We
have long envied the meditation and lack of anxiety that monks have practiced
for thousands of years. This has pushed people for the longest time to try and
practice meditating in hopes of relieving our stress. Scientists, with the help
of medical imaging and technology, have also pursued the effects of meditation
and mindfulness in hopes of applying what seemed to be a psychological
phenomena in a an actual neurological manner for treating drug addictions,
cancer, anxiety, and depression, just to name a few. While these are
outstanding physical and psychological benefits, meditation and mindfulness can
even be taken into the context of trying to enhance creativity and productivity
in executive work environments.
Dr.
Lyons’ research at Chicago State University is based off this exact science. He
introduced mindfulness as a practice that can be brought about through yoga,
meditation, or just simple reflection for five minutes. In addition, he grounds
the idea of mindfulness and meditation to a physiological and neurological
basis that many people are unaware exists. Dr. Lyons research cites the brain
structures affected by meditation as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus,
amygdala, and many functional networks. For those out there that don’t really
know what those do, in laymen terms, they are essentially the parts of your
brain in control of emotion, learning, memory, and decision-making. His study
focused on the practice of mindfulness to drug addictions in prisoners of the
state. Five times more incarcerations are due to drugs, and his research in
mindfulness has helped in the rehabilitation process, in addition to promoting
engagement in the community post-incarceration since many drug inmates are
repeat offenders.
Realizing
that mindfulness and meditation have been found to be linked to underlying
neurological factors creates an advantage for employees under stress in
executive positions. It goes without being said that working in a position with
many deadlines and goals is stressful, which many individuals would perceive as
effective or productive. On the contrary, stress cognitively limits an
individual and then can lead to “bad decision making.” Ongoing research to try
to increase productivity in a work environment has lead to studies to look at
ways to help employees maximize their potential and promote a healthy work
setting. A current study at Harvard Medical School by Srini Pillay, an
assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of
NeuroBusiness Group, “suggests that companies help employees reduce stress and
access the creative parts of the brain even when they're under pressure” This
can be achieved through meditation and mindfulness as mentioned at Dr. Lyon’s
lecture. Dr. Lyons mentioned how mindfulness affects parts of the brain; in this
circumstance, focusing on the prefrontal cortex is important because it is
responsible for creativity, abstract ability, and social skills , and so “in
that mental state, the creative part of the brain tends to be active” (Blackman).
As
demonstrated through Dr. Lyon’s lecture, meditation and mindfulness can be
utilized for treating serious psychological disorders such as depression and
stress disorders. It can be used to help with cancer and treating drug
addictions, impacting physiological as well as even societal influences. Who
knew meditation could be used to enhance office environments? It is quite
apparent that meditation can be applied to broader contexts. This ultimately
shows that neuroscience research looking at meditation and mindfulness is
greatly expanding and aiding very diverse areas in society.
Citations:
Blackman, Andrew. "The Inner Workings of
the Executive Brain." The Wall Street Journal. Dow
Jones & Company, 27 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461722158151180?KEYWORDS=meditation+and+neuroscience&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303725404579461722158151180.html%3FKEYWORDS%3Dmeditation%2Band%2Bneuroscience>.
Lyons, Thomas .
"Mindfulness, Meditation, and Drug and Alcohol Use." Loyola
Neuroscience
Seminar.
Loyola University Chicago. , . 18 Mar. 2014. Lecture.
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