How God changes your brain

Check out this article discussing the changes that occured in the brains of Christian and Buddist monks and nuns who engaged in periods of intense prayer and meditation. The studies show that such spiritual practices literally reshape the way the brain works in ways that make the practicioner more calm, relaxed, compassionate, and deeply mindful. Such practices can have the same effects even for non-religious people.

I suspect that God has "hard-wired" us in such a way that these practices literally shape us to be more like him. Interestingly, saying short prayers (as is commonly practiced by many moderately religious individuals) did not show the same positive effects upon the brain.

I recently saw a guy talking about the same subject on Public Television. All of this has made me want to revisit Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.