GABA - meditation

Most people talk about dopamine or serotonin when discussing meditation.

But very few people mention GABA — even though it may be one of the most important chemicals in the brain for deep calm.

GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid) is basically the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter. Its job is to slow down excessive neural activity and quiet the nervous system.

When GABA activity increases, the mind tends to become calmer, thoughts slow down, and the body shifts into a more relaxed state.

This is why many anti-anxiety medications actually work by affecting the GABA system.

What made me curious about this was my own meditation experience.

At one point I was experimenting with very intense meditation techniques — strong breathwork, fast mantra repetition, pushing for longer and longer sessions.

Instead of feeling calmer, my nervous system sometimes felt overstimulated. I even started experiencing physical jolts during practice, and it honestly felt like my mind was getting overloaded.

That made me step back and rethink things.

Later I started focusing on much simpler practices:

• quiet breath awareness

• slow breathing with longer exhale

• body scan meditation

• deep relaxation practices like yoga nidra

These practices didn’t create intense “bliss” experiences.

But something interesting happened — the mind gradually became quieter.

Which makes me wonder if some meditation techniques are more dopamine-driven (stimulating and experience-focused), while others move the brain toward a calmer GABA-dominant state.

Curious to hear from others:

Have you ever tried a meditation practice that actually made your nervous