The Ultimate Meditation Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The Ultimate Meditation Quiz
Image: Martin Puddy/Getty

About This Quiz

Breathe in, breath out, breathe in, breathe out. How much do you know about the benefits of mindful meditation?
Meditation is focused on training which part of a human being?
your mind
your body
your heart
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meditation can help you relax, learn to live in the moment, reduce anxiety and achieve more as a human being.

What is a defining trait of Focused Attention meditation?
You give up on the idea of focusing your mind.
You learn to focus your mind on everything, and nothing, at once.
You focus your mind on one thing.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This focus can reduce your mental clutter and help clear your mind.

What is neuroplasticity?
The ability to change the brain's functionality and structure
Drug-assisted meditation
The science of creating plastic brains
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meditation can actually help reform the brain to your advantage.

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OMM stands for what kind of meditation?
Open Mind Meditation
Oral Mentor Meditation
Open Monitoring Meditation
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Typically, novices start with focused attention meditation before taking up OMM meditation.

Some people say meditation can help you improve your "qi," which is what?
emotion
life force
health
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "qi" comes from Chinese culture but it is represented by many other peoples as well.

Samatha meditation is designed to help you do what?
improve your body's health
tame your mind
find new insights
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It often uses mindfulness of breathing to help you focus.

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How can meditation change the brain's aging process?
It can slow it down.
It can speed it up.
It can completely stop brain aging.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meditating for perhaps 40 minutes per day can slow the rate at which your brain ages.

What does the practitioner monitor during OMM meditation?
breathing
visual inputs
awareness
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The idea is to simply monitor everything without focusing or judging.

What is a mantra?
a vocalization with spiritual meaning
a super-positive phrase repeated endlessly
prayer beads used for meditation
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A mantra can take many forms and may or may not have literal meaning; mantras are often used to focus the mind in meditation.

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How can meditation prevent you from becoming ill?
increases your blood flow
boosts your immune system
helps you visualize germs as your enemies
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meditation doesn't just increase mindfulness, it can recharge your immune system's function.

About how long must you practice meditation before your brain begins to change?
about eight weeks
about eight months
about a year
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It takes only about eight weeks to begin overhauling your brain activity through meditation.

What is the point of nirvana?
total happiness
freedom from bonds
to rock out
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Wrong Answer

Nirvana is a sort of emptiness, freedom from the cycles of birth and death, and meditation is a tool to help you move in the direction of nirvana.

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A study by Wake Forest University showed that meditation's pain relieving properties were sometimes more effective than what?
Hydrocodone
Aspirin
Morphine
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It was a small study but it demonstrated a possible use for meditation.

Ultimately, mindfulness is just what?
exercise for your mind
a path to religion
new Age hocus pocus
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meditation is a way to exercise your mind, and your brain, for better overall functionality.

The brain's posterior cingulate is related to which functions?
self-control
self-relevance
self-awareness
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Wrong Answer

After meditating for just few weeks, this part of your brain begins to thicken.

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Some experts say you should AVOID meditation at what part of the day?
at bedtime
when you first wake up
after lunch
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Wrong Answer

You might confuse your body and mind into associating meditation with sleep, when it's better to separate the two.

What is MBSR?
meditation-biased soul reactivity
mindfulness-based stress reduction
meditation-based self realization
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It was developed by professor Jon Kabat-Zinn as a secular way for people to become more mindful.

What is the brain's temporoparietal junction associated with?
mind wandering
cognition
empathy
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Wrong Answer

Exercising your brain through meditation can build this part of your brain, helping to increase your empathy and compassion.

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A National Health Interview Survey found that Americans use mediation more than what other destressing technique?
massage therapy
yoga
chiropractic adjustment
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About 8% of U.S. adults reported using meditation, as opposed to about 7% for massage therapy.

In some rare situations, meditation can lead to what?
psychosis
cancer
circulatory problems
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But these people likely had underlying mental or physical problems .

An altered state of consciousness is any brain state different than a normal waking state that features what kind of brain waves?
Beta waves
Gamma waves
Alpha waves
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Wrong Answer

Meditation can significantly alter the kinds of brain waves we have during waking hours.

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Meditation may increase what sort of oscillations in the brain?
Gamma wave oscillations
Delta wave oscillations
Alpha wave oscillations
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Gamma wave activity can be associated with improved levels of working memory and focus.

One research team found that meditation increased gray matter in which part of the brain?
brain stem
frontal cortex
cerebellum
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Wrong Answer

This part of the brain is associated with memory and decision making.

What typically happens to our frontal cortex as we age?
It shrinks.
It begins swelling.
It hurts.
Correct Answer
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People who meditate consistently, though, often have cortexes that resemble much younger folks.

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In loving-kindness meditation, meditators start by developing compassion for what?
loved ones
enemies
themselves
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You then begin extending compassion and love to others, from friends to foes.

In samadi, what happens to the mind?
It becomes one with the universe.
It becomes still.
It disappears.
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It's a meditative trance in which you become completely one with the present moment.

Buddhism indicates that meditation can help the practitioner hone which two mental qualities?
happiness and love
contentment and focus
serenity and insight
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In the end, Buddhists use meditation to let go of worry and gain more wisdom.

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How long does the Dalai Lama meditate each morning?
Four hours
40 minutes
90 minutes
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He meditates in the evening, too; he regards meditation difficult but worthwhile.

Sahaja yoga meditation is also known as what?
chaos reduction meditation
emotional control meditation
mental silence meditation
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In this type of meditation, you may learn to turn off the distractions in your mind.

Meditation increases telomerase, which is what?
an enzyme in your body
a type of cell protein
a subset of chromosomes
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It helps to protect your chromosomes and perhaps even slow the overall aging process.

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You Got:
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