Meditation is a great way to reduce stress, and it also improves concentration. A new study at the University of California had 30 participants attend a three-month retreat during which they practiced meditation for about five hours a day. Researchers then tested the ability of the participants to stay focused when confronted with a boring visual task.
The same boring task, identifying long and short lines that flashed on a computer screen, was given to participants three times in the study. Before they began the meditation, in the middle of the study, and at the end. According to lead researcher Katherine MacLean: "The changes that occur [during the meditation retreat] are still with you once you go back to daily life and help you function better. Purely mental training can improve your ability . . . to perceive things more clearly, and that can make it easier to pay attention." The study findings were published in the June issue of Psychological Science.
Meditation does not require spiritual teachers. Anyone can do it anywhere. Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen recalled how easy it was to give birth to her son Benjamin, thanks to a little meditation. "You want to go into the most intense physical experience of your life unprepared? That doesn't make any sense to me. Then I was ready and I thought 'OK, let's get to work'." Meditating for just ten minutes in a day helps to rid the brain of all toxic thoughts and worries, leading to a refreshing mental detox.
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