Your Brain on prayer 4 week course: Week 1

Your brain on PrayerYour brain on Prayer
The intersection modern
neuroscience and ancient practices

WelcomeWelcome
What to ExpectWhat to Expect
A bit about the brain
A bit about contemplative prayer / mindfulness
meditation
A bit of practice

My storyMy story
upbringing: prayer is words only
meditation is Eastern religion, therefore wrong
hearing about all the positive benefits of meditation:
curiosity + skepticism + curiosity
learning about the discoveries of neuroscience:
skepticism collapses under the weight of science

A Bit about the brainA Bit about the brain
Modern neuroscience

Learning from scientistsLearning from scientists
• A testimonial from Dr. Sara Lazar
• Sara W. Lazar, PhD is an Associate Researcher in
the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts
General Hospital and an Instructor in Psychology at
Harvard Medical School. She is a Board member of
the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and is
a contributing author to Meditation and
Psychotherapy.
• - TEDx Conference video

““Houston,Houston,
we have a problemwe have a problem””

The Evolving BrainThe Evolving Brain
Amygdala
The “fight or flight” center.
When over stimulated creates
stress, inhibits the frontal
lobes’ ability to think logically.
The amygdala tells the
pituitary to pump out stress
hormones such as cortisol.

Good News:Good News:
Brains ChangeBrains Change
• Neuroplascticity: New Connections form from our
experiences

Good News:Good News:
Brains ChangeBrains Change
• New Neural Networks form by repeated experience

Repeated ExperienceRepeated Experience
makes stronger pathwaysmakes stronger pathways

MindfulnessMindfulness
• “Activities involving meditation and intensive prayer
permanently strengthen neural functioning in specific
parts of the brain that are involved with lowering
anxiety and depression, enhancing social awareness
and empathy, and improving cognitive and
intellectual functioning.
• Newberg & Waldman, How God Changes your Brain,
chapter 8, p. 149ff.

MindfulnessMindfulness
• “The neural circuits activated by meditation buffer
you from the deleterious effects of aging stress and
gives you better control over your emotions.
• At the very least, such practices hope you remain
calm, serene, peaceful, and either. And for nearly
everyone, it gives you a positive and optimistic
outlook on life.”
• Newberg & Waldman, How God Changes your Brain,
chapter 8, p. 149ff.

Introducing MindfulnessIntroducing Mindfulness
• “Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from
paying attention on purpose, in the present
moment, non-judgmentally, to things as they are.
It’s a way of shifting from doing to being.
• “The Mindful Way Through Depression” Mark Williams,
John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, p.
54

Introducing MindfulnessIntroducing Mindfulness
• …Being mindful means that we suspend judgment
for a time, set aside our immediate goals for the
future, and take in the present moment as it is rather
than as we would like it to be. It means we approach
situations with openness.”
• “The Mindful Way Through Depression” Mark Williams,
John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, p.
54

A Bit of PracticeA Bit of Practice
Mindfulness

The Chocolate meditationThe Chocolate meditation
1. Open, smell

1. Open, smell
2. Visual examination

1. Open, smell
3. Place it on your tongue: let it melt. (How many of the
300 different flavors can you identify?)

1. Open, smell
4. Mind wandering: notice, identify, gently escort back
(non-judgmentally)

1. Open, smell
4. Mind wandering: notice, identify, gently escort back
(non-judgmentally)
5. Swallow, come back to the present

• How was it?

The Breath MeditationThe Breath Meditation
1. Sit straight, back away from chair, feet flat, legs not
crossed, hands on legs, close eyes (or lower gaze)

2. Focus attention on the breath (no need to alter
normal breathing)

normal breathing)
3. Mind wandering: notice, identify, gently escort it back
(non-judgmentally)

normal breathing)
(non-judgmentally)
4. Allow whetver happens to happen as it is.

normal breathing)
(non-judgmentally)
4. Allow whetver happens to happen as it is.
5. Open eyes, take in the present moment

• How was it?

Changing your brainChanging your brain
• The Key is practice (repitition)
• 8 weeks
• 20 minutes a day

Is this prayer?Is this prayer?
• More and deeper later, but note:
• “For God alone my soul waits in silence,
• for my hope is from him.” - Psalm 62:5
• “Silence is praise to you, Zion-dwelling God” - Psalm
65:1

Benefits of mindfulnessBenefits of mindfulness
meditationmeditation
• From “Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding
Peace in a Frantic World,” Williams, Mark; Penman,
Danny (2011-10-25). p. 6
• “Numerous psychological studies have shown that
regular meditators are happier and more contented
than average. these are not just important results in
themselves but have huge medical significance, as
such positive emotions are linked to a longer and
healthier life.

• Anxiety, depression and irritability all decrease with
regular sessions of meditation. Memory also
improves, reaction times become faster and mental
and physical stamina increase. Regular meditators
enjoy better and more fulfilling relationships.

• Studies worldwide have found that meditation
reduces the key indicators of chronic stress,
including hypertension. Meditation has also been
found to be effective in reducing the impact of
serious conditions, such as chronic pain and cancer,
and can even help to relieve drug and alcohol
dependence.

• Studies have now shown that meditation bolsters the
immune system and thus helps to fight off colds, flu
and other diseases.

References to studiesReferences to studies
• 1. www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/projections/en/index.html.
• 2. Zisook, S., et al. (2007), “Effect of Age atOnset on the Course of Major Depressive Disorder,” American
Journal of Psychiatry, 164, pp. 1539–46, doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.06101757.
• 3. Klein, D. N. (2010), “Chronic Depression: diagnosis and classification,” Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 19, pp. 96–100.
• 4. Twenge, J. M. (2000), “Age of anxiety? Birth cohort changes in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, pp. 1007–21.
• 5. Michalak, J. (2010), “Embodied effects of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy,” Journal of
Psychosomatic Research, 68, pp. 311–14.
• 6. Strack, F., Martin, L. & Stepper, S. (1988), “Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: A
nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, pp.
768–77.
• 7. Way, B. M., Creswell, J. D., Eisenberger, N. I. & Lieberman, M. D. (2010), “Dispositional Mindfulness
and Depressive Symptomatology: Correlations with Limbic and Self-Referential Neural Activity During
Rest,” Emotion, 10, pp. 12–24.
• 8. Watkins, E. & Baracaia, S. (2002), “Rumination and social problem-solving in depression,” Behavior
Research and Therapy, 40, pp. 1179–89.

See you Next TuesdaySee you Next Tuesday
Bring a friend!

Your Brain on prayer 4 week course: Week 1

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