Based on a lecture by Professor Kim Joo-Hwan on September 12, 2026
Why do we meditate? What are we trying to develop through practice?
Professor Kim encourages us to answer these questions clearly. Meditation is often associated with quieting thoughts or having a special experience, but his framework places the emphasis on emotional regulation, well-being, and inner strength.
Beginning with the breath and body
Professor Kim describes one aspect of meditation as calming heightened amygdala activity. He connects this with relaxing the nervous system and cultivating awareness of breathing and bodily sensations.
Two forms of bodily awareness are especially relevant:
- Interoception: sensing the body’s internal state.
- Proprioception: sensing the body’s position and movement.
Noticing the breath offers a basic way to develop this awareness. We learn to attend to what is happening in the body without immediately trying to change it.
For someone seeking meditation because they are struggling, settling may be the first priority. Becoming calmer can be a meaningful benefit in itself.
From calming to cultivating
In Professor Kim’s explanation, heightened amygdala activity can interfere with prefrontal functioning. Calming that activity helps create conditions for the capacities he associates with the prefrontal cortex, including attention and self-regulation.
This gives meditation two connected purposes: helping us settle and helping us develop the resources to respond more effectively to life.
Some people may need considerable time with the first. Others may already feel relatively calm and want to deepen their practice.
What kind of happiness?
Professor Kim connects self–other affirmation with a sense of happiness grounded in our relationships.
He describes the experience of being at peace with ourselves, feeling love and respect for another person, or receiving those feelings in return. This differs from the excitement of an immediately pleasurable reward, although the experiences and the brain systems involved can overlap.
Practices such as gratitude journaling, loving-kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), self-compassion, and forgiveness provide opportunities to cultivate this relational well-being.
His central insight is that contributing to another person’s happiness can also become a source of our own happiness.
Inner strength and the ability to learn
Inner Communication meditation is also presented as inner-strength training. Professor Kim highlights the mid-anterior cingulate cortex (mACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in his discussion of concentration, persistence, and perseverance.
He connects well-being with our ability to use these capacities. For children, this means that supporting learning includes supporting their emotional lives and relationships.
In the lecture, he refers to research linking gratitude practice with improved mathematics performance, as well as findings connecting positive school relationships and prosocial behavior with better academic outcomes. These examples support the educational argument he develops: children’s well-being deserves attention alongside their academic skills.
He also extends his framework to physical health, discussing possible connections with pain, inflammation, immunity, and mitochondrial functioning.
Across these themes, his purpose remains consistent: meditation helps us cultivate the conditions in which we can live, relate, and use our abilities more fully.
Practice becoming visible in life
Professor Kim suggests that the effects of inner-strength training should gradually become apparent in our relationships.
We may become warmer, more approachable, or more able to listen. Others may feel more comfortable with us and more willing to cooperate.
These changes can be easier for someone else to notice, especially after several months apart. For the practitioner, they may emerge gradually through ordinary encounters.
This offers a practical question to carry into meditation: how is my practice shaping the way I treat myself and the people around me?
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