There is growing evidence that simple, everyday changes to our lives can alter our brains and change how they work.
I’ve posted about my latest documentary a fair bit, but in case you missed it, I spent six weeks doing a guided meditation course, and had my brain scanned before and after to see what would happen.
Spoiler alert, there was a result: the structure of my brain had in fact changed. And there were a few measurable changes to be seen. Here’s the first part of the TV documentary.
It was a surreal experience, as I was both focussing on meditating each day whilst also producing a TV show, finding experts and getting a sense of other interesting ‘brain hacks’ that would concurrently also mould my brain. I also had no idea if there would be a result right until the last day of filming, which would somewhat have ruined the ending… But taking risks is fun, right.
A highlight? Sitting at the base of Mount Etna in Sicily meditating, with a drone flying above me.
While I’m not still meditating (it is surprisingly hard to consistently do it), if i find myself getting stressed I will certainly come back to it. A lasting take-home from the experience is that I can use it to reset my busy mind from the demands of parenting.
The constant mental load of life with two children is intense, there’s always something to think about - PE days, dress up days, homework, play dates, presents. It has only intensified with time. Then of course there’s the rest of life to consider too, work, ambition, friendships, texting people back (if i don’t reply immediately, it tends to get lost). But what I learnt from the whole process is that mindfulness allows your brain to calm down, to focus on the present moment, which in turn, helps reduce stress, as I wrote in my article:
What's fascinating about this area of research is that mindfulness, which appears to be such a simple process, can have a measurable effect. "What mindfulness does is it can buffer stress, you become aware of challenges and those more ruminative responses, a tendency to worry."
While I'm perhaps not an ideal candidate – my stress levels, which were measured before and after the process, are generally low – I still felt a benefit. As soon as I started a session, it felt like the first minute or two were easy. I would focus on my breath, or parts of my body as instructed. But at any moment of silence I would find my mind going on time-travelling journeys. I'd think about a conversation with a friend from weeks ago, then flit within seconds to thinking about scheduling a dentist appointment, then next about an upcoming work deadline… and so on. In quick succession, I could see just how rapidly my mind shifted from thought to thought. Speed this up and it can become extremely exhausting.
Want to find out more? If you are in the UK, the full show is on BBC iPlayer, but if you are outside the UK, parts 2, 3 and 4 can be seen here.
If you are short of time, a text version of it can be read here.