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Self-Transformation Through Mindfulness | Dr. David Vago | TEDxNashville
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Transcriber: Eunice Tan Reviewer: Tanya Cushman
Thank you.
We are all born
with a brain that has 86 billion neurons.
And throughout our life, we make relatively few new neurons.
In fact, we lose about 2 billion neurons throughout the course of our lifetime.
So you may wonder -
if we're losing billions of neurons
and we're not making a lot of new neurons,
what's changing in the brain
to support all those mental habits and behaviors
that make up our self-identity?
Well, the answer is "activity-dependent plasticity."
This is the function by which the brain is continually modified
through the 150 trillion cell-to-cell synaptic connections
that are made in response to your everyday experiences.
One main point that I hope you take home today
is that not only are they contributing to your self-identity,
but they are continually changing your brain
and they are strongly influencing your health and longevity.
I hope to also demonstrate
that a systematic form of mental training involving meditation
can potentially transform your self and your mental habits in a positive way.
In 2002, I was a graduate student in cognitive neurosciences -
that was me.
I was studying the brains of rats
to better understand the neural circuitry of learning and memory.
And activity-dependent plasticity
was a really important concept for studying memory,
but I was interested in how that concept could be applied
towards a neuroscientific understanding of the self
through the lens of meditation and mindful awareness.
Now, mindful awareness
can be simply thought of as a way of paying attention
in a way that is continually watchful and discerning
for what is arising and passing in our minds and in the external world.
Now, when I was in graduate school,
there was barely any science of mindfulness.
In fact, before the year 2000,
there was the grand total
of 39 peer-reviewed scientific articles on the topic.
So for good reason, maybe, my mentor sat me down one day and said,
"Dave, you will not be successful in academia by focusing on meditation.
Forget about all that Zen stuff."
And I walked out of his office feeling rather disappointed, discouraged.
But it did not deter me from this calling.
Fast-forward 10 years -
I was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School,
studying meditation in a neuroimaging laboratory.
And about that time,
I was invited to present my research directly to the Dalai Lama,
along with five other emerging leaders in the field from around the world.
(Applause)
Thank you. That is very kind.
Yes, this was really an amazing opportunity.
And the advice he gave the six of us
is something I will never forget for my lifetime.
He said, pointing his finger at each one of us,
"You each have the great responsibility
for helping to build a happy, peaceful world.
Millions of people want a happy, peaceful world
but are lacking the knowledge of how to do so.
Through carrying your experiment month by month, year by year,
you will gain evidence to convince others.
I will watch you,
whether you are really -
whether you are really helping to build a happy, peaceful world or not."
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