Better focus

Because meditation is a practice in focusing our attention and being aware of when it drifts, this actually improves our focus when we’re not meditating, as well. It’s a lasting effect that comes from regular meditation practice.

Less anxiety

The more we meditate, the less anxiety we have, this happens because we’re actually loosening the connections of particular neural pathways in Me Center (medial prefrontal cortex). This is the part of the brain that processes information relating to ourselves and our experiences. Normally the neural pathways from the bodily sensation and fear centers of the brain to the Me Center are really strong. When we experience a scary or upsetting sensation, it triggers a strong reaction in our Me Center, making us feel scared and under attack.

When we meditate, we weaken the neural connections. This means that we don’t react as strongly to sensations that might have once. As we weaken this connection, we strengthen the connection between what’s known as our Assessment Center (the part of our brains known for reasoning) and our bodily sensation and fear centers. So when we experience scary or upsetting sensations, we can more easily look at them rationally.

Better memory

One of the things meditation has been linked to, is improving rapid memory recall. Researchers found that people who practiced mindful meditation were able to adjust the brain waves that screens out distractions and increase their productivity more quickly that those that did not meditate.

Less stress

Mindful meditation has been shown to help people perform under more pressure while feeling less stressed. At 2012 scientists split a group of HR managers into three sub-groups, which one third participated in mindful meditation training, another third took body relaxation training and the last third were given no training at all. A stressful multitasking test was given to all the managers before and after the eight-week training. In the final test, the group that had participated in the mindful meditation training reported less stress during the test than both of the other groups.

More gray matter formation

Meditation has been linked to larger amounts of gray matter formation in the hippocampus and frontal areas of the brain. What does it mean: more gray matter can lead to more positive emotions, longer-lasting emotional stability and heightened focus during daily life.

Meditation has also been shown to diminish age-related effects on gray matter and reduce the decline of our cognitive functioning.