Nourish
Give Your Brain a Workout
Emily Fletcher is the founder of Ziva Meditation and the creator of zivaMIND, an online meditation training. She has helped companies such as Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom improve performance through meditation. She’s also a regular at barre3 West Village in New York City.
If I asked you to name the most important muscles to train, what would you say? Core? Glutes? Quads?
What about your brain?
Although your brain is not a muscle, it can be trained like one. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The less you use it, the more it atrophies, just like muscle tissue. Your brain can form new neural pathways based on your thoughts and behaviors. You can actually increase your neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change, by engaging in certain activities like meditation.
Why does this matter? Because your brain is the operating system of your body—just like your computer has an operating system that controls how elegantly the computer performs. Every thought you have impacts the chemistry and performance of your body. So just like you keep your body strong, you want to do the same with your mind.
As adults we are much less likely to learn new skills or languages. This can cause the brain to decrease its neuroplasticity. This, plus a lifetime of high demands and not enough sleep, can lead to physical manifestations of stress and physical health issues like anxiety, migraines, low libido, and infertility.
Here’s the good news: You can improve the health of your brain by giving it a “workout” similar to how you improve the health of your body by working out at barre3. And meditation is the best way to keep your brain vibrant, healthy, and strong.
Study after study has shown the health benefits of meditating, and I personally think it’s the single most effective tool for reducing stress and improving your performance in all areas of life. In the style of meditation that I teach at Ziva Meditation, you access a verifiable fourth state of consciousness which is different than waking, sleeping, or dreaming. In this state of mind you are de-exciting the nervous system, which gives you deep rest and releases the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin (aka bliss chemicals). This effectively melts away the stress in your body, which in turn improves your physical and mental functioning.
You know that body high you get after leaving a barre3 class? Meditation can do that to your brain in as little as 15 minutes.
Some of the most commonly reported “side effects” of starting a meditation practice (based on what my students have experienced) are:
Deeper, more refreshing sleep
Increased creativity
Increased compassion
More energy (aka better workouts)
Less anxiety
Less depression
Better parking karma
And better sex.
The potential benefits of meditation are pretty amazing, but here’s the not-so-secret secret: Just like working out, meditating requires training in order to get the best results. You can think of it like a barre3 class for your brain—the more you do it, the more toned your brain will get and the better you will feel. After a while, it will become something that you genuinely look forward to and want to make the time for. Your brain and body will thank you for it!
Do you meditate? Or are you thinking of starting? Let us know in the comments below!
Emily Fletcher is the founder of Ziva Meditation and the creator of zivaMIND, an online meditation training. She has helped companies such as Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom improve performance through meditation. She’s also a regular at barre3 West Village in New York City.
If I asked you to name the most important muscles to train, what would you say? Core? Glutes? Quads?
What about your brain?
Although your brain is not a muscle, it can be trained like one. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The less you use it, the more it atrophies, just like muscle tissue. Your brain can form new neural pathways based on your thoughts and behaviors. You can actually increase your neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change, by engaging in certain activities like meditation.
Why does this matter? Because your brain is the operating system of your body—just like your computer has an operating system that controls how elegantly the computer performs. Every thought you have impacts the chemistry and performance of your body. So just like you keep your body strong, you want to do the same with your mind.
As adults we are much less likely to learn new skills or languages. This can cause the brain to decrease its neuroplasticity. This, plus a lifetime of high demands and not enough sleep, can lead to physical manifestations of stress and physical health issues like anxiety, migraines, low libido, and infertility.
Here’s the good news: You can improve the health of your brain by giving it a “workout” similar to how you improve the health of your body by working out at barre3. And meditation is the best way to keep your brain vibrant, healthy, and strong.
Study after study has shown the health benefits of meditating, and I personally think it’s the single most effective tool for reducing stress and improving your performance in all areas of life. In the style of meditation that I teach at Ziva Meditation, you access a verifiable fourth state of consciousness which is different than waking, sleeping, or dreaming. In this state of mind you are de-exciting the nervous system, which gives you deep rest and releases the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin (aka bliss chemicals). This effectively melts away the stress in your body, which in turn improves your physical and mental functioning.
You know that body high you get after leaving a barre3 class? Meditation can do that to your brain in as little as 15 minutes.
Some of the most commonly reported “side effects” of starting a meditation practice (based on what my students have experienced) are:
Deeper, more refreshing sleep
Increased creativity
Increased compassion
More energy (aka better workouts)
Less anxiety
Less depression
Better parking karma
And better sex.
The potential benefits of meditation are pretty amazing, but here’s the not-so-secret secret: Just like working out, meditating requires training in order to get the best results. You can think of it like a barre3 class for your brain—the more you do it, the more toned your brain will get and the better you will feel. After a while, it will become something that you genuinely look forward to and want to make the time for. Your brain and body will thank you for it!
Do you meditate? Or are you thinking of starting? Let us know in the comments below!
