Body, Mind And Meditation: How Do They Interact?

The literature on meditation and its benefits is extensive. Learning to meditate has gone from being a novelty brought from the East to becoming a common habit for many Westerners. This is because there is a close relationship between body, mind and meditation.

The countless advantages that this practice offers to those who train daily are many, but today we want to talk about how and why it works. That is, what are the changes that take place in the brain and body through constant practice.

In order to understand the relationship between body, mind and meditation, that is, how meditation shapes the brain and how this modeling influences our emotions and our body, there are some technical questions that we must know. Let’s see them next.

Welcome to the fascinating world of the brain

Let’s open the door to our brain to explain which areas participate in meditation and how they work.

• The lateral prefrontal cortex is the brain structure that allows us to have a more rational perspective. The lateral prefrontal cortex participates in the modulation of emotional experiences and restricts the tendency to take things personally. It is known as the Assessment Center.
• The medial prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain that constantly talks to you about yourself, about your experiences, your ideas, your experiences. It processes all information related to you and your relationships with others. We know it as the “I” center or the center of self-reference. It consists of two sections: one that participates in increasing rumination and worry. And another one that is very important for empathy.

• The insula is the part of the brain that controls bodily sensations, experiencing emotions at the intestinal level. The insula is part of the system that modulates the level of response to what your body is feeling.
• The amygdala is our organic alarm system. Also known as the fear center, it is linked to the fight-or-flight response in situations that are considered dangerous.

How a brain that doesn’t meditate works

A brain that does not meditate usually has strong neural connections between the “me” center and the bodily fear sensation centers.

A brain that does not meditate may feel “stuck in the self” because it has a great dependence on this center. In this case, it is the center of the “I” that is processing most of the information received.

This dependence on the “me” center explains why we get involved in negative thought loops. This is because the connection between the “I” center and the Assessment Center is weak.

When we increase the work capacity of the Assessment Center, we decrease excessive activity in the part of the “I” Center that takes things personally. It also improves the activity of the party involved in understanding the feelings of others.

This is the way to assimilate all the information received, discarding the wrong data, reducing excessive thoughts and worry.

the brain in meditation

Several things happen in a brain that meditates regularly. The connection between the “I” center and the bodily fear centers begins to break down. This diminishes the strength of the fear response and, in part, explains why anxiety decreases when you meditate regularly.

Rather, a stronger neuronal connection is created between the Assessment Center and the fear bodily sensation centers. This means that when a bodily sensation of fear of something potentially dangerous hits the brain, it can assess it more rationally rather than automatically reacting to the fear.

Furthermore, it makes us less likely to get caught up in the continual production of hypotheses about what “could be or mean” what is happening to us.

Empathy, the added bonus

In a brain that meditates regularly, there is a significant increase in connections between the “I” Center and the center of bodily sensations related to empathy.  We activate the part of the brain involved in the actual empathetic experience: the insula.

In this way, we become better able to infer other people’s mental states, desires, dreams and motivations.

body, mind and meditation

The decrease in negative emotions appears to directly influence the immune system. In addition, regular meditation practice can slow your heart rate and dilate your blood vessels.

There are studies linking transcendental meditation to lowering blood pressure. The endocrine system also benefits. When you meditate, you secrete endorphins, the so-called happiness hormones. Thus, it manages to maintain stress hormone levels at adequate levels.

For those who start their adventure in the world of meditation, our advice is to do it based on the help of professionals and be constant. We can harness our neuroplasticity through habit and daily practice,  taking advantage of the incredible connection between body, mind and meditation.