Name: Meditation and your brain: 6 Minute English
Uploaded: 2020-03-20T10:39:27.000Z
Duration: 6 min 36 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Sam: Well, I love watching movies and I go swimming.

Neil : One thing that millions of people around the

world do is meditate to relax and that’s

the US into the Buddhist practice of meditation.

We’ll find out how Tibetan monks use meditation

Sam: But what exactly is meditation? People just

sitting cross-legged on the floor, thinking

Neil:  Well, I think there’s a bit more to it than that. After

all, Buddhist meditation is an ancient practice

– even science, according to some. Tibetan

Buddhism, as embodied by the Dalai Lama, is

what many people think of when you mention

meditation. Which brings me to my quiz question.

Neil : What is the meaning of the Tibetan word for

Sam: I think it must be either a) to relax, or

b) to feel blissful because they sound like

positive states of mind. But I’m not sure

about calling meditation a ‘science’, Neil.

Neil: Not according to Professor Richard Davidson

of the Center for Healthy Minds. He spoke

to Alejandra Martins of BBC World Service

programme 'Witness History' about his remarkable

scientific experiment which proved for the

first time that meditation can actually change

Richard Davidson: When I first met His Holiness the Dalai Lama

it was 1972. He challenged me, he said, ‘I

understand that you’ve been using tools

and depression. Why can’t you use those same

tools to study kindness and to study compassion?’

Neil: Neuroscience is the scientific study of the

workings of the human brain and nervous system.

Professor Davidson measured negative mental

states like depression, in contrast to positive

attitudes such as compassion – that’s

the wish for everyone to be free from suffering.

Sam: Right. In his test, Buddhist monks sent out

loving thoughts to everyone equally – to

friends, enemies and strangers as well as

Neil: Compassionate thoughts such as ‘May you

be happy and peaceful’, ‘May you not suffer’.

Neil: Very high levels of gamma oscillations – now

that’s brain waves showing increased connections

between different parts of the brain. This

is what you or I might experience as a flash

of insight – a moment of sudden understanding

and clarity. For us, it might last less than

Furthermore, as Richard Davidson explains,

Richard Davidson: There is no question at this point in time

science that has been conducted over the last

10 years, that meditation can change the brain

in enduring ways; and the circuits that are

involved are multiple, but they include circuits

that are important for regulating attention

Neil: So, this was proof of neuroplasticity – our

brain’s ability to change in response to

conscious effort. In other words, the meditating

monks were intentionally reshaping their minds.

Sam: And this was possible because the brain circuits

– different parts of the brain responsible

for different functions – start talking

to each other in new ways that created enduring

Neil: The meditators gained insight into how their

minds work. They were more focused and emotionally

balanced and less likely to get upset. How

Sam: Pretty cool! But these Tibetan monks sound

like Buddhas! They spend thousands of hours

sitting in meditation. I’ve got to go to

work, Neil! What good is meditation to me?

Neil : Well, Sam, in fact the experiment showed that

30 minutes of meditation a day significantly

increased feelings of loving kindness in new

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Meditation and your brain: 6 Minute English

anxiety

conscious

meditation

depression