What does prayer do to my brain?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Prayer and meditation are key features of religious and spiritual practices around the world, suggesting they’re intimately linked to the human condition. But what is going on in the brain during prayer? And is praying beneficial for our mental health?

CrowdScience listener Hilary is keen to find answers to such questions. She’s a counsellor with a strong Christian faith, and is curious to know whether science can illuminate religious and spiritual practices.

Presenter Caroline Steel talks to neuroscientists researching how our brains respond to prayer and meditation; and practices mindfulness herself to explore its similarities to prayer. She discovers that having a relationship with God may depend on more than religious practice. And is there a ‘spiritual part’ to our brains? Or is prayer just one activity among many - like going for a walk or playing music - that can have similar effects on our state of mind?

Featuring: Professor Andrew Newberg, Director of Research Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, USA Tessa Watt, mindfulness teacher Ven. Hin Hung Sik, Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong Dr Junling Gao, Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong Dr Blake Victor Kent, Westmont College, USA

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Cathy Edwards Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy

(Photo: A crowd of people praying. Credit: Digital Vision/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. It's very neat. and lots of flowers out, the blue bells, the enenemies are out.
0:44.3	It's very neat to where I live and very precious to me.
0:50.6	You're listening to crowd science from the BBC World Service. I'm Caroline Steele and I'm with listener Hillary.
0:57.0	We're walking through woodland near her home in the south of England.
1:01.0	There's a carpet of white flowers, bird-song and not another human in sight.
1:07.0	Hillary's moments of peace in these woods made her wonder.
1:14.0	How does prayer affect the brain and mental well-being?
1:18.0	What made you think of the question?
1:21.0	Many different reasons, actually. I think that science isn't
1:25.9	sometimes put alongside faith which interests me to see how that works out. I'm a
1:31.6	counselor and I teach people to become counselors and part of how I work
1:36.8	with my students and clients is very holistically so we look at the whole person which
1:41.8	includes their spiritual side which this would be relevant
1:45.2	to. But actually, most of all, it's on a personal level because I have a strong faith myself,
1:51.7	and it's a very important part of my life.
1:55.0	So what is prayer for you personally?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -271 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.