Sit comfortably and pay attention to your breath as you inhale and exhale. When thoughts drift into your mind, just ignore them and stay focused on your breath. Seems simple enough, right? But it turns out that this basic practice, known as mindfulness meditation, is powerful stuff.
Not only does it help reduce stress and improve mood, but it actually changes your brain structure. And those changes can be quite beneficial.
How Meditation Changes the Brain
Sara Lazar is a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Research Institute at Harvard University who studies meditation’s effect on the brain. Meditation-induced brain changes can be seen primarily in three areas of the brain, she explains: the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the hippocampus, and the amygdala.
The PCC is involved in mind wandering and in one’s sense of self. In long-term meditators, the PCC is quieter than in people who don’t meditate, explains Lazar. That’s likely because sitting and focusing the breath trains the brain to pay attention to what you want it to pay attention to and reduces mind wandering.
