“Meditation takes us from survival to creation; from separation to connection; from imbalance to balance; from emergency mode to growth-and-repair mode; and from the limiting emotions of fear, anger, and sadness to the expansive emotions of joy, freedom, and love.”  – Dr. Joe Dispenza.

Some of you might feel uncomfortable with the idea of meditation. Some might think it’s a new- age fad. However, my extensive research into the science of meditation has demonstrated time and time again that the benefits of the practice are consistently substantial. Meditation allows us to access states of peak performance and fulfilment. Its potential for stress reduction is undeniable and as you’ll learn, it can even create beneficial changes to brain structure.

Tim Ferris is an American entrepreneur, author, investor, and lifestyle guru. He became an advocate for the practice of meditation after writing Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The book is based on his interviews with more than 200 people who are at their top of their respective fields; this includes celebrities, athletes, and scientists. One habit that was consistently common to the Titans he interviewed was the practice of meditation.

In a similar book, Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators and Mavericks Do to Win at Life, Dave Asprey mirrors Tim Ferris’ findings. He reports that of the 450 experts that inspired the book, the practice of meditation was their most consistently reported habit.

Ferris says that more than 80 percent of the world- class performers he interviewed, independent of their specialty, used meditation to achieve better results with less stress. Many were using the practice to recover from the feeling of ‘being in the trenches’ throughout the day. He summed up with a quote by Abraham Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.” In Tim’s words, “Meditation simply helps you channel drive toward the few things that matter, rather than every moving target and imaginary opponent that pops up.”

Another proponent of meditation is Yuval Harari, a professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a best- selling author. His books are about what makes us uniquely human. He writes about our capacity for communication and the challenge that artificial intelligence is likely to present in the near future. Harari describes meditation as the best tool to develop psychological flexibility and resilience. Harari meditates for two hours a day and attends at least one three-to-six-week meditation retreat each year. He claims that there’s no way he’d be able to do the work without having developed the mental clarity, concentration and focus that meditation brings.

For me, the most tangible benefit I get from the practice relates to what is known as the ‘default mode network’, a brain network associated with mind wandering and self-related thinking. Overactivity in the default mode network has been shown to be related to unhappiness and cognitive fatigue.

A major study of 5000 people found that participants who were thinking about something other than the activity they were doing, were caught up in their default mode network for at least half of the time. It also found that people were most happy when they were thinking about what they were actually doing at that point in time, even happier than when their mind was wandering on positive thoughts.

The researchers said, “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” It’s well documented that the practice of meditation is associated with reduced activity in the default mode network. In other words, the voice inside one’s head, that inner critic tends to quieten; I’ve personally found that to be the most obvious benefit. When I meditate, I simply get more done. When my meditation practice has lapsed for a time, my mind wanders more and focused attention becomes more difficult.

Meditation was once primarily a faith-based practice, perhaps reserved for monks in temples and caves. The 20th century saw the various practices become increasingly popular and the benefits are now backed by rigorous scientific enquiry. One well studied modality is Transcendental Meditation (TM) a simple technique that has profound effects. More than 600 studies have been conducted into TM. One study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that African-Americans with heart disease who regularly practiced TM had a 48 percent reduced risk of death, heart attack and stroke.

The link between stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well defined and so unsurprising given the ability of TM to reduce the long-lasting effects of stress, it’s been found to be useful in the prevention and treatment of CVD. It’s also proven to be effective in treating soldiers with PTSD. Children who meditate twice a day sleep better, are more creative thinkers and achieve better academically. They’re healthier, have higher self-esteem and experience significant reductions in stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

If I could recommend one habit to anyone I care about, it would be to develop the habit of meditating. My preferred practice is mindfulness- based. Mindfulness meditation gained popularity in the Western world in part because like TM it doesn’t require any specific religious faith, and there’s a lot of scientific evidence for the various benefits.

Practicing meditation may play a role in hearing loss prevention, improving the hearing centres in the brain, and reduces tinnitus (ringing in the ears) disturbance.

Meditation and hearing health

If you suffer from tinnitus, meditation can improve your ability to selectively switch attention away from the sounds throughout your day. During meditation sessions, it can be helpful to pay attention to the tinnitus sound, so you can start to associate it with the positive experience of relaxation and calm. This new, more peaceful association may slowly replace the old disturbing and stressful one. Also, you might consider playing some relaxing sounds or music during meditation sessions if you find the tinnitus particularly distracting.

One of the main benefits of meditation relates to its strong potential to reduce stress. Stress is a primary exacerbator of tinnitus. Prolonged exposure to the fight or flight chemicals creates inflammation and can result in the deterioration of your health, which includes the delicate parts within the ears.

The overproduction of adrenaline can reduce blood circulation in the inner ear. Not only can this cause hearing loss over time, in rare cases there can be sudden hearing loss when circulation stops completely. Meditation lowers the production of adrenaline and increases the flow of blood within the ears. That blood flow is essential to maintaining hearing health. Additionally, the stress response can result in oxidative stress, which is largely a result of an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants.

Meditation, which reduces stress, also decreases these deteriorating health effects. According to research conducted by Sara Lazar, neuroscientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, meditation goes a step further and can be beneficial to the primary hearing centres of the brain, particularly those located in the temporal lobe including the auditory cortex, the main area of the brain specific to hearing. According to a meta-analysis of several published studies, “Those who meditated have an increased thickness of grey matter in parts of the brain responsible for attention compared to those who do not meditate.”
It’s not just a boost in focus, meditating increases the way the brain codes and stores auditory information. Separate to the physiological benefits on the auditory system, meditation has been shown to increase the qualities of compassion and empathy in practitioners. Combined with attentional improvements, it follows that you may well become a better listener. How can that not be a good thing?

If you’re wondering where to begin, it’s worth trying out different methods to see how they suit you. I’ve tried several methods over the past five years and I have to say that the ‘Waking Up’ smartphone app by neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris is the most helpful and comprehensive way to get started that I’ve been able to find. It’s a guided meditation, non-religious, based on science and easy to follow. I find it best to listen to after exercise. He has also written a book called Waking Up. For more information check out www.wakingup.com.