Meditations For Optimal Experience: Changes In Mood, A Sense Of Awe

Welcome,

My name is Celia Roberts and we're looking at meditations to increase optimal performance.

And so we've been looking at the neurological or the neurobiological mechanisms of meditation and mindfulness and we were talking about serotonin and melatonin.

And so tonight we're going to focus on serotonin and also how that links into another neurotransmitter,

Not only melatonin but also glutamate.

Okay,

So we'll begin.

Let's bring our attention to the abdomen,

Finding the belly breath,

Sedatul and upright.

And when we boost serotonin we can do this with sunlight,

Massage or even exercise,

Remembering the good times.

So remembering the good times.

So I want you to sit here and just gently massage your belly by placing your hands to the belly and you can move them or you can just use the touch here and allow the breath to almost massage the hands into the belly.

And as you do this just remember one just amazing time in your life that was filled with awe,

Filled with awe.

Just noticing your body as you recall this time,

Perhaps now letting go of the hands,

Staying in the belly breath,

The sensations that come with this memory.

And as you look back into this memory you feel the inside but also be aware of the external.

So you're just noticing all the wonderful things around you that fill you with awe,

People or maybe there's nobody there.

It's just you.

You feel the sense of deep wonder and awe.

And I want you to see and notice how these self-induced changes in mood make you feel.

So we can produce this feel-good neurotransmitter,

Serotonin or so it's said,

By changing or enhancing our state of mood.

See if you can let go of that experience of awe and just recreate that sense of awe in your body in this moment.

The sense of wonder and awe for your own body and your own breath still but just using the inner pharmacy of your brain and body to create a sense of wonder and awe within.

And this feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin will increase in most people after meditation and the overall level of serotonin is higher in meditators.

It will increase during meditation and after.

And sitting in your breath and just really awestruck by the simplicity or the complexity or the beauty of your breath and your body.

Whatever your experience,

Just let it be and be awestruck by this moment.

Just being here,

Being in your body and alive,

Truly alive.

Okay,

Moving now to a time in your life when someone just really did the most loveliest thing for you,

The most loveliest thing.

Feeling that gift in your body.

Just observing the true generosity of this person.

Observing the reception of this gift in your own body and mind and heart.

Okay,

Moving now to a time in your life when someone just really did the most loveliest thing for you,

The most loveliest thing.

Come back to your own body in this moment and feel into the face,

Practicing smiling meditation or allowing the face to take a good passionate stance,

Compassionate posture,

Practicing compassion in the face.

If you can,

Find joy in the compassionate face or the smiling face,

Letting your eyes smile and the gentility wash over you.

If you can,

Visualize someone now that you really care for and you really love and smile at them so widely with all of your might,

All of your facial muscles and your eyes.

You could keep them eyes closed and continue to smile at this person as wide as you can.

Increase in serotonin during meditation,

Even smiling meditations and compassion meditation,

Mindfulness meditation can affect dopamine,

So our reward system.

It may enhance feelings of euphoria during our meditation practice.

Keep smiling,

Practicing the smiling meditation,

Knowing this is having great physiological change in both brain and body.

And also understand this exciting thing about serotonin,

It can create extraordinary visual experiences during meditation.

Many people report on these experiences and it may be linked to serotonin increase.

Serotonin acts as a neuromodulator of the temporal lobes,

Which strongly influence the flow of visual associations and internally generated imagery.

Lovely,

Let's come back to our breath,

Breath focused in the belly.

If you'd like to bring your attention back to the abdomen and gently massage into the belly with the hands,

Please do.

Doing that gentle self massage can increase the levels of serotonin.

So the increase in serotonin plus the increase in glutamate stimulates the release of acetylcholine and this will modulate your attention during meditation.

So I want you to now really use what we've created to modulate your attention.

So focus attention style meditation is where we focus on one thing with great reverence and attention.

So we'll use the breath and see if you can bring your attention fully into the rise and the fall of the belly breath and let the breath massage the abdomen.

Let the breath be soft and subtle and yet still massaging the abdomen.

Stay fully connected to this breath.

If you need to find that sense of wonder and awe in your breath and your body,

Just being in this moment,

Really work the inner pharmacy of your brain and body.

Self-induced changes in mood are possible through meditation and they can produce serotonin synthesis.

Keep staying with that breath and let me explain to you how serotonin is linked to melatonin.

So as we increase serotonin levels,

This will balance out melatonin levels and serotonin is linked to melatonin and this is important in mood stabilisation,

A positive affect,

Stress prevention and ageing.

Serotonin and melatonin are also linked to migraine attacks through the action of the pineal gland which is the primary source.

So you want to have these neurotransmitters balanced to assist with sleep,

Sleep cycles,

Mood stabilisation,

Stress prevention,

Ageing and even migraine.

Keep fully focused on the belly breath now,

Using the serotonin to modulate attention along with an excitatory neurotransmitter called glutamate which stimulates the release of acetylcholine together with serotonin which will modulate your attention during meditation.

Breathe a little bit more deeply and see if you can notice different sensations about your breath with that sense of awe and wonder and really give your body,

Your mind this chance to experience optimally this moment.

I want you to spread your awareness around the whole body now.

So really mindful and attentive to everything that comes up.

So you're seated and grounded in your belly and whatever arises you're observing other sensations so shoulders,

Hands,

Elbows,

Legs,

Feet and when you notice sensations you just notice it and then you return back to the belly breath.

Alternatively you can sit fully in the body in the breath and let the body be almost breathed.

As you do this listen mindfully.

Glutamate is a powerful excitatory neurotransmitter and it's released by nerve cells in the brain.

Meditation activates the prefrontal cortex,

So this is the front part of your brain and this increases free level glutamate in the brain.

During meditation the prefrontal cortex activity increases and it will without a doubt help you to focus your attention.

So focus more deeply now on your body and your breath and have awe and wonder at the amazing experience of being alive.

As prefrontal cortex activity increases it produces ever increasing levels of glutamate,

This excitatory neurotransmitter.

Now it's a workhorse neurotransmitter.

It will increase the likelihood that nerve impulses will fire.

It enhances the electrical flow among your brain cells and this is involved in learning,

Memory and brain plasticity.

And through meditation we can recreate our experience,

Our brain,

Our perception of self and life.

It will assist also in cognitive functioning.

Focus now,

Focus harder on your breath and your body.

And knowing that as you modulate,

You focus your attention,

The prefrontal cortex activity increases and produces an ever increasing level of glutamate.

This will increase the likelihood that nerve impulses will fire.

And in meditators we know that these nerve impulses usually travel faster and with accuracy because of the increase in white matter around the neurons.

Good,

Let this neurotransmitter help assisting you along with serotonin to increase your attention to create neuroplastic change,

Improve your cognitive function learning memory and enhance the electrical flow among brain cells.

During your meditation practice,

This is what's happening,

The prefrontal cortex activity increases from persistent will to focused attention.

And as this activity increases,

It produces glutamate.

And then this enhances the electrical flow in your brain.

So serotonin plus glutamate will stimulate the release of acetylcholine which will modulate attention during meditation.

Stay fully in your body,

Your breath with deep sense of awe,

Attention and wonder.

Come back to the original memory where you were struck by awe and wonder.

Feel that time in your body.

Knowing that those self-induced changes in mood that you create produce serotonin.

Just again comfortably in your breath.

Center your awareness on the breath.

Focus your attention here.

And see if you can keep coming back to this attentive,

Mindful breath and body throughout your day.

I wish you well.

I wish you happiness,

Good health and deep compassion.

Thank you.