Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with numerous individuals suffering from migraines, strokes, and traumatic brain injuries. In many of these cases, I guided them to direct their attention to specific areas of the brain—whether those were regions where they felt sensation or areas directly impacted by injury or dysfunction.
This practice often produced noticeable effects. For some, it helped alleviate the discomfort of recurring migraines. For others, it appeared to stimulate activity in the brain and enhance cognitive function, motor skills, and overall responsiveness—particularly in those recovering from stroke or brain trauma.
Despite these encouraging results, I rarely, if ever, incorporated this brain-focused version of the meditation system I’ve developed into my own practice, nor did I teach it broadly to others outside of those specific cases.
But in the summer of 2024, that shifted. Whether it was a sense of curiosity or an intuitive prompting, I began directing my awareness to various sensations within my own brain—subtle impressions that became increasingly apparent with continued practice. I also began deliberately focusing on specific regions of the brain and noticing how different areas responded to attention in distinct ways.
As I continue to venture into this new frontier, the sensations within my brain have become more vivid—at times even bordering on the hallucinatory. Alongside these changes, I’ve noticed my senses becoming more heightened and my perceptions sharper. There’s a growing sense of insight and a deepening awareness—not only of myself, but also of those around me.
The people I’ve shared this practice with—and I as well—have noticed a range of positive effects. And as I continue to guide more individuals through it, I’m paying close attention to how they’re responding. Each person’s experience is unique, but there are common threads—greater clarity, improved focus, and a deeper sense of internal awareness.
One man I’ve been working with—who’s in the financial industry in London—told me about a task he was assigned at work, one he typically dreads and tends to procrastinate on. It usually takes him a few weeks to finish. But after I guided him through the practice of bringing his awareness into the sensations within his brain, he said he was able to stay focused, felt motivated, and completed the entire project in just a few days.
In my own experience, I find that this practice leads to greater levels of self-awareness, as well as a heightened awareness of my surroundings. There’s a deeper sense of insight and understanding that begins to emerge. It feels as though my brain is working faster and more efficiently—I’m able to work through issues more effectively and come up with creative, workable solutions with greater ease.
Another thing that has become more readily apparent as a result of working with this practice is that I’m better able to sense into other people—into what they’re feeling emotionally. I find myself more attuned to where they’re coming from and what they're going through in their own lives.
Over the years, it became readily apparent to me that people carry a great deal of stagnation in various organs and areas of their bodies — stress they’ve internalized, unprocessed emotions, and toxins from unhealthy dietary choices, along with habits like smoking, alcohol consumption, and other drug use. Pharmaceuticals, too, contribute to this stagnation. Much of it tends to accumulate within the abdomen and lower digestive tract. But as I began focusing more deeply within the brain, I became increasingly aware that it too holds a significant amount of stagnation. I can’t say for certain, but I do wonder whether this buildup contributes to the plaque that forms in the brain as people age — and whether that may be one of the underlying factors in cognitive decline.
The brain is linked to and regulates all the organs, systems, and parts of the body. And as I’ve continued to focus my awareness within the brain, I’ve noticed that it often elicits a response in various organs. I can feel activity being triggered, and I can sense that it’s having a stimulating effect—supporting their function and helping things move and operate more efficiently.
Our brains become habituated to many of the same thoughts and emotional patterns—and as a result, we often remain stuck. That stuckness impairs our ability to see ourselves clearly, to understand other people, to objectively assess the situations we’re dealing with, or to make sense of what’s playing out in our lives—or even politically and globally. Conversely, I’ve found that focusing my awareness within the brain has been helping me become more cognitively flexible. I’m better able to see things objectively, adapt to changing circumstances, and work through challenges—rather than getting caught in the same emotional loops and reactive patterns.
Many people don’t feel all that much at first when they begin meditating with their awareness focused in the brain. But over time, many do begin to notice a significant increase in sensation as they continue with the practice. For most, that usually happens within a few days, although for some, it can take a bit longer. Even if you don’t feel much at the beginning, just continue—stay with it. The sensations tend to grow stronger and more distinct the more you work with it.
When meditating and focusing your awareness within the brain, I encourage you to explore the different regions. Begin by bringing your attention into the prefrontal cortex—the region located just behind the forehead, often referred to as the brain’s executive center. This area governs higher-level cognitive functions such as rational thought, planning, decision-making, self-reflection, emotional regulation, and impulse control. It plays a critical role in helping us pause before we react, consider the consequences of our actions, and maintain a long-term perspective. Many of the qualities we associate with maturity, wisdom, and emotional intelligence stem from a well-functioning prefrontal cortex.
By directing your awareness here during meditation, you may begin to notice a quieting of the mental noise, a growing sense of clarity, and an enhanced ability to observe thoughts and emotions without getting pulled into them. This region also helps regulate the limbic system, which is responsible for emotional reactivity—so activating it can reduce feelings of anxiety or overwhelm. Over time, consistent focus here may strengthen your capacity to stay calm and centered in high-pressure situations, make more thoughtful decisions, and access deeper levels of insight.
Once you’ve begun to establish a felt sense of awareness within the prefrontal cortex, bring your attention more fully into the midbrain, the central region located deep within the brainstem. This area includes components such as the periaqueductal gray (PAG), tectum, tegmentum, and substantia nigra—each playing a vital role in regulating pain, integrating sensory input, supporting movement and arousal, and coordinating instinctive reflexes. While not part of the midbrain, the parietal lobe, located higher up in the cerebral cortex, works in close coordination with the deeper structures by processing touch, proprioception, and spatial awareness—helping you feel where your body is in space.
