The effects of meditation

[Urbanjourney]

I know there are countless studies about the effects of meditation and i've read lots of them so should really have them embedded but what i've found more useful for myself in my TMS education is to run my own experiments.
Ive got a Polar H10 which is an ECG heart rate monitor so kind of the gold standard consumer product next to being wired up in a lab. Over the past 2 days, i've run a 20 minute test of heart rate variability without meditation and then straight away the next 20 minutes with meditation. I realise it's not a perfect study but in both cases, my heart rate went down and HRV went up during the meditations (Dr Joe Dispenza Generous Present Moment meditation)
I'm aiming to continue this study using different meditations and at different times of the day and for me, it's another mechanism to show my unconscious brain that it can be trained....

 

[Ellen]

I realize that HRV is the most measurable way to quantify meditation effects, but hopefully you will give some thought to the more subjective aspects of success as well: Feelings of well being, peace of mind, etc.

 

[BloodMoon]

I thought this was eye opening regarding meditation actually physically changing the brain through neuroplasticity; in the video a BBC journalist had her brain scanned before embarking on 6 weeks of daily meditation practise and again afterwards and found that it had changed...

And exercise also "sculpts" the brain. There's another video by the same journalist about that and some other brain hacks here...

Why exercise can help sculpt the brain - BBC Reel

Evidence shows that meditation combined with exercise can boost brain plasticity. How do we keep our brains healthy? And what can we do to help strengthen crucial connections and keep our minds younger in the process? In these four films, science journalist Melissa Hogenboom looks at the...

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Urbanjourney]

I realize that HRV is the most measurable way to quantify meditation effects, but hopefully you will give some thought to the more subjective aspects of success as well: Feelings of well being, peace of mind, etc.

Absolutely - I trust in the process that all the benefits will flow through the door once i've opened it consistently enough...I've totally loved my initial experience so far and know it's not a "Do this twice and you're fixed" I recognise my old patterns of wanting to see some transformational effects pretty quickly but my faith is that by showing up consistently, I will drift into a new operating system possibly without seeing the hard border between it and now.

 

[Sita]

I've been meditating since 1994 on and off. But since 2014 I've been doing it daily. I only skipped a few days when I was in the hospital or really sick.

It brings tremendous peace, it's like a daily mental shower. I'm certain that more and more people will use this tool in the future to be happy and at peace.

I'm glad you started this practice. Even if you do it for 10 minutes a day, and stay consistent, it will help you so so much.

 

[BloodMoon]

my faith is that by showing up consistently, I will drift into a new operating system possibly without seeing the hard border between it and now.

This is exactly what happens with recovery. I can't even tell you the specific day or point when I became significantly better symptoms-wise. You just look back one day and realise how far you've drifted.