For generations, science and religion have opposed one another. Each diminishes the other to claim their superiority in understanding the truth. The truth is often portrayed through balance. Seeing each opposing side of a coin is necessary to formulate a complete understanding of the coin itself. As science progresses, so does the evidence that religion or spirituality plays a significant role in each of our brain’s and our mental health. Not only that, but this new science suggests that the more profound meaning found in spiritual teachings holds much scientific merit.
A champion for the merger between spirituality and science is Dr Lisa Miller. Lisa’s incredible pioneering work spanning over decades has provided scientific evidence of transcendental spiritual experience, with profound benefits on the mind and brain. For example, her research has shown that adults with parents who suffer from depression are 90% less likely to experience depression when they feel the importance of having a spiritual practice (Miller et al., 2012). This is unrelated to whether or not the individual attended religious ceremonies (Miller et al., 2012). This suggests that the protective results from depression are more related to the benefits of a deeper spiritual connection. Furthermore, these protections are not purely mental. Being a spiritual person also seems to be reflected in neuroanatomical brain structures. Those who claim spirituality or religion is important to them have greater cortex thickness in the parietal regions, occipital regions, the mesial frontal lobe of the right hemisphere, and the cuneus and precuneus in the left hemisphere (Miller et al., 2014). Though the correlation between these brain changes and protection against depression has not yet been clearly shown, it is evident that spirituality causes changes in the brain, and these changes seemingly coincide with mental health benefits.
Spirituality is not only about finding meaning in the more significant existence; of course, it is also about understanding the love and connection we all share. Much of Dr Lisa Miller’s research shows the profound benefits spiritual connection can have on our lives. For example, a study of three schools that fostered a culture of awareness of everyone’s inherent worth and spiritual connectivity found terrific benefits due to the meaningful connection created between students and faculty (Chapman et al., 2021). Only 2/3 of these schools used overt spiritual language. Yet, all students across schools could recognise that the healthy ways they handled trauma or behaviour management, for example, were governed by a sense of interconnectedness between everyone involved (Chapman et al., 2021). Those concerned about helping their community were also aware of their own identity within their community (Chapman et al., 2021). The feeling of oneness across everyone in the school fostered an incredibly healthy environment. Similar to finding importance in spirituality, ‘service altruism’ and the ‘love for thy neighbour’ provides protection against depression (Miller et al., 2021). These mental health benefits also coincide with cortical thickness increases in the ventral frontotemporal network (Miller et al., 2021).
All of this research suggests how an awakened brain, recognising the deep and meaningful connection we all share with each other and the universe, affects our brain physiology and mental health. There is reason to believe this may represent something more profound than a healthier mind and body. Those who live spiritual lives tend to have higher posterior EEG alpha wave readings (Tenke et al., 2017). This is the same brain frequency observed in those who practice mindfulness meditation and is hypothesised to be a reason for the brain to be better able to filter primary sensory inputs (Kerr et al., 2013). Interestingly, this is also a similar frequency to one of the resonant modes of the Schumann Resonances, which are signals generated by tropical thunderstorms and exist within our ionosphere (Cherry, 2002). In other words, it is the earth’s frequency or vibration that sits from the Earth’s crust at least 1.6km or one mile beyond. It is a 7.83 Hertz frequency that exists naturally on earth—perhaps giving reason to why spiritual people are more in tune with the world.
You can listen to these frequencies here:
In our modern world, it can be easy to be hyper-focused on yourself and yourself alone. However, the mind and body benefit when balanced and according to the flow of nature. Nature, of course, makes it evident that we are all interconnected. This is also evidence in reduced activity to the parietal lobes in the brain during prayer and meditation. During prayer or spiritual practice, Miller at (2019) conclusively states:
“We observed in the spiritual condition, as compared with the neutral-relaxing condition, reduced activity in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), a result that suggests the IPL may contribute importantly to perceptual processing and self-other representations during spiritual experiences.”
