US professor Richard J. Davidson studies how this practice changes the mind and mental health
JOSEP LLUÍS MERLOS Barcelona 26/02/2018
The cabbages·workers and members of Lama Thubten Wangchen's community were walking around carrying chairs that appeared out of nowhere. People kept coming in, and the expected capacity had overflowed. The corridors were full to overflowing, many people are on the ground. It was raining and very cold outside. Perhaps for this reason many of those attending the gomba from the Casa del Tibet in Barcelona had not taken off their shoes, as is usual in this ceremonial precinct. And that most of them were used to doing it, as they were regular practitioners of meditation and quite knowledgeable about the “tools of emotional well-being”, disclosed to Catalunya Radio by Gaspar Hernandez, one of the well-known voices that went to the call, as did the RAC1 announcer Elisenda Camps.
It was not the first time that Richard J. Davidson was giving a talk at this venue, accompanied again by psychotherapist Koncha Pinós, director of the Contemplative Studies organization.
Davidson is a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin, in the United States, and has been working as a neuroscience researcher for more than forty years, delving into the study of emotions and the brain. His lab is the Center for Healthy Minds (center per a ments sanes), a Madison, and it uses images obtained with magnetic resonance, positron emission tomography, electroencephalograms and all kinds of methods based on genetics and epigenetics.
Buddhism and neuroscience
This time in Barcelona he explained how the brain can be transformed through meditation, a reflection made from the path that goes from Buddhism to neuroscience. Segons Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, the inspiring teacher of the speakers and founder of the Tergar community, meditation is the art of cultivating full awareness and deep insight, a tool for undoing destructive patterns of behavior and developing positive qualities such as wisdom and compassion.
in the book The benefits of meditation, that Davidson wrote with Daniel Goleman - creator of the concept intel·emotional intelligence -, they explain that meditation not only transforms our personality but is capable of changing the mind, the brain and even the body. "The best medicine I would recommend for depression - explains Davidson - is a meditation pillow". His work establishes, more than a bridge, a dialogue between mind and science. The routes of neuroplasticity, that is to say, the brain's ability to weave neural networks from experiences, they allow us to shape it through learning.
He 1992 this researcher born in New York the 1961 he met the Dalai Lama in his exile in Dharamsala (India). Tenzin Gyatso asked him why he was using all this scientific methodology just to analyze pathologies like depression or anxiety, and not virtues like compassion or kindness. The American took it as an assignment and since then he has not stopped working in this line.
Cultivating mental health through various meditation and contemplation practices allows us to induce changes in our brain. According to Davidson, wellness is a skill we can learn, like anything else. "It's like playing the violin, that we are learning based on practice", state.
Several scientific studies conclude that people who practice meditation for many years can modify their genes. obviously, the genetic structure is not altered, but yes the way of "opening and closing” these genes, which makes it possible to be more receptive to certain virtues, and prepares us for it. In the talk they explained how it was possible to verify with measurable data that the brains of people who have meditated for many years have a different genetic structure, superior a l’habitual, and how this has allowed them to delay the biological processes of aging.
Neutralize the harmful part
Buddhism tells us about the innate goodness of people. It tells us that every human being is born with a natural propensity to be empathetic, cooperative and not aggressive or competitive. We are incorporating these defects as a repercussion of the violence that floats everywhere. From compassion and attention we can neutralize this harmful part and encourage gratuitousness, goodness and kindness. The scientific methodology allows us an analysis secular of meditation. Both Davidson and Pinós explained that this has allowed them to discover things that they could not have imagined as scientists. Both say that by applying this to school settings, better results can be achieved, since children can learn more easily than adults. And they believe that this is a magical mission to fulfill: that of envisioning what the immediate future can be like if we are able to progress, and make progress, in kindness and in the joy of living, to know how to replace hatred with kindness.
"Technology has helped us a lot to analyze things scientifically. But it has also destroyed the ways we relate. We still have time to change that if we use this technology to cultivate the mind and not to destroy it”, diu Davidson.
From Cabbage·Law of the Bar in Pimec
The density of Davidson's schedule in Barcelona contrasts with his relaxed disposition. The day after the conference at the Buddhist center, participated in a workshop at Col·legi of the Barcelona Bar and gave a talk at Pimec, which brings together the small and medium-sized companies of Catalonia. There he explained that through meditation we can achieve many benefits in the professional field. Stress control helps us exercise better leadership that allows us to have a deeper and more global view of the world around us and better connect with others.
It is scientifically proven that business people who practice meditation often find more meaning in life and have a better ability to concentrate, and they can modify their brain circuits to perform better at work. But we must not understand this improvement of skills as a tool to increase competitiveness, but quite the opposite, as a method to get better results from generosity and understanding. This meditation should be taken as mental gymnastics. With a practice that, According to Davidson, "it should be as natural as brushing your teeth", not only can we improve productivity but also… reduce healthcare costs, because we will improve performance and contribute to the reduction of work absenteeism.
