What happens in the brain during nondual meditation?

In nondual meditation, the mist can clear to reveal a previously hidden path. Credit: Neil Williamson/Flickr

Research has shown that focused attention (FA) meditation can combat stress, and that open monitoring (OM) can help with emotion regulation. A more advanced technique, known as “nondual” or “open awareness”, begins to dissolve the illusory distinctions between oneself and the rest of the world, and can even provide meditators with flashes of creative or spiritual insight.

Nondual awareness is a state of mind that helps people to think outside their boxes – the “boxes” being our established mental models of how the world works and our place in it.

We build these mental models through learning over the course of a lifetime. They are invaluable, but over time they can become increasingly rigid and unfit for purpose. Rather than helping, they perpetuate old habits and preclude fresh insights.

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What happens in your brain as you become more aware of how the mind works?

Three networks interact to determine the focus of our attention – the executive, salience and default mode. Credit: AI

It’s perfectly normal to experience emotions such as anger, frustration and anxiety as you sit in front of your computer fielding work messages. The trouble starts when these feelings spiral out of control, causing chronic stress and harming your mental and physical wellbeing.

Meditations that involve open monitoring or “OM” (such as the guided meditation below) teach us to notice when negative thoughts and feelings arise – then simply let them go. We learn to become more aware of these mental events without getting involved with them.

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What happens in your brain and body during focused attention meditation?

FA meditation activates a branch of the nervous system that restores calm after a threat has passed. Credit: AI

In focused-attention (FA) meditation, the meditator directs their attention towards a neutral bodily sensation, and gently returns it to that sensation whenever they notice that their mind has wandered. In Shamatha meditation, for example, the focus of attention is the sensations associated with breathing in and out.

Focusing our attention in this way helps to replace the fight-or-flight response with the relaxation response. This kind of meditation activates the “parasympathetic nervous system”, which is the branch of the autonomic (or “involuntary”) nervous system that restores calm after an immediate threat has passed. The parasympathetic nervous system slows our breathing and heart rate, for example, and promotes digestion.

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What happens in your brain as you check your emails?

boxing-fight-or-flight — Email can trigger physiological responses that evolved to help us see off aggressive rivals. Credit: West Point/Flickr

The “fight-or-flight” response evolved in our distant ancestors to prime their hearts, muscles and lungs for action, giving them that vital extra boost to escape ravenous predators or see off aggressive rivals. After the immediate threat had passed, a “relaxation” or “rest and digest” response kicked in to restore their overexcited bodies to a state of calm better suited for more restful activities, such as feeding and grooming.

But in modern humans, technologies such as social media and email can keep our fight-or-flight response constantly switched on by continually presenting us with stimuli that provoke feelings of excitement, fear or aggression.

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