By Jason Glynn

Once the realm as pseudoscience, meditation is now scientifically proven to have many benefits. I must confess, I am not much for organized religion, nor do I believe many fanciful stories that fail the test of logic. So instead of subscribing to or following any religion, I have my own. My commandments are as follows: be cool, and don’t be an asshole. And my church is much more inviting. It is anywhere I please, usually in nature. As Persian poet Rumi said, “I looked in temples churches and mosques but I found the divine within my heart.”

Enough about my belief, this really isn’t a belief column but for the regurgitation of knowledge and facts. One thing I have always done, that has always brought me inner peace, was meditation. Meditation has been around longer than most of your religions; you don’t need to put money in a pot, wage war on people, or systematically abuse or indoctrinate children, a win-win. Meditation is essentially training the mind, and inducing a mode of consciousness. We know that we have little control over our external environment, but we can control within.

For a long time the benefits of meditation occupied the same field of science that tarot cards or astrology (NOT astronomy, which is real) do, it was considered hokum pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is unproven science that usually has lofty and utterly ridiculous claims.

Meditation can increase immunity, compassion, and focus. It can also decrease anxiety, depression, stress, and pain. Some myths about meditation: you do not need to sit in that uncomfortable position, sitting on the couch is cool; you do not need to do it for an hour, small doses are beneficial; you do not need to sit in silence, I don’t know about you, but when it is quiet my head can be quite noisy. I prefer meditation aids, no, not that stuff, I mean like Zen music. Also, you do not need to join a new religion, wear a robe, or learn any chants.

Scientists have been studying meditation for a little while now, and I love reading about its proven attributes. I will touch on some of the many, and share links so you can educate yourself.

Struggle to pay attention in boring lectures or just want better grades? Meditate before class. Researchers at George Mason University conducted an experiment where randomly selected students were instructed to meditate before class. The results were consistent: those who meditated quizzed better. In some experiments, they were even able to predict who would pass or fail. Meditate on this at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130409131811.htm

You can actually control your core body temperature through meditation. This is good news for us cold-weather Mainers. Long thought to be a myth, researchers in Singapore have documented this for the first time. Tibetan nuns practicing the g-tummo meditation technique were monitored with an electroencephalography (EEG). While meditating in -25C weather, their internal temps went up to nearly 39C (normal is about 37C) and they were able to dry wet sheets wrapped around them. Meditate on that at: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0058244

I’m sure you’ve heard that saying that goes something like “change your mind, change your life.” That wasn’t just crazy pep talk stuff after all. Through meditation, one can actually regulate gene expression. A collaborative study by researchers in Wisconnsin, Spain, and France have observed that after an eight hour day of mindful meditation, “the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.” Meditate on this at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131208090343.htm