Meditation Laboratory
Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama is equipped with very expensive and difficult-to-maintain instruments measuring the effects of meditation on human brain as well as uncovering the psycho-neuro-physiology correlates of consciousness and brain dynamics while meditating.
Among many crucial and interesting projects, a few are mentioned below :
- Research on the influence of meditation on children aged between 8 and 15 years. A group of 200 children from all over the world has been tested. The group was split into 2 sub-groups. One was playing while other was engaged in guided meditation previously to accomplishing simple tests (mathematical and other exercises). The research has shown that kids who were doing meditation, accomplished given tasks better that those playing. The stress levels of children who were playing increased after the game.
- Research on the influence of different meditation traditions on human brain should that in Himalaya Traditions, frontal part of brain got stimulated, resulting in lower Gama and Delta frequencies. In Tibetan traditions, on the other hand, the occidental lobe is stimulated, resulting in higher frequency of brain waves.
- Gurkulam students have been tested regularly since 2007. The research showed that only after three months of regular practice, their parameters with regards to muscle tension, breathing, galvanic skin resistance, heart rate variability and skin conductance have improved. It has also been shown that after a year, the students were less tensed and their hemispheres more balanced.
- Several silent retreat data have been collected, measuring brainwaves of students before and after the retreat. It has been shown that students are less prone to any kind of stimuli after being in silence for 10 days. Of course, one of the most exciting studies in this respect is the one on Swami Veda.