What Science Doesn’t Tell Us

What if meditation is helping you before your brain can prove it? That’s one of the questions that came up in our conversation with Chelsey Charbeneau of Breathe Meditation and Wellness and Dr. Claudia Porras Pyland of Texas Woman’s University. Chelsey and Claudia conducted a study looking at how often people actually need to meditate to experience the benefits. Participants who weren’t regular meditators were divided into three groups: a control group, a group that meditated twice a week and a group that meditated four times a week. Their brains were scanned at the beginning and again at the end of the study. But the brain scans weren’t the whole story. People in the meditation groups reported better sleep, less fatigue, greater well-being and more mindfulness. And those improvements didn’t always line up neatly with what showed up on the scans. So what do we do with that? We live in a world that wants data. We want to measure progress and see proof that something is working. But if you’re sleeping better, feeling calmer, experiencing less fatigue and handling life a little better, does it matter if a brain scan can’t fully explain why yet? We don’t think so. There was something else we loved about this study. You may not have to meditate every single day to experience a benefit. That feels a little like kindness to us. Taking care of yourself shouldn’t become another thing you have to do perfectly. Maybe being kind to yourself means finding a practice that actually fits your life instead of feeling guilty because you can’t fit your life around the practice. That’s something we talk about often through #MakeKindLoud. Kindness isn’t only about how we treat other people. It’s also about how we treat ourselves. Maybe twice a week works for you. Maybe four times a week works. Maybe the first choice is simply making a little space for yourself and paying attention to how you feel. Because not everything meaningful can be measured. Want to learn more about Choice Wisdom or listen to other episodes? Visit https://choicewisdompodcast.com.