615. Meditation Rewires Your Brain | Here's How Fast It Happens

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Hello, and welcome to Soul Elevation: Guiding Your Ascension to New Heights. I'm your host Kara Goodwin, and today is Friday, July 24th, 2026. And we're gonna be talking about something really important today, which is how to change your brain. And there have been some significant studies that have been done in the
last couple of decades, many, many studies about the benefits of meditation, what it does to your brain physiologically. And the importance of this is not just the fact that your brain is changing, but what that means for your life, what changes that will beget within you so that you have a different life experience.

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So if you struggle with, let's say, um, with anger, with dissatisfaction, with sadness, overwhelm, jealousy, anger, fear, particularly anger and fear, um, those are things that you, you know, you may feel like you just get pulled along by life, and you feel those things because that's what your life circumstance is dictating. But that is actually not the case.
Those are reactions, and they have physiological connections within your brain, within your nervous system that kick those types of res- reactions within you off. They kick them off. When something happens that's becomes your reaction, but that's not how everybody reacts. Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that some people get knocked down, but they don't lash

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out? And have you wondered how that happens? So there is an ability within you to respond to life in a more measured way, in a healthier way than reacting always. And that is why it's really important to understand what can happen to you physiologically through a practice like meditation. So we're gonna use very broad
strokes when I talk about this. I'm gonna be talking about it at a very high level perspective. The brain is a complex organ. Uh, I don't even know if it's actually technically an organ. I consider it an organ. Um, but it is a very complex part of your being, and it is also a pretty mysterious part. We don't actually...

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There's not really hard and fast evidence for every single aspect of the brain, what it does, what its function does. Um, and I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist, so I'm going to be talking in big, big, broad terms. Um, you can go down into much m- more technical detail than what I'm interested in doing in this for our purposes here. But you have, let's... two specific parts of the brain
that we're gonna focus on here, one being the limbic system, and the limbic system is kind of, uh, down lower in the brain. It's, it's the middle of the brain. If you think about human evolution and the way that the human brain has evolved over time, it is said that this is more of the primitive brain. This was, you know, early humans in, in our species, in our evolution, they had this part

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of the brain, and they didn't necessarily have the other parts of the brain yet. They hadn't come into being yet. You know, that's part of evolution, is that we go, we transform. But we've always had this limbic system, this lower part of the brain. So the limbic system is very instinctual. It is very reactive, and it is kinda known as the animal part of our brain or the reptilian mind.
You may have heard of the reptilian brain. That's the limbic system. And then we have the frontal lobes, and that's right behind your brow bone. The frontal lobes, the prefrontal cortex, that is the more evolved part of the brain. So that is where it was the last part of the h- modern humans that got, that was developed, and these are where our more Evolved behaviors and responses and,

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um, where those are. So altruism, bliss, patience, that's the executive functioning, our ability to, uh, manage our tasks. All of those things that are the more evolved aspects of the human, and they're the later part of the brain development. So that would be more associated with the prefrontal lobes. So if somebody was getting an MRI
and they stimulated the prefrontal cortex, that would elicit feelings of elation, feelings of unity, feelings of bliss, those higher functions. And likewise, if your brain was having an MRI, if it was being measured while you were experiencing naturally states of bliss, states of unity, states of generosity, then your limbic system would

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be lit up If you are in a state of anger, separation, fear, judgment, the brain is... The limbic system, that lower animal part of the brain, is what would be lit up if you were in an MRI. And likewise, if that part of the brain was stimulated, and you were seeing it being read during an MRI, then it would elicit those things like fear, anger, sadness, that type
of thing. Now, again, very generally speaking, those two parts of the brain don't operate at the same time. It's kind of a one or the other, generally speaking. So if you are in the limbic system, if the limbic system is active, then the prefrontal lobe is quiet, the prefrontal cortex is quiet, and vice versa. And this is an interesting thing to think about.

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It's a really cool hack actually, where if you do find yourself in more unpleasant states of being, that fear, that anger, that jealousy. And instead of getting pulled into that, you flip. It's... It can be hard to go from those feelings directly into bliss, and unity, and joy. But if you can become curious about it, if you can notice, "Oh, I'm really triggered," and
then instead of going into the trigger and kind of falling into that, you instead become curious about it. That can give you some space, and that can help to quiet that limbic system. You shift into a different state. So rather than, again, falling directly into the state that gets the limbic system going, if you can think, "Ooh, I'm noticing that I'm feeling like this.

