Meditation and Compassion

• Posted on August 25, 2014
• by Catherine Boyer
• in Mental Wellness, New York Neurofeedback
• 3 Comments.

Dr. David Steno, director of the Northeastern University Social Emotions Group, wrote an interesting article in the New York Times this summer titled The Morality of Meditation.

Meditation has gotten a lot of good press in recent years, with research indicating benefits in everything from lowered blood pressure to improved job performance.

Dr. Steno’s recent research addressed a very different question than health or work improvements: Does meditation increase our level of compassion – and therefore our moral choices? The very cleverly designed study indicated that the answer is yes.

Here’s how it worked: Participants who had been meditating as part of the study were tested against a control group who were merely on a waiting list. The research question was would there be a difference between the two groups – how often would each group offer their seat to a person on crutches (even though two others already in the room didn’t).

The participants thought they were waiting for the research activity to start. They didn’t know this was the research.

Those who had been meditating were three times more likely to offer their chair than those who hadn’t. Dr. Steno speculates that this may be because meditation tends to increase the experience of being interconnected.

An impressive result.

The relevance of neurofeedback

Relevance to NeurOptimal® neurofeedback? In my experience it can produce very similar results. Why? Perhaps because when our brains are optimized we are more likely to live life in the present moment. I’ve also seen neurofeedback be very helpful for people who want to meditate but find it difficult to sit still or find time for.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW-R
New York Neurofeedback