The Meditation We Need for 2026 — And What It Does To Your Brain

Stress today feels constant, even when life looks calm on the surface. Our nervous systems stay switched on, our minds struggle to rest, and emotional overload becomes the norm.

In this episode of The Wellness Algorithm, Anshu Bahanda leads a guided meditation for 2026 focused on calming the nervous system, reducing stress, and supporting brain health.

Through breathwork, visualisation and gratitude, this mindfulness meditation helps the body shift out of fight or flight and into balance and recovery. It’s a practical tool for stress relief, nervous system regulation, and emotional reset in an overstimulated world.

You’re invited to join this session by finding a comfortable position, allowing yourself a few uninterrupted minutes to slow down and reconnect with your breath and body.

🎧 Tune in to explore how this meditation session can offer a gentle space to let go of stress, find emotional steadiness, and build a deeper sense of balance as you move through life.

For a transcript of this show go to https://wellnesscurated.life/the-meditation-we-need-for-2026-and-what-it-does-to-your-brain/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:56 Meditation
• 36:15 Outro

Transcript

Anshu Bahanda: What if meditation isn't just a calming ritual, but something far more powerful that happens inside your brain? What if, as neuroscience and even emerging quantum-level thinking suggests, meditation could literally reshape how our nervous system functions, how our organs respond to stress, and even how the brain heals itself? Harvard research has already shown that meditation can change brain structure. But what might that truly mean for the way we live, the way we think, and the way we feel? And as the world obsesses over ideas like quantum jumping and being able to be part of parallel realities, is there any real science to the belief that meditation can help us shift mental states, emotional patterns, and even the direction of our lives? This is Anshu Bahanda, and today on Wellness Curated, we're talking about the meditation we need and what it does to your brain. Let's explore this together, not just by understanding meditation, but by experiencing it. 

Welcome to the Wellness Algorithm, where wellbeing isn't something we chase. It's something we understand more deeply with every season of life. If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that stress today doesn't feel like the stress of, say, a decade ago. Our bodies are overstimulated. Our nervous systems are constantly on guard, constantly on fight or flight and our minds rarely get a moment of quiet, leave alone peace. Meditation, once seen as something gentle and optional, now feels almost essential. Not as a trend, not as a buzzword, but as a lifeline for the brain. At Harvard Medical School, researchers began studying meditation as a biological intervention. In a landmark study led by neuroscientist Dr Sarah Lazer, brain scans showed that just after eight weeks of mindfulness practice, participants experienced physical changes in brain structure. Areas responsible for focus, emotional regulation, and self awareness, became stronger and more active.

At the same time, the brain's fear and stress centre, the amygdala, actually reduced in density. In simple terms, meditation didn't just help people feel calmer, it trained the brain to become less reactive to stress. What's remarkable is that these changes happened without any medication. So in this episode, we're going to understand meditation a little differently. We're going to experience it together, gently and meaningfully. Before we begin, may I please request you to subscribe to the podcast? It's free and it helps us bring you more episodes like this, grounded in science and guided by the heart. Thank you. 

Okay, so now we're going to go into a meditation, a very special meditation, which is going to help us with this year. So sit in any comfortable position, try and keep your back straight if you can, but if you can't, that's fine, too. And when you are sitting comfortably, take a deep breath in and take a slow, long breath out. So I want you to breathe in peace and joy and happiness. And I want you to breathe out anything that your body doesn't want, anything negative, anything that you don't need. And keep breathing in peace and joy and happiness. And breathe out whatever it is that you don't need. Anything that your body needs to get rid of. Take a deep breath in again. And take a slow, gentle breath out. Take another deep breath in. And another slow, gentle breath out.

Then I want you to come to your heart. Either put your hands on your heart or just come to that space of your heart centre. Feel your heart. And from here, I want you to move down. Move your awareness down your body, from your heart, down to your ribs, from your ribs, down to your organs in your stomach, your liver, your kidneys, down your legs. Move your awareness down, down, down to your feet. And from here, I want you to move the awareness down, down to the earth, and go deep inside the earth. So I want you to take the awareness down, deep, deep, deep into the crystalline core of the earth. And when you're at the centre of the earth, I want you to take energy, beautiful, loving energy from Mother Earth, and move it up, up these roots that you formed while you were going down. Move it up, move this energy up, up, up till it comes to the base of your legs.

