Try meditation to change 'emotional DNA': Expert

SANGAM (ALLAHABAD): The positive effects of meditation have been known for ages, but the science behind it is being understood now.
When a person sits in a quiet place undisturbed, eyes closed, breathing regulated, such concentration helps control the mind. With several thousand physical-sensory inputs in our mind, and hundreds of them increasing by the day as we evolve, the mind has a substantial risk of going berserk or failing.Reining and disciplining the mind is the most important task today, and meditation is the best tool.
Dr Pankaj Gupta a neurologist says "Till not many years back, scientists believed that our brain was like an object cast in iron and that after a certain time no change could be brought in it. But now with the help of functional MRI new neural networks can be seen in response to a habit as old as a month. Thus, the brain of a tribal who has never brushed his teeth responds by forming new nerve fibers within a month of brushing teeth" he added. "This phenomenon in which human brain responds to mental or physical activity by forming new connections and realigns itself is called neuro-plasticity. Meditation can actually change our emotional DNA."
Our brains can be thought of as having muscles. Just as muscles experience hypertrophy in response to vigorous physical exercise, the brain too performs more in response to higher mental activity. In effect, the brain follows the dictum of 'use it or lose it'. Effectually, this would mean that if we do not render or even think of any act of kindness or compassion, the nerve fibers in our brain controlling these functions would go numb.
In our daily lives, as we rush to work and spend hours before television or the computer screen, traits such as of altruism, empathy, compassion, which distinguish a human being from animal, actually take a backseat. This is where the role of meditation comes into play.
When brains of a group of Buddhist monks, who had practised hours of compassion along with meditation, were compared with those of ordinary peoples, the anterior cingulate gyrus which is the brain area responsible for compassion was found larger.
Again when both the groups were shown photographs of people in distress the brains of monks showed lighting up of anterior cingulated gyrus but it was not so with the other group.
Amygdale, which is a part of brain that controls 'fight or flight' response is large in the case of anxious, or agitated persons, while smaller in the case of peoples who meditate regularly. Meditation de-stresses and soothes nerves.
Dr Gupta says "Meditation does not mean sitting idle. It is challenging our minds to think what we want and cut out what we don't. Meditation is of several types and can be devised as per our needs. If our mind races to finish a job before we have completed the previous one and we feel our lives are chaotic and in perpetual disarray and we frequently 'splutter', we need meditation to concentrate and soothe our senses."
This can be done by sitting in a room which has been darkened and by concentrating on a flicker of light while distancing our mind from other distractions and breathing slowly and deeply.
Practice and patience are important. Only after meditating regularly 30 minutes daily for a month can some effect be expected. A type of yoga for 'compassion and consciousness' is practiced as follows:
Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, dressed comfortably. Imagine a soft ball in your chest. Close your eyes and take this ball to each of your toes and then each part of your body feeling its warmth, all this while breathing slowly but deeply. At the end of one session as you return the ball to your chest, think of an act of kindness such as of giving a blanket to a man shivering in cold. Slowly, after several sessions your mind and body will glow with love and compassion.
"With practice, we become ready to offer a helping hand to a fellow human in distress in mind and spirit and no cry of distress goes unattended," says Dr Gupta.
At the ongoing Maha Kumbh, seer Premji points out, "Meditation brings peace of mind and helps relax the body too." He adds, "Meditation enhances concentration and develops patience."