Happy Doc Student Podcast

Is Meditation a Waste of Time? with davidji

February 03, 2021 Heather Frederick, PhD Episode 12
Happy Doc Student Podcast
Is Meditation a Waste of Time? with davidji
Happy Doc Student Podcast
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Show Notes

This podcast was recorded as a YOUTUBE and you can view the unedited interview here: https://youtu.be/9ssJbh7ibRg 

davidji is a globally recognized mind, body, health & wellness expert, mindful performance trainer, meditation teacher, and author. As the most prolific creator of guided meditations in the world, his work has touched literally millions of people's lives. 

Is meditation a waste of time?

We've been trained from the earliest of ages that the person who's not doing is the person who distinctly is not achieving, and the person who is going, doing right to the brink of exhaustion and burnout is the champion. It's not really nourishing thinking and it's not true.

Meditation will help you: in a physical sense, in a mental sense, in an emotional sense, and if you care, in a spiritual sense. 

Landmark studied provided evidence that meditation changes the physical structure of the brain: 2012 study at the University of Massachusetts Mass General with Harvard Medical Center.

16 test subjects who agreed to MRI's of their brain before, during, and after. It was an eight-week study, and they were instructed to meditate just once a day for 30 minutes, simply watching their breath. 

Results:

·       Increase (at least 5%) in the grey matter of hippocampus, the part of our brain responsible for learning memory, spatial orientation, hand-eye coordination

·       A shrinkage of more than 5% in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for stress, anger, anxiety, fear (um, hello!! are you getting this?)

Stress is in the eye of the beholder

Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin in Madison has done extensive work on consciousness and the brain.  25,000 people participated, and they asked two questions: 

1) Do you have a lot of stress or a little stress?

2) Do you think it's harmful to you? Or do you think it is not harmful to you?

Tracked participants' lives over 8 years & looked at death records.

·       People who said “I have a lot of stress and  it's very harmful” had a 43% higher mortality rate

·       People who said “Yeah, I have a lot of stress, but it's not going to kill me,” had the lowest mortality rate (don't you want to be here?) 

Definition of stress: How you respond when your needs are not met. 

Four basic needs: Attention, Affection, Appreciation, Acceptance

Fight-Flight and the Autonomic Nervous System

It's our autonomic nervous system that's running the show. And in less than 5 seconds it's going to kick us into the self-preservation mechanism where we will either fight the threat or run away from it. 

What gets shut down when you are stressed: Sex hormones, Growth hormones, Immune system, Digestive system, Critical thinking AND your blood starts to clot.

 Destressifying could be one of the most important things that we could ever put our attention on.

Meditation can help you have fewer crises in your life. It really is that simple.

Connect with davidji

Facebook @flowoflove; IG @davidjime

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