Then move this beautiful energy all the way up your legs, up your knees, up your thighs. And this energy is what is going to work on all your chakras and sort them out. So at the base of your spine is your root chakra, which is red in color. This beautiful energy is going to fix your root chakra. And then you come behind your navel to your sacral chakra, which is orange in color, and this energy is going to work with that chakra and sort it out. Then come up to the base of your ribs, your solar plexus, yellow. This beautiful energy of Mother Earth is going to fix your solar plexus. Anything that needs to be sorted will be sorted. Then come up to your heart chakra, which is either green or pink, whatever color comes easier to you. Let the energy of Mother Earth work on your heart chakra.

From here, you come to your throat chakra, which is blue in color. Your energy will fix your throat chakra and keep going up to between your eyebrows, where you have your third eye, very important, indigo in color. Let this energy purify your third eye and then go to the top of your head. Right on top of your head is your crown chakra, violet in color. Every chakra in your body has been sorted out by the beautiful energy of the Earth. Your body is working perfectly, beautifully, like it was meant to work. Like it was made to work. Feel your body, feel the energy of Mother Earth in your body and feel what these chakras are like when they working in perfect harmony with you, with the universe, with the Earth. 

Now I want you to go up, take your awareness up, up, up to the universe and I want you to pull down beautiful universal energy and cover yourself with it. If you need to use your hands, use them. Pull down beautiful pure, divine universal energy. And not only are you covering your body with it, inside, outside, you cover your head, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your stomach, your legs, your knees, your shins, your feet. Everything is covered. But not only have you covered your body, you cover your aura, cover the area around you with this beautiful universal energy. This universal energy is going to protect you and look after you and it's going to remind you that you are the universe and the universe is you.

Very often when we're leading our lives on planet Earth, we forget in our day-to-day transactional lives, we forget that we are part of this universe and that the universe is part of us. Today, this universal energy is going to remind us of that. So now that you're beautifully grounded to Mother Earth, and you're protected and divinely guided by universal energy, we're going to go now into the last year and what it held for us. So I want you to come back to your heart area. 

Come back to your heart centre. Feel the light inside you. Feel your light inside your heart area. Now I want you to remember some of the best things that happened to you last year. I want you to go into the last year and remember the most incredible, magnificent things that happened during the year. It could be something to do with you professionally. It could be something to do with your health now to achieve. It could be something to do with a loved one, maybe a child. It could be the addition of a member to your family. It could be a relationship. It could be amazing news about a friend. It could be anything. Something that gave you joy and made you happy and that you celebrated. I want you to remember that. I want you to feel how you felt when you heard that news.

So if it was a job, if you were promoted or you closed a deal, how did you feel? Or if it was some health issue that you had overcome or a goal that you set out to achieve, or maybe a new relationship in your life, how did you feel? Were you excited? Were you rejoicing? Did you feel joy? Feel that emotion. Feel what you felt when you heard the good news from last year. And now, while you're sitting in that emotion, I want you to feel gratitude for it. Because gratitude is one of the highest frequencies known. The energy of gratitude raises your vibration instantly. How lucky are we to have experienced this? I want you to feel gratitude towards that emotion, towards the situation, towards the universe that made you experience that. Just feel gratitude. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

And when you've said your thank yous to whoever it is, then I want you to come back to your heart, to the light inside you. And the light probably feels brighter because you've been grateful. And now, I want you to take your awareness to the challenges that you experienced last year. I'm sure you had some sort of challenges. Was it a health challenge? Was it maybe a challenge in a relationship? Was it some news which was upsetting? Was it something unsettling that you experienced last year? Challenges are not negative. They have come to teach us something. And this is something that we need to learn, which is very important. We choose to come to Earth, and we choose to live through certain challenges. So you would never see anyone having a life without challenges. So whatever challenges you experienced, say it was a health issue for you or for a loved one. So whatever issues you experienced, can you tell yourself, in hindsight, what was the one learning that you had from that experience?

What was the one thing that you have been taught in this lifetime because of that experience? I know some of you might struggle to find a learning. If you had a health issue, what was the learning that you could have had from it? Or if a loved one had a health issue? If you don't see it today, you will see it later. Some of my greatest learnings came from my older daughter's health issues. It changed my whole perspective on life. So if you found that learning, you're a very wise person to have found it so soon. And if you haven't found that learning yet from your challenge, you will find the learning. Trust that it will come to you.

