Poetry in science: A beginner's guide to the benefits of meditation | Ana Guia

Ana Mares Guia
Guest columnist
Meditation steps: Bring your left hand underneath your nostrils and feel the air coming in and out of your nostrils onto your hands.

As one commits to a regular long term meditation practice, we experience ourselves feeling better. But to have that experience translated into hard science is something I will never forget.

Over a decade ago, I was part of a small and intimate symposium at Harvard University on the Brain and Meditation. The second speaker was my hero. I had read her research and was on the edge of my seat waiting for her turn.

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And she was announced: “Sara Lazar, Ph.D, Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School."

I clapped enthusiastically. And, to me, she spoke poetry in science. She explained to these top neuroscientists in that small room a phenomenon called neuroplasticity.

Meditation and the brain

Simply put, neuroplasticity is the brain's capacity to modify its actual matter as a person experiences certain activities consistently. Sarah spoke about how she found evidence that meditation may slow down the age-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain.

The capacity of the brain’s prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for memory and decision making) gets thicker with consistent meditation practice, whereas typically, as we age, the prefrontal cortex thins and gets less effective.

I mean, how cool is that? The thing is that meditation is hard to begin with.

We are not taught to be quiet or to observe thoughts. Definitely not to be without thoughts. We may go to school all those years, pursue a master’s, a Ph.D; still, meditation is an elective and it doesn’t come naturally. It is an acquired skill.

I have been meditating continuously since I was 15 years old. I am now 42 and I will share with you that some days it’s still hard. So don’t fret; it’s OK not to get it at first. And it’s OK not to get it all the time even after years of practice, too.

Meditation steps: Choose one place at home and stick to it. Pick one time and stick to it.

Self study can be difficult

What I have found is that even those hard days — maybe especially those hard days — are part of the meditation practice as a whole.

It doesn’t limit itself to the amount of time we spend sitting still; it is also informed and enriched by our reactions and emotions. It is provoked by how the meditation evolves (or doesn’t).

It is a very deep and intimate process of self study. Because of that it can be challenging to look at ourselves with such honesty. It can be pretty scary. And yes, oh so rewarding. 

Meditation has provided me with a deep and strong sense of self, compassion for myself and others, and clarity about the world around me (because I’m getting closer and closer to have a slight grasp of the world within). And, yes, a yogini meditator still gets angry, and sad, and all that.

But meditation has given me the capacity to bounce back quicker from tough situations, to be more equanimous when faced with adversity, and to experience more joy than I can bear sometimes. 

The scope of this column is to support you, reader, in having more wellness in your life. I hope I have sold my fish well above. I am about to offer you a simple meditation practice that you can do at home.

Meditation steps: Practice this every day for one minute.

Six simple meditation steps

1. Choose one place at home and stick to it. Pick one time and stick to it. Between 4:30-6:30 is best, but stick to what is realistic for you.

2. A chair or the floor is good for this practice. Avoid practicing meditation lying down or on a comfortable couch. Keep the back straight but not stiff.

3. Now, on to the practice itself. Close your eyes to avoid sight distractions. Bring your left hand underneath your nostrils and feel the air coming in and out of your nostrils onto your hands.

4. Observe the incoming breath and outgoing breath and their different temperatures. 

Notice: the air that goes in is slightly colder than the air that comes out, which is slightly warmer. Keep that hand there until you find yourself very sure of feeling the breath.

5. Once you do feel sure, lower your hand and continue feeling the breath coming and going underneath your nostrils.

6. If you notice any thoughts, as soon as you do, bring that hand back up and observe closely. No judgment: just observe and stay compassionate about your experience. We are all learning.

Practice this every day for one minute. After one month, increase by one minute every two weeks.

Being in the moment

This meditation practice is called Anapana (it means coming and going in Pali). It is taught in Vipassana meditation retreats all over the world, during an 11-day silent retreat, where meditators practice from 4:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. each day.

Beyond all the spectacular neuro physical benefits we now understand meditation gives us, ultimately the continuous practice gives us a superpower: to see things as they are.

Less drama, less fear, less being entangled in life’s sticky web. If we pay attention and develop this gift, we can notice that most problems live mostly in our thinking, really — either reliving what it was or anticipating what may never be.

Being in the moment is not easy and meditation helps us to unwrap this wonderful gift — the present.

Ana Mares Guia is a lawyer-turned-yogini originally from Brazil and proud Tallahassee resident.

Ana Mares Guia is a lawyer-turned-yogini originally from Brazil and proud Tallahassee resident. She has been practicing yoga for 30 years and teaching it for 24 years. She’s a yoga therapist with a private practice in the Killearn area, where she lives with her daughters, dogs, bunnies and hens. Feel free to reach out with inquiries, ideas for next columns or just to say hi at contact@yogadj.com.

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