How Meditation Works & Science-Based Effective Meditations

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are discussing meditation. We are going to discuss the science of meditation, that is what happens in the brain and body while we are meditating. And we will talk about the science of meditation as it relates to how the brain and body change as a consequence of meditation. That is what you export or take from a meditation practice that can impact everything from your sleep to your mood. For instance, meditation has been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression. And we will also talk about how meditation can be used to enhance focus and other states of mind that are useful for work and other aspects of life. Now, of course, most of you have probably heard of meditation. And when we think of meditation, most often we think of somebody either sitting or lying down. If they're sitting, we might imagine them in the so-called lotus position, sitting with legs crossed, very upright with hands on the knees or crossed in our lap or something of that sort. Typically, we think of somebody who's in a very calm state, eyes closed, focused on their so-called third eye center. The third eye center is the area just behind one's forehead. There's no third eye there, 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 relevant actually for a meditative practice. With all that said, it turns out that meditation encompasses a huge variety of different practices. Some of those practices indeed are done sitting or lying down with one's eyes closed, focusing on the third eye center. Other of those practices are focused on a body scan, really focusing on one area of the body and its contact with whatever surface you happen to be sitting or lying on, or can be done walking. In fact, there are walking meditations done with eyes open. So there are many different forms of meditation, but today we are going to focus mainly on how specific types of meditation and specific areas of the brain that are activated during those meditations change our way of being in fundamental ways, not just during the meditation practice, but afterwards as well. 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 improving your sleep, or improving performance in some cognitive or physical endeavor, meditation is powerful, but you want to make sure that you pick the right meditation practice. So we will talk about picking a meditation practice that isn't just feasible because you'll do it, but is actually directed at the goals specific to you and what you need most. So to give you some sense of the contour of today's episode, first I'm going to talk about some of the underlying biology, the mechanisms and the brain areas, and also the areas of the body that are activated during certain forms of meditation, and equally important, which areas of the brain and body are shut down or reduced in their activity during specific types of meditation. Then I'll transition into how to best do a meditation practice, how to get the most out of that meditation practice. And then I will talk about how to change or alter your meditation practices according to your specific goals and as you get better at meditation. And this can get a little bit counterintuitive, but in a positive way. What I mean by that is, for instance, a lot of people think that as you meditate and get better at meditating, you need to meditate more and more and more. Sort of like if you get better at running endurance races that you need to keep running longer and longer, first a 5K, then a 10K, then a marathon, then ultras. With meditation is actually quite the opposite. The better that you get at dropping into a particular brain state and the more your so-called traits of brain state shift, not just states as they're sometimes referred to, but traits. This is a theme that I've picked up from a terrific book that I'll refer to later. But the more that you can get into specific neural circuits quickly, actually the less you need to meditate in order to drive the benefits of meditation. So that's a wonderful aspect of meditative practices that's unlike a lot of other forms of mental exercise and cognitive enhancing exercises. So we'll talk about all of that today. And I promise that by the end of today's episode, you will have a rich array of meditative practices to select from. You'll know why each of them work and why they can be directed toward particular goals and how to do that. And you'll also know how to modify those meditation practices under conditions where you might get busier or where you're suffering from lack of sleep. I think a lot of people will be excited to know that today we're going to discuss a specific form of meditation that can indeed reduce your need for sleep and still allow you to enhance your cognitive and physical abilities. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Element. Element is an electrolyte drink with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means plenty of salt, magnesium and potassium, the so-called electrolytes and no sugar. Now, salt, magnesium and potassium are critical to the function of all the cells in your body, in particular to the function of your nerve cells, also called neurons. In fact, in order for your neurons to function properly, all three electrolytes need to be present in the proper ratios. And we now know that even slight reductions in electrolyte concentrations or dehydration of the body can lead to deficits in cognitive and physical performance. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1,000 milligrams, that's one gram of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I typically drink Element first thing in the morning when I wake up in order to hydrate my body and make sure I have enough electrolytes. And while I do any kind of physical training and after physical training as well, especially if I've been sweating a lot, if you'd like to try Element, you can go to drinkelement. That's lmnt.com/huberman to claim a free Element sample pack with your purchase. Again, that's drinklmnt.com/huberman.