Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study
Long term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation
Research at the University of Laguna, Tenerife Spain conclude that the long term practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation is associated with:
- A 7% average larger grey matter volume overall in the brain.
- A younger brain.
- A more frequent use of one part of the brain that is associated with: sustained attention, self-control, and compassion and interoceptive perception.
- The research was carried out by Sahaja Yogis Sergio Elias (Spain), Katya Rubia (UK) and Jose Suero (Spain), along with the scientists José Luis González Mora and Alfonso Barros from Spain.
The results of the research was published in the prestigious scientific journal PLOS ONE.
This was later covered by several newspapers as well as an interview with Sergio Elias on the main TV channel in the Canary Islands.
Some data of the research:
Objectives
To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation.
Design
Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry.
Results
Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators.
Conclusions
The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.
Some references of our Divine Mother:
Day of Mahasahasrara Gorai Creek, Bombay (India) 5 of May of 1983.
‘This (Sahasrara) is the Shriphala’………………inside us – grey matter and white matter – two such things are inside us.… and inside that is water, which is the cerebrospinal fluid inside us.”
“Our brain is the fruit of the whole of our evolution. Whatever has been our evolution to date – that from amoeba, today we have become humans – we have got all that, as a result of this brain. From the brain, all this — whatever we have got – is through this brain. Within this are all kinds of powers; of all kind. Within this is collected all the wealth that has been received by us.”
For those who would like to read more deeply about the study we attach the research and give you the link to the actual publication.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article…
We hope that the research will be useful to spread Sahaja Yoga in the scientific world, although can be interesting for anyone.
We give thanks to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi our mother and provider of all this Knowledge.