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What's up with that? What's under that? Why is this making me feel this way?" You can kind of step back, get some space, and ease out of the limbic system really grabbing hold So, you have default modes of operation. Your brain is used to working in a particular way. It's got a lifetime of training. And so when you are having a very dominant
limbic system, that lower brain, then you tend to fall easily into that part of you being active. So it's the same kind of way I'm, um, I am taking some... I've been taking some Pilates classes, for example, right now, and I'm... So I'm learning Pilates. And when... Because this is a new s- exercise for me, I can find my body trying to cheat.

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Like she'll tell us to, you know, extend our legs at a 45-degree angle, and I can feel my back wanting to arch to kinda take the, take some of the, um, tightness out of my stomach, or to, to cheat the exercise. I don't mean to do it, but I just notice that that happens, and then the instructor will say something like, "Okay, put your back down." Like, "Your back is arching. Put your back down." Um, but it's
like every time I do a Pilates class, I'm like, "I did not know I had these muscles." Like, there are, there are aspects of my body that don't get used very often, and there are bigger muscles within my body that are, that I use much more often that try to come in and take over. So, you know, for example, if I'm trying to do something, you know, I was... She was trying to get me to do something yesterday where,

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um, my, my glutes, you know, they were trying to activate my glutes, but I was really feeling it in my lower back. And she's like, "Okay, you gotta, you've gotta help your body not do that, 'cause your body's trying to..." Again, these bigger muscles that I'm used to using were, like, stepping in. And so if we think about that from your brain perspective, if you're really used to getting triggered, you're really used to reacting,
you're really used to jumping on a chance to get angry or to get defensive or to get, um, offended, anything like that, your limbic system has been in charge a lot. And so what these studies have found- Is that when you meditate and you're intentionally bringing your attention up to the front of your brain, so this is where, um, you might be working with the third eye. Um, when I teach meditation, I talk about the point between

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your eyebrows, bringing that attention up to the point between the eyebrows. Um, they also, they have found these things with prayer. Not necessarily meditating, but with praying. Very similar changes happen within the brain. But when the attention comes up in the type of meditation, for example, that I lead- Your, uh, your energy starts to come into the front of the brain, and
that stimulates the prefrontal cortex or the prefrontal lobes. And so the more you do this, the stronger that area gets. Again, just like when you're exercising and you're using new muscles that you don't often use, the more you use them, the stronger they will get, the more useful they will get. And so with meditation, when you're utilizing your prefrontal lobes, the prefrontal

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cortex, you will be stimulating that part of the brain. And again, remember, those... That limbic system and the prefrontal cortex, they don't work very well together at the same time. It's, it's an either/or. Again, more or less. We're, we're just being very general, but... So if you are actively exercising your brain through meditation, then you're strengthening the prefrontal
cortex. So that means that while you're meditating, that part of your brain is getting stronger. The limbic system is getting less work, so it's getting weaker really. You know, I mean, it's, it's getting m- sleepier, let's say. But what happens is that meditation has a cumulative effect, and that effect extends out beyond your meditation practice, and it starts to really change

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you. And so these studies have found that in as little as eight weeks with a consistent meditation practice... And we're not talking about you're, you're suddenly switching over to become a master expert meditator and that's all you're doing all day. It's about 12 to 15 minutes worth of meditation a day for eight weeks. That's nothing. That's really nothing. Think of
how much time you spend on your phone. Way more time than that, I'm sure. Um, but they're finding that there are significant changes in the brain, positive changes, in that short of a time. And so just like if you're going to the gym and your biceps are getting bigger because you're really working your biceps, and you can lift more and more weight when you're at the

