Prolonged Practice Changes Our Brain

When we realise what we are, we realise who we are.

Through practice, we clear our mind of reactions. Through prolonged practice, we change our brain. This counteracts the environmental influences that created the person we were.

When we first begin to practise, we experience a temporary state of calm. With prolonged practice, however, these temporary states produce new neural pathways, turning a fleeting feeling into a different person … with a residue of old brain. 🙂

Through practices such as meditation and mindfulness, we can actively reshape our brain’s structure and function; this is known as neuroplasticity. This mental training serves as a powerful shield against daily stress and negative environmental influences.

Prolonged practice reduces reactivity, meaning that we experience less anxiety and reaction to our environment.

This calms our default network – often called the ‘monkey mind’ – which is an overactive mind tied to rumination, worry about the past and anxiety about the future. Practice quietens this network into being in the present.

Practice isn’t about sitting for years on a cushion; it is observing our reactions when we’re interacting with others, which has a dramatic effect.

Until we can achieve this stability,
the Dharma hasn’t truly settled in the West.

It’s just an intellectual monkey mind.
🙂