The parietal lobes are affected during prayer or spiritual practice, which gives rise to a loss of self, time and space, opening the mind into states of samadhi. We become one with all. To have a deeper spiritual understanding is to realise that we are all one. Not only is this philosophically beneficial, but the evidence here shows how it can be mentally and physically beneficial. Spirituality is not just an idea but a deeper alignment with our true nature.
In fact, among all of well-known world religious traditions — Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and also a specialised category of “non-religious, secular, or spiritual-but-not-religious”, Miller found that people shared five common spiritual phenotypes or observable traits:
- Altruism
- Love of neighbour as self
- Sense of oneness
- Practice of sacred transcendence
- Adherence to moral code
Lisa Miller observes from her research; when we look at the MRIs of awakened spiritual brains, we see a strong spiritual awareness of “service altruism” and “love thy neighbour”. By consciously practising these traits or any of the above, we can strengthen and build “the muscle of transcendent awareness”. You can awaken the spiritual brain by drawing attention to these observable traits in daily spiritual life. In this way, we transcend our smaller minds and become one with the rhythm of life—the research points to the fact that we are all innately spiritual beings. Spirituality and religiosity are not only innate but are indeed heritable traits, strongly supported by environmental factors across our lifetime.
The overarching message? Offer yourself altruistically to life, love thy neighbour as self and send compassion and understanding to all. Transcend the ordinary limitations of the mind as often as possible and become one with all that is—step into nature and the natural rhythms of life.
At Biyome, we remind you to:
“Step into nature’s own rhythm”
Enjoy the below 90-minute class – The awakened brain – transcendence & balances Vrkshana
References
Chapman, A. L., Foley, L., Halliday, J., & Miller, L. (2021). Relational spirituality in K-12 education: a multi-case study. Https://Doi.Org/10.1080/1364436X.2021.1898345, 26(3), 133–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2021.1898345
Cherry, N. (2002). Schumann Resonances, a plausible biophysical mechanism for the human health effects of Solar. Natural Hazards 2002 26:3, 26(3), 279–331. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015637127504
Kerr, C. E., Sacchet, M. D., Lazar, S. W., Moore, C. I., & Jones, S. R. (2013). Mindfulness starts with the body: somatosensory attention and top-down modulation of cortical alpha rhythms in mindfulness meditation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00012
Miller, L., Bansal, R., Wickramaratne, P., Hao, X., Tenke, C. E., Weissman, M. M., & Peterson, B. S. (2014). Neuroanatomical Correlates of Religiosity and Spirituality: A Study in Adults at High and Low Familial Risk for Depression. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(2), 128–135. https://doi.org/10.1001/JAMAPSYCHIATRY.2013.3067
Lisa Miller, Iris M Balodis, Clayton H McClintock, Jiansong Xu, Cheryl M Lacadie, Rajita Sinha, Marc N Potenza, Neural Correlates of Personalized Spiritual Experiences, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 29, Issue 6, June 2019, Pages 2331–2338, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy102
Miller, L., Wickramaratne, P., Gameroff, M. J., Sage, M., Tenke, C. E., & Weissman, M. M. (2012). Religiosity and Major Depression in Adults at High Risk: A Ten-Year Prospective Study. Https://Doi.Org/10.1176/Appi.Ajp.2011.10121823, 169(1), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1176/APPI.AJP.2011.10121823
Miller, L., Wickramaratne, P., Hao, X., McClintock, C. H., Pan, L., Svob, C., & Weissman, M. M. (2021). Altruism and “love of neighbor” offer neuroanatomical protection against depression. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 315, 111326. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PSCYCHRESNS.2021.111326
Tenke, C. E., Kayser, J., Svob, C., Miller, L., Alvarenga, J. E., Abraham, K., Warner, V., Wickramaratne, P., Weissman, M. M., & Bruder, G. E. (2017). Association of posterior EEG alpha with prioritisation of religion or spirituality: A replication and extension at 20-year follow-up. Biological Psychology, 124, 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BIOPSYCHO.2017.01.005
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