And now can you express your gratitude towards that challenge because it came into your life to teach you something? So can you be grateful? To that challenge and to the universe for bringing you that challenge. And to yourself, for living through that challenge. And now I want you to come back to your heart centre. Come back to your heart. And now we're going to look at the year ahead, this year that lies ahead of us with all our goals and aspirations and things that we want to do and things that we want to achieve physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, personally. All these things that we have in mind for this year. So I want you to take your attention to 31st December this year.

And I want you to imagine what it would be like to wake up on 31 December, having lived through the whole year. What would it be like if you achieved everything that you want to in this year? So let's say you wake up and you look at yourself in the mirror. What would you be looking like? Would you be looking slimmer? Would you be looking taller? Would your hair be thicker? Would your skin be glowing? What would be your ideal vision of you in the mirror? Then I want you to imagine yourself doing the things you do in the morning. Do you go to the gym? What would your exercise routine be like? How fit would you be when you're eating your breakfast? What would you be eating? How healthy are you going to be? What do you do in a day? Do you go to work? Do you take your children to school? Do you chant in the morning? Whatever it is that you do, you go on a bicycle? Do you drive a car? What would be your perfect day? Would you be running a company? Would you be running a bigger company? Would you have acquired five other companies? What would your professional life look like? How would you be spiritually? Would you be travelling? Would you be quantum jumping, maybe? Would you be travelling to parallel realities?

Would you have a life partner? Would you have an amazing relationship with your life partner? Would your kids dote on you? I want you to go through all the things which would make your life perfect. All the way to the end of the day. So I'm going to let you go through your day. And I'm going to let you imagine a perfect 31st December. I'm going to be quiet for a while, while you go through your day.

And now, now I want you to go back to that same day, and I want you to repeat that day to yourself. But this time, I want you to feel every emotion, because the brain doesn't know the difference between visualization and something actually happening. The same neural pathways are activated if you imagine something as to if it actually happens. So go back to 31st December at the end of this year and wake up and look at yourself in the mirror and you're so happy to see yourself. I want you to jump or celebrate or however you feel the joy.

And then I want you to, when you're meditating, maybe feel the peace. And when with your loved ones, hug them and feel the happiness and feel the love. So I want you to go through your day and feel every single emotion when you're at work. Feel the respect of everyone in that room for you and feel your sense of achievement, “Look what I've done. I. I have done this by myself”. I'm going to let you feel your emotions. So I'll be quiet for a bit.

Just go through your whole day feeling the emotions. What would your 31st December be like this year? The end of this year? Your perfect day. And now, I want you to express gratitude for your perfect day. So express gratitude to the universe, to your spiritual guides, to the holy masters, to anyone who figured in your perfect day. So maybe it was your friends, maybe it was your family, maybe it was a house in the mountains, maybe it was you running on the beach. So, express gratitude to everything and anything that appeared on your perfect day. To the human beings that appeared, to the inanimate objects, to the houses, the sea, the mountains, the sun. Whatever it is that appeared on your perfect day. Whatever it is that appeared in your perfect day. Was your dog there? Were your kids there? Just express your gratitude to them. Were your parents there?

You were there. Thank yourself, thank that mirror you looked into. Thank anyone and anything because you're just raising your vibration by expressing gratitude. And by expressing gratitude, you're tuning into that energy. You're resonating with the energy of the things that you're choosing in your life. The things that you're inviting into your life. You are not chasing them anymore. You are resonating at that frequency. And then, I want you to come back to your body. We are here today. And we're here to create our life. And we're here to create our own reality. And we've just had a little glimpse of creating our own reality. We can do that every second of every day. When you're ready, move your arms, move your hands, move your legs, move your toes. Come back to your body. And with the deepest respect for the journey you've just been on. Only when you're ready, open your eyes. Thank you. Thank you for being here with us today on this journey. 

That was an incredible, incredible exploration. Meditation, when we truly experience it, isn't about disconnecting from the world. It's about strengthening the parts of us that carry us through it. It's about creating our own reality. It helps the brain reset. It supports the nervous system. It softens emotional overload, and it gives the body space to repair and recover. And along with science, there's also something deeply human about it. It's a quiet return to ourselves, to meaning and to steadiness. If today's session helped you pause, breathe differently, or simply feel a little more present in your own life, share it with someone who you think will benefit from this. And please remember to subscribe. It's free, and it helps us continue building a community that learns, heals, and grows together. I'm Anshu Bahanda, and before I sign off today, I'd like to say be kind to your nervous system, be gentle with your mind, and trust that the smallest moments of stillness can create the biggest shifts in how you live. Thank you.