Living Mindfully & Meditation

Fascinated with studies from Buddhist monks who’ve meditated for a very long time,  who were able to consciously change brain areas in MRI scans which were  considered to be impossible to do at that time made me curious to inquire further...  The results of these studies on Buddhist monks lead to the development of  neuroscience and the “discovery” of neuroplasticity. By the way these findings motivated me to experiment with mindfulness meditation  on myself and see what happened and to dig further into the topic and science of it.    Daily meditation has become my source of inspiration and has shown me a way to  keep on growing and gaining insight into my mind and the human condition in  general. Since the 1970s there have been many representative studies done on “normal”  people, (i.e. non-meditators) who were taught mindfulness skills in an MBSR course.  They were actually able to change their brain patterns within as short as an 8 weeks  span to lastingly change brain patterns by daily practicing MBSR (Mindfulness-Based  Stress Reduction, see MBSR).  While seriously contemplating to change my life with all its side effects, it came that  one day that I was drinking a cup of tea with a “wisdom” tea bag: the tea bag holder had written on it: “wir können immer noch einmal beginnen!” “we can always begin  again”.  I kept this little piece of paper as a reminder of this universal truth.   Every moment, every in breath can be - and actually is - a new beginning.