Meditation and Mindfulness

When we’re mindful of what we feel in our body, she says, our mind naturally settles in the present. This happens without effort—and it makes us calmer, more receptive, and better attuned to the “boundless, indefinable, ungraspable” nature of awareness.

Intensive meditation, even after only one day, can also affect gene regulation in your brain through similar mechanisms. Attending a monthlong meditation retreat reduces the expression of genes that affect inflammation, and experienced meditators can reduce inflammatory genes after just one day of intensive mediation.