#Neuroscience and Meditation Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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#Neuroscience and Meditation

Tuesday, May 27, 2026

Posted on May 26, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
2 Comments

Cherry Blossoms at Ashby Ponds Neuroplasticity is something our age group must celebrate. The fact that we can keep learning a new skill, experience new experiences and strengthen the neural pathways of our brain is a scientific discovery to rejoice. Resilient and sharp mind is not only for the younger people but also for people in their eighties and nineties.  Most of us in today’s world prefer our meditation practice easy and brief. Because of this we leave behind a lot from the world’s rich contemplative traditions. We morph the practice to user-friendly forms. To gain self-awareness, insights into the subtleties of consciousness and achieve lasting positive traits require dedication. In addition, ethical attitude and moral guidelines are crucial. What we abandon is ignored or forgotten. A strong motivation to practice for the...

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Thursday, May 21, 2026

Posted on May 20, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Spirituality
2 Comments

Yellow Rose, Ashby Ponds We’ve practiced variety of meditations including Loving-Kindness meditation, Full-Body Scan meditation and guided meditation. Different meditations train and develop different mental habits. At home you may practice any one of these. Whatever you practice will improve.  Mindfulness takes hold when we learn to concentrate on our inner self. We become aware of our sensations, emotions and thoughts. We become aware of our conscious self.  When we pay attention to the in-flow and the outflow of our breathing, it connects us to the present moment. The brain’s executive center, prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, gives us ability to anticipate the future, and recall the past. By thinking we let the stress hormones rise and worsen the experience of our physical and emotional pain.   Regarding this, Jon Kabat-Zinn the famed meditation...

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Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Posted on May 18, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
2 Comments

Ashby Ponds under Full Moon Neuroscientist Richard Davidson began his groundbreaking research with Tibetan monks in the early 2000s following a direct challenge from the Dalai Lama in the 1990s to apply scientific tools to study positive emotions. He is still actively conducting these studies today. The following notes are from his research detailed in the book, ALTERED TRAITS:  There are five main types of brainwaves that register on EEG (Electroencephalogram): Delta that occur during deep sleep; Theta during drowsiness; Alpha when we relax or are awake with eyes closed; Beta when we are alert, actively thinking or concentrating. Finally, Gamma, which are fastest brain waves that fire in harmony during moments of insight. To get some sense of how gamma rays feel, imagine biting into a ripe juicy sweet peach. Suddenly your senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound mesh into a single delectable experience. That’s...

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Thursday, May 14, 2026

Posted on May 13, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Awareness, #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Imagination, Spirituality, Well Being
0 Comments

Red Roses, Ashby Ponds, May 2026 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s insight that both science and spirituality share common goals to “pursue truth and serve humanity” is shared by avant-garde neuroscientists as well. A mind free from disturbance alleviates stress and suffering, a goal shared by science and meditative paths alike. Apart from contemplative calm and composure there is more practical potential within each and every one of us. Such a life is best described as flourishing or a life of Utter Wellness.  Aristotle proposed the goal of life as the “Right Mean,” a quality between extremes such as risk-taking and cowardice, between self-indulgence and ascetic denial. He also stated that we are not virtuous by nature but we can become so by self-monitoring. Self-monitoring means the practice of noting our thoughts and acts in silence and...

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Tuesday, May 12 2026

Posted on May 12, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
2 Comments

Late Spring Roses at Ashby Ponds, May 2026 Did you know that an experience repeated over and over again changes and reshapes our brain? That’s what a ballerina or a pianist or an Olympic swimmer does. Practice. Practice. Practice. Brain rewires itself in response to anything that is practiced over and over again. This is called “neuroplasticity.” Such an experience expands parts of brain and leaves lingering neural marks on it.  Previously “neuroplasticity” was thought to occur only in children. In 1990’s intensive research showed that adult brain can also rewire itself. This finding challenged a long-standing dogma. The new discovery offered a scientific basis for how repeated training could create lasting mental traits in any field including contemplative practices such as meditation. The aim of our Meditation and Journaling Practice is to...

