The brain starts to rest just '2 minutes' into meditation, new study says - here's how to get there

If you've struggled to 'get in the zone' for meditation and given up trying to reap the benefits of this popular ancient practice, you're certainly not alone. Many people struggle to get into the headspace (even with meditation apps) and think they have to do it for ages before the benefits appear.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School, the University of Nottingham, and NIMHANS India have debunked this idea in a study that's the first of its kind in 60 years of neuroscience. It revealed when the brain starts to change during meditation, minute by minute.

The study is the first to track neurophysiological changes minute by minute, rather than averaging across a session. It found that it takes two to three minutes for the brain to begin experiencing the benefits of genuine rest.

Measurable shifts in alpha, theta, and beta (frequencies of electrical activity in the brain) started within three minutes and peaked between seven and 10 minutes. Importantly, this was true for beginners meditating for the very first time.

Woman&home spoke to the study's senior author, Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam. He told us: "This combination of brainaves is significant. Think of it as a flashlight turning inward. Your attention, which is normally directed outward at the world, begins to orient toward your own inner experience. At the same time, brainwaves associated with drowsiness and mind-wandering begin to decrease. The result is what I call ‘relaxed alertness’ - you are calm, but you are awake," he says.

"This is the state that meditators describe and that our data now confirms. The peak of this effect, we found, occurs around the seventh minute and can be sustained for up to fifteen minutes," he explains. "So if you have ever tried meditating and given up after two minutes, feeling like nothing was happening - our study suggests your brain was already changing. You just needed to stay a little longer.”

How to start meditating

• Use a guide: "When you are new to meditation, the mind has no reference point for stillness. A guided meditation gives it something to follow, so instead of fighting your own thoughts, you are simply listening to instructions," says the doctor. Try a meditation app or an online guided meditation on YouTube.
• Commit: "Most people abandon meditation in the first two minutes because nothing seems to be happening. Our research shows that meaningful brain changes are already underway by the second or third minute - you simply cannot feel them yet," he says. "If you sit for seven minutes, something shifts. The breath-watching begins to happen on its own, almost effortlessly. You do not need to force it. Practices like the Miracle of Mind Meditation are specifically designed with this arc in mind, guiding you gently to that threshold."
• Repeat: "Repeat it for four to six weeks," he says. "A single session is a conversation with your brain, and four to six weeks is a relationship. That is when the changes become habits, and the habit becomes who you are."

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The bigger picture

In daily life, our brains are constantly processing, reacting, and planning. "The noise never stops, but meditation gives the brain permission to shift gears," says Dr Subramaniam. "What is remarkable is that this happens in every single participant in our study, beginners and advanced practitioners alike. The brain, it turns out, is extraordinarily responsive. It is simply waiting for the invitation.”

If you're looking to lower your cortisol levels, improve concentration, or get better sleep, meditation is a practice well worth trying.

However, knowing how to start meditating as a beginner isn't only a handy hack for those of us struggling with everyday life, Dr Subramaniam says it has real-world implications for public health.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) decides what the NHS provides. This body has recommended mindfulness-based therapy for depression since 2009, yet it's not being systematically provided.

While those with depression should always seek the best treatment for them after speaking to a healthcare professional, a major recent clinical trial found that meditation 'on prescription' not only saves money compared to standard NHS care, but the patients who received it had lower overall healthcare costs.

"We are facing a global mental health crisis. Anxiety, stress, sleep disorders, cognitive decline - these are not small problems, and we do not have enough pharmacological solutions to meet the scale of the need," says Dr Subramaniam. "This research shows that meditation is not a wellness trend or a luxury practice. It is a clinically measurable intervention that produces real, observable changes in the brain - and it requires no prescription, no equipment, and no specialist."

One day, the doctor hopes that alongside other treatment options, a clinician may recommend a seven-minute meditation practice and say, "I would like you to try every morning".

"We already know that four to six weeks of consistent practice produces lasting changes. We now know the brain begins responding within minutes of the very first session," he tells us.