▲ Lee Jun Geon (ddooddaa94@korea.ac.kr), Senior Reporter, The Granite Tower (GT)

After a long day at school, grinding out paper after paper, keeping up with deadlines, resolving friend issues. After rushing to work on the subway, fighting through the crowd, hurrying to catch the bus, trying hard not to fall asleep. After surfing on the phone, mindlessly staring at Facebook posts, glancing past meaningless text messages, playing repetitive games and all this, another platter of grueling life problems awaits. At times like this, people need a way out.

The issue of modern day stress is a hackneyed one, yet people still do not seem to have a solution to eradicate it. People still suffer from inadequate rest caused by the constant tension of having to keep up with others at work and lack of real solitude caused by the development of ever-present social media via smartphones, tablets and laptops.

In truth, these modern day problems are already so deeply embedded into society that they simply cannot be excised. The stress inducers are often by-products spawned from the development and evolution of human civilization, and it would be wholly impractical and unrealistic to restructure society merely for the sake of reducing stress levels. At the same time, however, it cannot be denied that stress is increasingly detrimental for society, as it hinders productivity and engenders hostility towards others. So, coping with stress, if it is not possible to eliminate its causes, becomes crucial for a well-functioning society.

Sometimes the problem is that people dismiss the symptoms of stress as a sign of weakness, a trivial matter that can be overcome by manning up. However, scientific data shows that during times of stress, the human body produces larger quantities of cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, chemicals that lead to a higher heart rate and alertness. While this stress response is a part of humanity’s natural evolution for survival, prolonged periods of stress induce hyperactivity and cause debilitating symptoms including higher blood pressure, tense muscles, weaker immune system, and insomnia.

So what to do? The key is in regulating the body so that it is able to relax and reduce its secretion of stress-related hormones. It is the brain that sends signals to the body, allowing for the secretion of these hormones, so it is important to be able to control it. This is where meditation kicks in.

Meditation is a mental and physical practice used to control the body and attain spiritual peace and enlightenment. However, that does not mean every meditation practitioner wears a silky robe and preaches about the “path.” In fact, while various forms of meditation, including yoga and zen, are often associated with spiritual benefits with little practical carryovers to daily life, scientific research and data actually indicates the opposite.

Studies in neuroscience reveal that meditation actually changes the physical structure of the brain to improve its overall cognitive functions. Consistent meditation increases the amount of grey matter present in brain regions, including the hippocampus and frontal cortex that are important for attention, emotion regulation, and mental flexibility. Increased grey matter typically indicates that the relevant brain area more efficiently processes information. Thus the changes in brain structure induced by meditation allows the practitioner to become more attentive and calm.

Of course, the effects of meditation are far from absolute or perfect. Increased mental control does not mean all life problems will magically flutter away. That being said, meditation certainly does offer people much needed relief. In a rapidly evolving world, people need to find a feasible alternative to deal with their problems and stress, and that something can be as easy as closing their eyes and thinking about nothing.