For the past 30 years, Harvard
scientist Herbert Benson, MD, has conducted his own studies on prayer.
He focuses specifically on meditation,
the Buddhist form of prayer, to understand how mind affects body. All
forms of prayer, he says, evoke a relaxation response that quells
stress, quiets the body, and promotes healing.
Prayer involves repetition -- of sounds,
words -- and therein lies its healing effects, says Benson. "For
Buddhists, prayer is meditation. For Catholics, it's the rosary. For
Jews, it's called dovening. For Protestants, it's centering prayer.
Every single religion has its own way of doing it."
Benson has documented on MRI brain
scans the physical changes that take place in the body when someone
meditates. When combined with recent research from the University of
Pennsylvania, what emerges is a picture of complex brain activity:
As an individual goes deeper and deeper into concentration, intense activity begins taking place in the brain's
parietal lobe circuits -- those that control a person's orientation in
space and establish distinctions between self and the world. Benson has
documented a "quietude" that then envelops the entire brain.
At the same time, frontal and temporal
lobe circuits -- which track time and create self-awareness -- become
disengaged. The mind-body connection dissolves, Benson says.
And the limbic system, which is responsible
for putting "emotional tags" on that which we consider special, also
becomes activated. The limbic system also regulates relaxation,
ultimately controlling the autonomic nervous system, heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, etc., says Benson.
The result: Everything registers as
emotionally significant, perhaps responsible for the sense of awe and
quiet that many feel. The body becomes more relaxed and physiological
activity becomes more evenly regulated.
Does all this mean that we are
communicating with a higher being -- that we are, in fact, "hard-wired"
at the factory to do just that? That interpretation is purely
subjective, Benson tells WebMD. "If you're religious, this is God-given.
If you're not religious, then it comes from the brain."
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/can-prayer-heal?page=2
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