Science

Focus & attention have far reaching consequences for your work, relationships, sports, daily activities… but is also linked to our ability to control impulses, emotions and achieve long-term goals. Meditation allows you to:

• become aware and let go of distraction 
• experience joy and gratitude with everyday activities by coming back to the present
• keep mind-wandering in check and worry less
• important for craving, addictions and creating new habits

Meditation has long-lasting effects on how you perceive and deal with reality and the challenge in your life:

• resilience & significant decreases in fear, anxiety, stress and depressive symptoms 
• regulation of negative self-beliefs 
• intentially choose how to respond on emotions instead of responding impulsively

• Improvement of sleep, immune system, blood pressure and physical pain (important for chronic pain diseases)

Non-reactive observation allows for new ideas and empathy to emerge and promotes:

• cognitive flexibility and divergent thinking
• ability to filter information in creative processes
• empathy & more qualitative communication 
• relating to other's states of minds, motivations, desires, ...
• understanding and less conflict
• appreciation for others
• more compassion for others and yourself

After only 2 weeks, structural changes -volume and activity- have been observed in (among others):

• PREFRONTAL CORTEX - overriding automatic behavior and regulating emotions, including stress and fear and enhancing empathy
• ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX - for focus, self-regulation, learning from past experiences, purposefully direct attention and behavior
• ANTERIOR INSULA - bodily sensations, 'gut feeling' and empathy
• AMYGDALA - responsible for automatic reactions, including fight or flight responses
• HIPPOCAMPUS - resilience to stress, learning and memory