Earlier this year, I told you about the ways regular meditation changes how your brain works, not only in the short term, but possibly permanently. A number of studies unveiled this past weekend demonstrate how meditation may also boost your attention span too.

In one study, the use of mediation improved the attention spans of 10 patients while performing mundane tasks in the mid-afternoon, a time when people typically have problems concentrating. Interestingly enough, the benefits of meditation remained strong, even after patients lost a night's sleep in follow-up research.

Meditation was also responsible for thickening the areas of the brain where memory and attention reside, according to a Harvard study. Although the aging process lightens the brain in certain sectors, 20 minutes of meditation a day slows that down a bit.

Meditation is just one of many non-drug tools you can use to improve your physical and mental health. To further heighten your experience, you may want to consider the Insight and Focus CDs, the brain wave entrainment tool sold in my Web store that can also help you dramatically reduce stress, one of the key contributors to physical illness.

USA Today November 14, 2005