To kick off the discussion we have a 2017 interview followed by some of Mark’s own reflections regarding meditation, stress, and health.

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“I don’t have enough time to meditate,” I would say to my coach, and myself.

The truth is that meditation is one of the most important tools to help manage stress. Click To Tweet

With so much going on, meditation helped me have this place to go where I can disconnect from all the busyness and find a state where I can be present. 

We’ve all heard about the benefits of meditation.

Is it true that meditation will change your outlook on life, while also changing your brain?

According to my longtime friend, New York Times bestselling author Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligence), it’s not that instantaneous, and it’s not that dramatic. It takes time to see the changes and to experience the payoff.

Why should we meditate? What actually works?

In his book Altered Traits, Dan and his co-author, neuroscientist and psychologist Richard Davidson (University of Wisconsin, Madison), explore how we benefit from meditation, what the science says, and what it will do for you.

Dan and Richie have been studying the science of meditation and how it affects the brain since they were young students at Harvard.

For Altered Traits, they combed through more than 6,000 peer-reviewed to identify the several dozen strongest studies. From those, they put together the first truly evidence-based look at what happens when we meditate.

Most of us are reactive in life instead of proactive and have a hard time managing our impulse experience.

We get anxious and stressed and are easily caught up in our thoughts and emotions.

Meditation is like turning down the volume on our excitability factor so we can meet things directly and listen better, both to other people and to ourselves.

Dan and Richie share stories of meditators who show slower reactions to stress and an increase in empathy and compassion.

In addition to the impact on our experience as human beings, there are also biological factors involved in meditation.

Most of us know to exercise our bodies, but we don’t realize that exercising the brain is just as important.

Studies have shown that learning to regulate your mind can, among other things, increase stem cell production, change your hormones, and reduce inflammation – in fact, one day of practice by those who are somewhat experienced in meditation can downregulate hundreds of inflammatory genes.

If you’d like to learn more about the book, head to danielgoleman.info or to your favorite bookstore.

Wishing you health and happiness,

Mark Hyman, MD

P.S. Share how meditation has benefited your life in the comments below.

originally published Sept. 2017