How Meditation Works & Science-Based Effective Meditations

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2022

⏱️ 145 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I discuss the biological mechanisms of the state changes that occur during different types of meditation and describe how to develop the meditation practice optimal for you. I explain key meditation principles, such as using specific breathwork patterns and adjusting your perception to specific locations along the continuum between interoception, exteroception and dissociation. I discuss how meditation practices lead to long-term trait changes and neuroplasticity, including changing your default mood, reducing baseline anxiety/depression, increasing your ability to focus, enhancing relaxation, improving sleep, and increasing your overall happiness level. I also explain the concept behind the “third-eye center,” what mindfulness is from a biological standpoint, the power of ultra-brief meditations and how to select the best meditation and time and duration to meditate to meet your need. I also explain a novel open-eyed perception-based meditation that may enhance focus, relaxation and task-switching ability. Whether you are a novice or an experienced meditator or simply interested in how our brain controls different aspects of conscious awareness and self-regulation, this episode should interest you. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Huberman Lab Premium https://hubermanlab.com/premium For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com Timestamps (00:00:00) Meditation (00:04:13) InsideTracker, Thesis, ROKA, Momentous Supplements (00:08:25) Brief History of Meditation: Consciousness, Psychedelics, fMRI (00:16:19) How the Brain Interprets the Body & Surrounding Environment; Mindfulness (00:26:07) Neuroscience of Meditation; Perceptual Spotlights (00:32:27) AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:33:41) Interoception vs. Exteroception (00:42:20) Default Mode Network, Continuum of Interoception & Exteroception (00:53:30) Tools: Interoceptive or Exteroceptive Bias, Meditation Challenge (01:01:48) State & Trait Changes, Interoceptive & Exteroceptive Meditations, Refocusing (01:07:35) Tool: Brief Meditations, Waking Up App (01:10:30) “Third Eye Center” & Wandering Thoughts (01:20:46) Meditation: Practice Types, Focal Points & Consistency (01:24:10) Breathwork: Cyclic Hyperventilation, Box Breathing & Interoception (01:30:41) Tool: Meditation Breathwork, Cyclic vs. Complex Breathwork (01:39:22) Interoception vs. Dissociation, Trauma (01:47:43) Model of Interoception & Dissociation Continuum (01:53:39) Meditation & Dissociation: Mood, Bias & Corresponding Challenge (02:00:18) Meditation & Sleep: Yoga Nidra, Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) (02:11:33) Choosing a Meditative Practice; Hypnosis (02:14:53) Tool: Space-Time Bridging (STB) (02:25:00) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Uberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.6	I'm Andrew Uberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.4	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we are discussing meditation.
0:16.9	We are going to discuss the science of meditation, that is what happens in the brain and body while we are meditating,
0:23.1	and we will talk about the science of meditation as it relates to how the brain and body change as a
0:28.1	consequence of meditation. That is what you export or take from a meditation practice that can impact everything from your sleep to your mood.
0:36.4	For instance, meditation has been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression and we will also talk about how meditation can be used to enhance
0:43.8	focus and other states of mind that are useful for work and other aspects of life.
0:48.5	Now, of course most of you have probably heard of meditation and when we think of meditation, most often we think of somebody
0:53.8	either sitting or lying down. If they're sitting, we might imagine them in the so-called lotus position,
0:58.8	you know sitting with legs crossed very upright with hands on the knees or you know crossed in our lap or something of that sort.
1:04.8	Typically we think of somebody who is in a very calm state, eyes closed, focused on their so-called third eye center.
1:10.9	The third eye center is the area just behind one's forehead. There's no third eye there.
1:15.8	At least there shouldn't be, but I'll tell you why it's called the third eye center and what the origins of that are and why it's
1:22.5	relevant actually for a meditative practice. With all that said, it turns out that meditation encompasses a huge variety of different practices.
1:30.3	Some of those practices indeed are done sitting or lying down with one's eyes closed, focusing on the third eye center.
1:35.8	Other of those practices are focused on a body scan, you know really focusing on one area of the body and its contact with whatever surface you
1:43.2	happen to be sitting or lying on or can be done walking. In fact, there are walking meditations done with eyes open.
1:49.9	So there are many different forms of meditation, but today we are going to focus mainly on how specific types of meditation and
1:56.1	specific areas of the brain that are activated during those meditations change our way of being in fundamental ways.
2:02.7	Not just during the meditation practice, but afterwards as well.
2:06.5	So if you're somebody who's interested in changing your default state of mood or of thinking or enhancing your ability to focus or
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