Over the last 15 years there has been a lot of studies and scientific investigation on the effect that meditation has the brain because this also strongly influences the way our mind works and how we perform. The studies have been carried out on both Mindfulness meditation as well as visualisation meditation (think Buddhist and Yoga meditations) although both meditations are ‘focused’ meditations in that the person actively guides or trains themselves in a technique of thinking by focusing on a task or multiple tasks. This is different than listening to relaxing music although some guided meditation CD’s can provide the instruction to do a focused meditation.
Below are some links which provide the results of those scientific studies and how meditation can change the physical structure of our brains.
Brain changes with mindfulness mediation click here
Seven changes to the brain with meditations click here
There is a slight different in focus on the type of meditations in Yoga and Mindfulness meditations but both are involved an active participation and both require 30 minutes or more per day to trigger the brain to begin growing and making the physical changes which result in the increases performances measured.
In my Meditation workshops we learn and practise the aspects of both Mindfulness and visualisation meditations for enhanced improvements to our well-being.