With every thought, word, and action, you’re sculpting your brain. Everything we do—for better or worse—shapes the brain. Like a muscle, the more we exercise the brain in a particular direction, the stronger it becomes.

The brain contains an overall network, and any type of spiritual, religious, or meditative practice—praying the rosary, reciting a mantra, or talking to God—can activate and enhance different regions, says Andrew Newberg, M.D., a neuroscientist who has studied the effects of prayer and meditation for more than 25 years.

Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. He has written more than 10 books, including How God Changes Your Brain and How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain, and has image scanned the brains of nuns, Buddhist monks, and atheists.

Spiritual enlightenment, Newberg says, is about being the best person you can be. “You can be an enlightened taxi driver, and that means you’re the best taxi driver you can be,” he explains. “It’s about lifting ourselves and lifting others too.”

Prayer and meditation can help us reach higher levels of self-awareness and consciousness—and literally change our brains. Imaging studies show that these practices increase activity in the frontal lobes, located behind the forehead, which are linked to attention and focus. “The frontal lobe turns on when you’re concentrating,” Newberg notes. This region also helps regulate emotions and reduces stress and anxiety.

Long-term practitioners often have thicker frontal lobes, associated with greater concentration and focus. At the same time, activity decreases in the parietal lobe, the region tied to our sense of space and time. In essence, people who pray experience a sense of oneness and transcendence, and feel connected to God. “There’s a blurring of the individual sense of self … you become one with the universe,” Newberg says.

Prayer also stimulates serotonin, a mood stabilizer, and dopamine, part of the brain’s reward and pleasure system. The more you pray or meditate, the deeper and longer-lasting these changes become. Neurons that fire together, wire together sums up how brain pathways are reinforced through repetition. Each time you do something, you’re etching the brain pathway deeper, increasing the likelihood that you’ll repeat it. 

Contemplative practices help regulate emotional reactions and foster mindful responses. For instance, if you’re angry then you take that anger into the world and it generates more anger. But if you’re praying with love and compassion, then you go out into the world with love and compassion for others—and maybe you don’t get irritated standing in the line at the grocery store or you don’t get frustrated sitting in traffic. 

A person who is regularly praying, meditating, or sending loving-kindness doesn’t necessarily want to judge others and incite conflict. 

Religious and spiritual practices are meant to help us become better human beings and in turn help the world to be a better place. And by applying the benefits of our spiritual practice to our relationships, daily encounters, and society at large, we can choose to de-escalate situations and respond in positive, healing ways that promote the highest good. When we choose a peaceful response, we produce a different result.

Newberg stresses that a person has to want to interact mindfully and harmoniously. The brain requires a lot of energy to incorporate new beliefs and experiences. It takes a conscious desire and willingness to broaden how we see and relate to one another.

Thanks to neuroplasticity, our brains can evolve and grow throughout life. This capacity for change is the key to cultivating more compassion for ourselves and others.

Robin Fasano is a regular contributor to Natural Awakenings magazine.