News Health & Medicine

Meditators can concentrate the hurt away

Volunteers felt less pain while practicing mindfulness

By Daniel Strain

- More than 2 years ago

If a tree falls on you in the forest while you’re meditating, does it still hurt?

JUST BREATHE For resting individuals, pulses of heat light up the primary somatosensory cortex, a region of the brain that maps ouches and owies to particular regions of the body. When the subjects focused on their breathing using a technique called mindfulness meditation, the brain region stayed quiet even during pain.