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One of the variables most important in maintaining and enhancing brain function is meditation.

For those of you who have never meditated or are just starting out, a few words of advice.

I found it easiest to begin with a “body scan.“ This is a way to focus your attention on the breath while scanning your body, part by part, with guidance. It won’t take very long before you begin doing this without the need for a guide. Kaiser patients have access to a free app called CALM, guided meditations. Mindful.Org also has a number of different guided meditations. (My favorite is Jenee Johnson’s, “You Are Enough”).

Meditation is not an “all or nothing“ venture. It’s simply this: even one moment of focusing on your breath and emptying your mind, is one moment more than you had a moment ago. Meaning, you don’t need to do it all right instantly, or ever, for that matter. You will benefit each time you take even a single breath with focus wherever you are and whenever.

Here are some forms of meditation, which are not directly focusing on the breath:

There is a famous study of nuns who had a much lower incidence of dementia than would be found in the general population. They engaged daily in a form of meditation—prayer. Like formal meditation, this involves complete focus and attention.

As a therapist, I recommended meditation for anxiety and depression as well as for the brain. I suggested that yoga is “meditation in motion.” I’m sure that many of you who practice yoga have already realized the effect when we focus on our movement.

Walking mindfully is another form of meditation.

Finally, anytime we are engaged in creating something unique, we are totally absorbed in the activity. This is creating something which can be most satisfying when shared with others.

During that time we are engaged in such activity (writing, cooking sculpting, painting, etc.) depressed and anxious feelings are not nearly as vibrant. This is then, in fact, practicing meditation. Our attention is directed on that one thing.

When I was young, there was a bit of cynicism about meditation, especially if you were not from California. The image was of someone sitting in the lotus position, palms up with forefinger and middle finger touching and eyes closed. Focusing on the breath was coupled with a mantra of “OHM, OHM, OHM…”

Nowadays, cynicism aside, accompanying meditation with some form of mantra can be very helpful. Meditating over time, usually one will simply come to you. Mine is, “May I be healthy, may I be helpful, may I be mindful, may I be loved.”

So, there you have it, meditation in a nutshell.
C’mon, do your brain a favor! Start breathing!