With so many distractions vying for our attention (and for your clients' attention), it’s difficult for any of us to be truly present. That effort is well worth it thanks to new research that reveals additional physical and mental health benefits of meditation. Published in the journal Pschoneuroendocrinolgy, an international team of researchers found that mindfulness meditation is so powerful it can cause molecular changes. The study followed a group of practiced meditators and a control group of untrained subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness meditation, the meditators showed a range of genetic differences in levels of pro-inflammatory genes, while the other group did not. This is significant because these genes were able to recover quicker from stressful situations and showed less inflammation, both good qualities in the battle against signs of aging. “Our genes are quite dynamic in their expression and these results suggest that the calmness of our mind can actually have a potential influence on their expression,” says Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the William James and Vilas professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about meditation, check out Congressional Calm to learn more.