‘Altered Traits’: The Goals of Meditation and Some of Its Risks

Article originally published in Counter Arts on Medium on July 29, 2024

Part 1

I’ve been wondering for many years about meditation styles and their effects on biology and behavior. After about eight years of daily practice, I still am, because I’ve been picking my way through meditation more by spending time with myself than learning about it from others. This had a lot to do with the fact that I kept coming across books that didn’t offer much chewy information. Recently, however, I’ve been reading Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body (Avery, 2017), a rigorous book by science writer Daniel Goleman and psychologist and neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson. This book stood out, among other things, for the neuroscience and other biology and psychology bits, including on the practicalities of doing the studies, and prompted me to do this partial review, which I’ll accompany with ideas from related research.

Disclaimer: The information on This Blog is intended for general informational and educational purposes only—not as medical advice. I am not a medical or health practitioner, and no part of This Blog, or the articles, websites, and products I mention and link to on This Blog, is intended as professional medical or health advice, and should not be considered as such. Consult with your doctor(s) about starting any course of treatment, taking any supplements, or changing any (dietary, exercise, etc.) routines. Meditation, especially if you do it for more than thirty minutes a day, comes with risks, including hyperarousal and dissociation. Dr. Willoughby Britton mentions these risks and others on a podcast with Tim Ferriss titled The Hidden Risks of Meditation, and she also has a virtually comprehensive list of symptoms on the website of the Cheetah House. Here are my Full Terms and Conditions.

I’ll start recalling some comments from Altered Traits, beginning with the concepts from Western cultures that are meshed with the goals of Eastern varieties of meditation.

In Western philosophy from Aristotle onward, we have terms like eudaimonia — as the highest good that comes from a virtuous life — , well-being, flourishing, fulfillment, and others. These umbrella terms include concepts such as self-acceptance, wellness and the satisfaction of a good life, personal growth, and life purpose. They’re not exactly openness toward others, serenity, loving-kindness, compassion, and meta-awareness, but they’re aligned with them in many ways.

These notions are connected to health and well-being, which meditation can certainly help with. At the same time, it’s important to note that these contemplative practices are not a panacea. In the book, the authors mention that Goleman tried to treat his blood pressure with meditation but it only went away when a doctor found he had an adrenal gland disorder and treated that, rather than give him medication for hypertension. Just as with this example, there are many health issues that are better addressed with other therapeutics. And yet meditation can often help with things like anxiety and depression better than other interventions, and it also seems to be able to help our health and wellness in deep ways, including at the epigenetic level. One study, for instance, showed that three months of intensive meditation on a retreat led to more telomerase activity in immune cells, protecting these cells’ telomeres.

That said, on a podcast with Dr. Mayim Bialik, Davidson, a congenial interlocutor, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says that, at its origins, meditation is about others — about cultivating an altruistic mindset — and it only became about personal growth when brought to the West bereft of its cultural underpinnings.

At the same time, as Prof. Davidson says on a different podcast, with Dr. Mark Williamson, in the 1990s the Dalai Lama himself challenged him to dismantle the meditation practices from their cultural traditions, research the value of their behavioral and biological effects, and disseminate them in the West in secular forms, so that they could benefit more people.

In this second interview, Prof. Davidson insists that, if viewers take one message from his comments on meditation and well-being, it’s that even a few minutes a day make a lot of difference. The important thing is to carve out this time regularly — and you could also layer it onto another activity, like brushing your teeth, Prof. Davidson says. Or to eating, as Dr. Williamson remarks.

I found this — minus the layering part — to be true in my daily practice — which usually takes twenty minutes —, and I also found this comment emphasized in Goleman and Prof. Davidson’s book. Altered Traits, however, focuses on just what the title says: hard, structural and functional changes in the brain and body, along with soft changes in self-perception and behavior that come from a longstanding practice of meditation. Tracking hours for retreat time and home hours — along with time spent with various meditation varieties — , Prof. Davidson noted that these changes augment in proportion to the time spent meditating.

Prof. Davidson’s and Goleman’s research shows that meditation changes several important neural mechanisms — mainly those related to stress, compassion and empathy, attention, and self-perception — , and in doing so affects a lot of what happens in our brain, body, and behavior.

The authors emphasize that many of these benefits are altered traits that affect our human nature for the better. Please note, however, that, despite the authors’ positive view on meditation, these practices can have severe negative effects too.

Before I move on to the health and well-being benefits of meditation, here’s a brief rundown of its various varieties.

Meditation Styles, Roughly Categorized

In Altered Traits, the authors divide meditation styles they’re interested in for scientific purposes into three large categories: meditations focused on breathing — as well as, I gather, other kinds with a single focus (but not mantra-based meditations, for which there are very few good studies) — , meditations based on open awareness, where you monitor thoughts, emotions, and impulses while you let them pass without judgment or getting involved as you also achieve some meta-awareness, and, thirdly, compassion meditation, the type that generates loving-kindness.

The authors also mention another taxonomy, by Prof. Davidson, Cortland Dahl, and Antoine Lutz. According to them, meditation can be attentional, constructive, or deconstructive. The first category comprises practices that focus on breath work, a mantra, or are mindfully open to experience, as in open awareness. The second category is made up of practices that pursue virtuousness, such as loving-kindness meditation. Finally, the third category deconstructs the nature of experience ; it includes nondual meditation, where there is no longer an observer vs. the world.

In practice, these styles are often combined. Focused meditation often segues into open awareness, for instance. And then you may also find yourself moving toward loving-kindness meditation.

Benefits from Meditation, Many of Them Becoming Lasting Changes

While it won’t necessarily heal us from various ailments, meditation can make some of them lighter or easier to bear. This is important, because, through changes in how we deal with stress, build compassion and empathy, engage our attention, and alter our self-perception, we can move on to cultivate more true happiness and well-being, even if all may not be well with our health.

Here are the most common benefits one can expect from meditation, in one style or another — especially after a long-term practice.

Meditation can help us deal with stress and manage pain.

By working on our attention, we get to channel it better, in many ways.

With loving-kindness meditation, we develop a kind of parental love for other human beings as well as readiness to help.

We get to enjoy more mindfulness at all times, in a way that keeps things fresh and also yields a lighter sense of being, and benefit from effortlessness when engaging one’s attention.

We develop better emotional regulation, which, among other things, helps deal with stress, anxiety, and depression better, and improve impulse control.

We get to breathe much more slowly, which boosts mood and overall health.

We’ll have lower inflammation in the body and in skin conditions.

We get to maintain telomere health, and, with it, better health and longevity.

We keep our brains younger and healthier, fighting age-related brain atrophy and possibly — as the authors hope — Alzheimer’s as well.

We achieve better interoceptive awareness — a better grasp of sensations and signals in our body.

We enjoy meta-awareness and a state of presence marked by gamma waves, where one experiences life with a mindfulness that gives experiences a harmony one encounters only in moments of insight.

And these are just the more salient benefits and the ones that have been studied the most so far.

To be continued

Thank you for reading! I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. As always, pins and shares are much appreciated!

To a happier, healthier life,

Mira