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Tuesday, May 4, 2026

Posted on May 4, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Attention and Awareness, Awareness, Meditation, Spirituality
3 Comments

Nancy Bishop, AP Resident, Watercolor This month we’ll focus on Mindfulness and Neuroscientific research done on meditation. Mindfulness is part of an ancient tradition with countless benefits. It teaches how to calm down and pause instead of reacting with anger or irritability, how to act without getting stressed or anxious. But originally the practice was not intended for such purposes. These are simply its side-effects.  Easy and brief meditation practices are spin offs that has been recently adopted in western countries. The original aim of meditation, still embraced in some cultures and circles, focusses on deep exploration of the mind to get insights into human consciousness.  Using fMRI and EEG (explained below) and a battery of cutting-edge data analysis for the last thirty years or so neuroscientists have been studying minds of Tibetan monks...

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Thursday, April 9, 2026

Posted on April 8, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
2 Comments

Turmoil and Tranquility, Acrylic on Canvas, 1979 Some of you might be struggling with silent meditation practice. Here are a few suggestions for you to use. Hope this helps!  Establish a formal meditation time when and where you have minimal of distraction. It is crucial to sit regularly. Mornings are great, evenings are good too. Sit in the same place each time. You will associate that space with tranquility and therefore look forward to sitting.  The very act of sitting still in silence and solitude will settle your mental clutter and recharge your battery. Let the practice grow gradually and gently. Fifteen to twenty minutes of silent meditation daily is very beneficial.  The purpose of Mindfulness Meditation is to transform your living experience. You now know  the difference between sensation, conscious thought, and feeling. You...

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Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Posted on April 6, 2026
in #Awareness, #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Flourishing, Nonverbal Activities, Originality, Sharper Brain after Retirement
2 Comments

The Hopeful Immigrant, Our Friend 1978, Acrylic on Canvas What does neuroplasticity mean?  Neuroplasticity means that our brain structure changes in response to whatever training we practice. It goes on all the time. Drugs temporarily alter our brain. We feel differently until they are in our system. But meditation alters each and every nook of our brain and our body and impacts our day-to-day life.  4 Pillars of neuroplasticity are Awareness, Connection, Insight and Resilience1. AwarenessMetta (loving friendly) Awareness means knowing where your mind is and what it is doing, and bringing it back to the breath over and over again. 2. ConnectionHealthy social relationships. 3. InsightIntroducing oneself to Self and having positive self-image. It ranges from positive self-image to not ever introducing oneself to Self to extremely negative self-image. 4 ResilienceHaving the ability to recover from adversity. In order to...

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Thursday, April 2, 2026

Posted on April 1, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Stillness and Solitude, #Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Being in Nature, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Travel
4 Comments

Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada In one Buddhist teaching the progress of the mind of a meditator, from being a novice to a skilled meditator, is equated with three bodies of water: waterfall, river and lake.WATERFALLThe mind of a beginner is like a waterfall. When you sit to meditate, your mind thunders with torrents of thoughts and feelings. You are oblivious to physical sensations. Even when torrents of thought tighten your muscles, you are clueless. You don’t know you are tense. Focus on your breath and try to get in touch with your physical sensations. Sit with your eyes closed for 15 minutes and then move on to journaling. Your awareness of what you are doing and who you are is a powerful grounding tool at this stage. Following the meditation,...

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Thursday, March 26, 2026

Posted on March 25, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
4 Comments

Magnolias, Ashby Ponds, March 2026 A half-century of neuroscientific research has concluded that meditation is as important to your mental well-being as exercise is to the physical health. If you exercise regularly, you build stronger muscles, denser bones, and increased stamina. If you meditate daily, your attention span, memory, and patience increase. You learn to manage negative emotions and situations more efficiently and strengthen sense of calm, resilience, and relationships.  The moment we are born, the breath is with us and the moment it leaves, we die. Wherever we go, our breath goes with us. It is our anchor. It is perfect the way it is. We need not speed it up, force it, push it away or control it. Simply pay attention to its natural rhythm, letting it continue its work without...

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