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gym- That also equates to being stronger when you're not at the gym. So the more, the stronger you start to get, the easier it is to lift your couch, if you need to lift your couch, to take a heavy suitcase up and down the stairs, to do all kinds of things that when your muscles aren't strong are hard to do. But the more you work on strengthening your arms when you're at the gym, the more
real world strength you have outside of the gym. And it's exactly the same with meditation. So sure, you feel great while you meditate, you feel that peace, you feel that unity, you feel that happiness, but you start to notice it in your non-meditation time. So you get triggered. You're out and, you know, somebody cuts in front of you in the line at, you know, when you're ordering food,

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and that might have been something that would have ruined your day, maybe your week, something that is, you know, i- if we really think about it, it's not, not a huge deal. I mean, it's not fun if somebody is, is taking advantage in that way. But If you're reactive, then you might blow up at the person, or maybe you don't say anything then, but then you're so irritated, you're holding onto that anger, and then
you're blowing up at your partner or your dog or something, just taking it out because you've got this reactionary, um, behavior. But with a meditation practice, with accu- with that cumulative effect, those things that used to trigger you don't have the same impact anymore. So you have more... I, I noticed... I, I call it spaciousness. I noticed this very early on when I started meditating many years ago,

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that there was just more space between something happening that is a trigger for me and my reaction. It's no longer so reactionary. I have some space to be able to really decide, is this something that I'm going to respond to? Is the way that I want to respond in this moment the healthiest way to do that? Doesn't mean you don't get triggered. It doesn't mean that you don't,
um, have reactions. It doesn't mean that you become an autom- automon , um, or a robot. It just means that you have the capacity. You're not pulled around by your emotions anymore. So it's still important to have boundaries, still important to stand up for yourself, um, but you ha- there's more wisdom in that space, and you're just navigating life in a more fluid way.

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So this is just, again, just some of the benefits, and that's only the benefits related to the brain itself. Um, there are incredible changes that happen within the heart, particularly the energetic heart, the heart chakra. That's a conversation for a different time, but I, my point is that we're only talking about the benefits that you get to, through your
brain and how those then knock on into other aspects of your life. Because when you are living from a place of more happiness, more peace, more understanding and compassion and, and unity, that affects your relationships, and it affects how you How you talk to people, how you interact with people, and it makes your... It, it bleeds out into all the other

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areas of your life, bringing your whole life up a level or more than one level. Because the whole platform starts to raise, and it doesn't mean that you don't have bad days. It doesn't mean that you don't come down again. But what you'll find is that that floor lifts. So if you used to crash and you used to have like, you know, a terrible day, you don't go as low once you build
up with your meditation practice and the cumulative effects of your meditation practice. You don't crash to the same level. That floor lifts. So over time, what may... what becomes a bad day may have used to be- be the equivalent from a vibration standpoint, from a, an energetic and a feeling standpoint, it may equate to what used to be a, an, an average day for you. Now, that is

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what a, a terrible day is for you because everything has lifted, and so you are experiencing more joy more often for longer periods of time. It's less frequent that you have those bad times and that you crash, and when you do crash, you don't crash to the same level that you used to. So this is within your reach. It just takes some
commitment. It takes some choices on your part. If you want to change your life experience, then you need to change the way you live So it's your choice how you spend your time during your day. But I highly recommend if you don't already have a meditation practice, get a meditation practice. I can... You can go and learn from my website,

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karagoodwin.com. I have a learn meditation in 21 days that are quick hits for 21 days to help you develop that practice through that consistency and build over time so it's not just one big drinking from a fire hose. You'll create a sustainable practice that you can incorporate into your life every day. If you already know how to meditate, are you doing it? Let this be a reminder and an inspiration for you to do it, because it is
so worth it. There are very few things that are more worth your time, because you really can change your whole life through your meditation practice. So thank you so much for being here. Um, if you're watching this live, I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead. And if you're listening to the recording, then bless you wherever you are in time or space. Please like, share, subscribe, pass this episode on to those who would enjoy it.

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I really, really appreciate that. And bless you. I'll see you next time Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Soul Elevation. If someone in your life would be inspired or uplifted by what you heard today, please take a moment to share it with them. These are the kind of conversations that ripple out and elevate
collective consciousness. And if you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss the powerful episodes ahead. Your presence, energy and support truly help amplify this mission of raising frequency and anchoring in a more awakened humanity. Thank you for your support, and I'll see you for the next episode of Soul Elevation.