly report feeling this bliss state, which results in feeling less reactive to external events and more relaxed in the present moment. There is less desire to push hard to “become someone” or “be somewhere”, which means that meditators are not only less stressed but also less likely to be attached to outcomes. Because they are content to move in a general direction without worrying so much about exactly when and how things turn out, self-esteem becomes less predicated on external achievement or validation from others and more about self-compassion and a state of inner nonjudgement.

Calmer nervous systems also allow for greater enjoyment of the simple things, so life becomes altogether more joyful and fulfilling. Calmer nervous systems also allow for greater enjoyment of the simple things, so life becomes altogether more joyful and fulfilling. In fact, the degree to which we can enjoy the subtle phenomena of nature is a great barometer for our spiritual progress. Meditation helps us to attain these states of inner peace and balance so we can appreciate living in the moment, and experiencing awe and wonder at the beauty of this beautiful blue planet of ours.

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This is an exert from my book The Ripple Effect: Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Planet.

If this resonates, it can help to understand why the system becomes overwhelmed in the first place.

You can begin here: Why You Feel Overwhelmed All the Time (And What’s Actually Causing It)

Or if you'd like something more structured, you can read a short excerpt from The Ripple Effect, where I expand on how restoring rhythm and connection supports both personal and planetary wellbeing.

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