Building on this connection, you can now bring your awareness into the forebrain, particularly the temporal lobe, which houses the amygdala and hippocampus. The amygdala is deeply involved in emotional processing, especially fear detection and threat response, while the hippocampus plays a crucial role in forming memories and orienting us in space and time. Gently centering your awareness in this region during meditation can help regulate emotional reactivity, reduce unconscious fear responses, and bring long-buried memories or emotional imprints into conscious awareness for integration. The temporal lobe also supports auditory processing and language comprehension—essential for how we make sense of our internal and external world. Developing a felt sense of this region enables you to cultivate greater emotional intelligence, resilience, and the ability to consciously shape your inner narrative.
As your meditation practice deepens, it can be helpful to differentiate between the roles of the parietal and temporal lobes, each contributing to distinct aspects of your inner and outer experience. The parietal lobe, located near the top and back of the brain, governs body awareness, spatial orientation, and the integration of sensory input—helping you feel grounded and present within your physical form. In contrast, the temporal lobe, situated along the sides of the brain near the ears, is more involved in auditory processing, language comprehension, emotional regulation, and memory formation, particularly through the amygdala and hippocampus. Bringing awareness to these regions during meditation can deepen your sense of embodiment while also enhancing emotional insight and self-reflection.
You won’t be able to distinguish or isolate the individual components within this region—nor do you need to. What matters is that by bringing your awareness into this generalized area of the brain, you’re stimulating a number of important structures at once, helping to activate their functions and bring greater vitality to the system as a whole.
Then, shift your focus to the back of the brain, into the occipital lobe. This region serves as the brain’s primary visual processing center, interpreting input from the eyes—including light, color, shape, movement, and depth. It’s home to the primary visual cortex, where raw visual data first arrives before being integrated into coherent perception. During meditation, attuning your awareness to this area can heighten clarity, visual imagery, and inner seeing, strengthening your capacity for visualization, mental focus, and perceptual awareness. The occipital lobe also works in coordination with the parietal lobe to support spatial orientation and our sense of direction in the physical world.
Give yourself time to thoroughly explore the various regions of the brain. I encourage you to spend at least a few days—or even a week—focusing on each region before moving on to the next. This allows you to really get a felt sense of each area. As you do, take note of the differences in sensation, and pay attention to how focusing your awareness in each region affects you—both during the meditation and in your daily life.
As you work with this meditation practice of focusing your awareness within the brain, you may find that you naturally develop certain preferences. You might notice that the process feels more enjoyable, effective, or productive when your attention is directed toward specific regions. For instance, I personally tend to focus primarily on the midbrain, as well as the temporal and parietal lobes, as that’s where I feel the greatest impact. Yet there are also times when I’ll shift my focus to the prefrontal cortex or to the occipital lobe in the back of the head, depending on what I’m feeling led to do in that moment.
If you’re experiencing migraines or have suffered from a stroke or traumatic brain injury, I encourage you to begin sensing into the specific areas of your brain that have been affected, and to gently focus your awareness within those regions. Bringing your attention to these areas can help facilitate healing by reactivating and supporting the brain’s natural regenerative processes. Start slowly—fifteen to thirty minutes at most—to give your brain and body time to adjust. Attempting to go for an hour or more right away can, in some cases, precipitate a healing crisis, as the brain and body may respond more intensely than expected.
Generally, I do encourage people to start slowly—fifteen to thirty minutes is a good place to begin—and then gradually work your way up to an hour, two, or even more. In fact, as you extend your practice over time, you may find yourself accessing profoundly deep and powerful meditative states. The healing and transformation that unfolds in these longer sessions tends to be much greater, often reaching into layers of the self that shorter practices may not touch.
For years, my meditation practice has primarily involved focusing my attention within the heart, the abdomen, and the areas of tension held throughout my body. I also spend a lot of time centering my awareness in the depths of any feelings or bodily sensations that arise in the moment, often in response to whatever is going on in my life. This continues to be a core part of my practice—I still feel strongly about the importance of staying firmly grounded in the body. Since the summer of 2024, I’ve begun to spend more of my meditation with my awareness focused within the brain—perhaps a third or a quarter of my total practice time.
The brain healing and cognitive boosting meditation I’m describing is an extraordinarily powerful practice—and the more frequently you do it, and the more time you devote to each session, the more profound the effects become. Begin by bringing as much awareness as you can into the brain. You can focus on the brain as a whole, or—as I tend to do—direct your attention into the specific regions mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. Feel as though you're immersing your awareness in the depths of whatever sensations arise, no matter how subtle they may seem. Even if you don’t feel anything at first, continue to center your awareness within the brain. With time and consistent practice, the sensations will begin to awaken and grow stronger. Breathe softly and deeply as you rest your attention there, allowing yourself to follow the progression of these sensations as they unfold.
As I mentioned earlier, working with this practice—especially during longer sessions—can sometimes lead to sensations or visuals that have a hallucinatory quality. While that may feel intimidating for some, I personally find it pleasant, enjoyable, and even a bit entertaining at times. It can also bring a flood of memories and emotions to the surface. Some of what arises may feel uncomfortable or unsettling, but it’s all part of the process. These moments offer a powerful opportunity to access emotions that have been held within the body, along with thought patterns that have been operating just outside of your conscious awareness. By staying present and allowing these experiences to unfold, you create the space to work through difficult emotions, bring unresolved issues to the surface, and begin to process and integrate them. This not only facilitates deep and profound healing but can also accelerate your growth in meaningful ways.
While those with prior meditation experience may be able to use what I’ve shared in this article as a roadmap, I find that most people—at least in the beginning—need some level of guidance to effectively navigate the inner terrain. If you feel drawn to explore this work more deeply, I’m available for individual sessions. You can reach out to me directly at (332) 333-5155 to schedule a session or ask any questions you may have.
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