Prayer and meditation boost brain power, slow aging

New research suggests that prayer and meditation can improve mood, memory, alertness, and social awareness, and even slow down the brain's aging process. The research is presented in a book called How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. The book reviews the authors' neurological findings and offers short, easy meditation exercises designed to maximize the health benefits of meditation. The authors said in an interview:

Some reviewers have suggested that fundamentalists may feel uncomfortable with what we say, but we've been embraced, welcomed, and invited into virtually every Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, secular, agnostic, and atheist community in America.... God is a metaphor for so many things-spirituality, religion, morality, ethics, life itself. Our research shows that everyone has a unique definition of God, and the more you contemplate this impossible-to-grasp concept, the more you'll grow new dendrites in important areas of your brain.

In addition to the intriguing health benefits suggested by this research, these findings are exciting to me as an Interfaith Spirituality writer because they apply to Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Indigenous peoples, Jews, Muslims, New Age followers, Pagans, Taoists - everyone. We don't need to say specific prayers, or kneel, or bow, or sit in a particular lotus posture to gain these health benefits. We can simply walk our own unique path, with our own unique understanding of the Divine, and our brains will respond in the exact same way. From a physiological perspective, then, all roads lead to the same destination.

As noted by the Muslim Teachings of Rumi, "the paths are many, but the goal is one."

To read another health-related article, click here: Staying healthy through a difficult job search.