The Dalai Lama’s presence at last November’s meeting of the Society for Neuroscience may have been controversial, but it was also monumental. Transcending his doubters and dissenters, the spiritual leader succeeded in expressing his thoughts on the merging of science and meditation, creating an even greater space for the two fields to be studied together in the future.

“The meeting of modern neuroscience and Buddhist contemplative discipline, therefore, could lead to the possibility of studying the impact of intentional mental activity on the brain circuits that have been identified as critical for specific mental processes,” the Dalai Lama said in a talk at the meeting.

Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar followed the Dalai Lama’s lecture with her own thoughts, which she reiterated in a recent article in National Geographic News. Lazar discussed her research into the affect of meditation on the brain’s structure and function. “Our hope is that by providing concrete evidence of [meditation’s] benefits, more people will at least try it and see if it is beneficial for them,” she told National Geographic.

There is still much work to be done, but the use of meditation to treat mental, emotional, and physical issues is becoming an increasingly accepted practice. Psychologist Paul Fulton, president of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy believes that “the barriers are falling” for the use of meditation in treating conditions like stress and high blood pressure. The Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society is a prime example of the merging of western medicine and meditation. The center works to teach people how to cultivate a daily meditation practice to alleviate ailments from stress to pain to high blood pressure.

Do you meditate? Has it helped your health? Please share your comments below.

[via National Geographic News]

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