Shaman's mountaintop ritual in southern Siberia.
That’s a profound statement, if you stop and think about it. Anyone who reads this blog knows I deeply believe in the benefits of meditation – not necessarily spending hours sitting uncomfortably on a tiny cushion, rather a few minutes grabbed here and there from our hectic schedules to simply stop.
Stop and let your mind unwind.
Doing it periodically throughout the day can change your life, or actually give your life back to you.
Anyway, back to the scientific proposition put forth by psychologist Matt J. Rossano in a recent issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal and written up on Smithsonian.com (click here for the article).
Anyway, back to the scientific proposition put forth by psychologist Matt J. Rossano in a recent issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal and written up on Smithsonian.com (click here for the article).
“We have decent evidence that shamanistic rituals may go very deep into history, and that these rituals might have had positive psychological effects,” Rossano says.
Strengthening the Brain
Shamanic rituals – often involving groups sitting for hours or days at a time – strengthened parts of the Neanderthal brain. As the neural areas associated with attention and memory grew stronger, the brains of descendent generations were better able to hold information and to make connections such as we do with modern working memory. This led to the ability to comprehend complex symbolism, and presumably, a genetic change in the structure of the brain.
Symbolism became apparent by 50,000 years ago in cave paintings. “If you’re going to use symbols, you have to be able to think abstractly and hold one thing in mind while recognizing that the literal thing is not really its meaning,” Rossano says.
Even today, practicing meditation has measurable effects on our brains. Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar discovered in 2005 that the brains of meditators were generally more developed in certain parts, especially those pertaining to attention, according the Smithsonian article.
Strengthening the Brain
Shamanic rituals – often involving groups sitting for hours or days at a time – strengthened parts of the Neanderthal brain. As the neural areas associated with attention and memory grew stronger, the brains of descendent generations were better able to hold information and to make connections such as we do with modern working memory. This led to the ability to comprehend complex symbolism, and presumably, a genetic change in the structure of the brain.Symbolism became apparent by 50,000 years ago in cave paintings. “If you’re going to use symbols, you have to be able to think abstractly and hold one thing in mind while recognizing that the literal thing is not really its meaning,” Rossano says.
Even today, practicing meditation has measurable effects on our brains. Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar discovered in 2005 that the brains of meditators were generally more developed in certain parts, especially those pertaining to attention, according the Smithsonian article.
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