"Besides any long term neurological benefits, I read once or twice that meditation and relaxation have an immediate effect of helping relieve the stress that lies at the root of most cases of procrastination."
You are right. This is because when you exhale, it calms the amygdala, which manages fear. The pattern of breathing in meditation over time causes a cumulative effect, and you end up with less stress, and less inhibition. At the same time, if doing a meditation where you direct focus, you are priming parts of your brain involved in focus and attention. Like I said before, motivation is an equilibrium involving inhibition (potentially caused by fear). Meditation is great for motivation.
I wouldn't go as far as to say most cases of procrastination would be fixed by meditation, though. Procrastination can have multiple causes. I'd say a failure to have clearly thought something through or unconscious psychological resistance would be more likely factors in procrastination, and meditation would not remove that stress as readily as logic or psychotherapy would, respectively.
Sorry, I meant anxiety rather than stress. Anyway, I was wrong in saying that either thing lies at the root; you can go deeper and find the causes of anxiety and stress in order to fix them. Lack of preparation and psychological fears sound like usual suspects.
(Just reordering my own thoughts here; I'm no expert.)
You are right. This is because when you exhale, it calms the amygdala, which manages fear. The pattern of breathing in meditation over time causes a cumulative effect, and you end up with less stress, and less inhibition. At the same time, if doing a meditation where you direct focus, you are priming parts of your brain involved in focus and attention. Like I said before, motivation is an equilibrium involving inhibition (potentially caused by fear). Meditation is great for motivation.
I wouldn't go as far as to say most cases of procrastination would be fixed by meditation, though. Procrastination can have multiple causes. I'd say a failure to have clearly thought something through or unconscious psychological resistance would be more likely factors in procrastination, and meditation would not remove that stress as readily as logic or psychotherapy would, respectively.