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All rights reserved Why should I meditate? What benefits will meditation offer? The following articles
will answer your questions .
Meditation research |
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Meditation has been extensively practiced in many civilizations since thousands of years to cultivate a state of well-being
or for religious purposes. This short article will review meditation effects at the physiological, attentional, and affective
levels and the scientific paradigms used to study these effects.
Meditation is an old practice: Spiritual practices that aim at transcending the common state of consciousness
can be tracked in human societies over the world down to shamanic practices in the Paleolithic (Winkelman 2000; Walter and
Neumann Fridman 2004). Formal references to meditation practice can be found in ancient texts as early as the 3rd century
BCE in the Buddhist witting of the Abhidharma (Cox 2004).
State versus trait changes: Meditation-induced
neurophysiological changes may be of two kinds: changes that occur during meditation practice, referred as state changes and
changes that build up over months or years and persist even when the mind is not actively engaged in meditation, referred
as trait changes (Cahn and Polich 2006).
Peak experiences: Meditation affects bodily functions in
two different ways: a low arousal state in standard daily meditation practice and a high arousal state in peak meditation
experience. According to early theoretical models, infrequent peak experiences have quite a different, high arousal tone than
the more common meditative states (Cahn and Polich 2006) although it is difficult to study such experiences because of their
rarity. This review will thus only review data concerning the usual, common trait experienced during meditation practice.
Two groups of meditation practice: It is possible to classify meditative style on a continuum depending
on how attentional processes are directed (Cahn and Polich 2006). Lutz et al. (2008) proposed a theoretical framework in which
meditation practices are categorized in two main groups.
Concentrative - or focused attention - techniques involve continuous sustained attention on a selected object:
the object of focus may be breath or body sensations, a sub-vocal repeated sound or word (mantra), or an imagined mental image.
Concentration meditation requires narrowing of awareness so that it only contains the object of focus.
On the other
hand mindfulness meditation practices, also called “open monitoring” or “insight” meditation, requires
expanding of awareness with no explicit focus (except awareness itself). In mindfulness, practitioners are instructed to allow
any thought, feeling or sensation to arise in consciousness while maintaining a nonreactive awareness to what is being experienced
(Gunaratana 2002; Kabat-Zinn 2003; Cahn and Polich 2006; Lutz, Slagter et al. 2008).
HISTORY OF THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF MEDITATION
Meditation practices has widely and rapidly spread in the western part of the world over the past forty years and specific
adaptations of ancestral oriental meditation techniques have been developed for clinical use and/or general well being. Scientific
study of meditation has been conducted since around that time but only started to gain popularity in the late 1990s as shown
on the figure below (number of search results for the term « meditation » in the PubMed medical and scientific database).
MEDITATION AND THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Since meditation is often considered to be a relaxation technique, it is reasonable to assume that meditation practice
will affect the functioning of the body.
Effect of meditation on the autonomic system: The autonomic
nervous system (ANS) controls the activity of organs and viscera in the body. It is composed of the sympathetic and parasympathetic
neural pathways. Although this is a schematic view and reality is far more complex, these two components are usually considered
as having opposite actions on their targeted organs or tissues. The sympathetic system is most often involved in energy mobilization,
preparing the organism to react (flight or fight response, response to stress) whereas the parasympathetic component is responsible
for most resting and restoration functions of the organism (rest and digestive functions) (Jänig 2003).
Parasympathetic
activation (body restoration): One possible way for meditation to act on autonomic activity is through respiration
control. Respiration is one of the few body autonomic functions that can be controlled and can affect functioning of the autonomic
nervous system (Eckberg, Nerhed et al. 1985; Badra, Cooke et al. 2001 ). Many meditation traditions consider breath, body
and mind as linked and thus have given, explicitly or not, the breath a central role in meditation practice. Slower respiration
rate during meditation practice induces changes in the cardiovascular activity that correspond to an increase in the activity
of the restorative parasympathetic system (Saul 1990). This increased parasympathetic activity has also been assessed through
the slowing down of basal heart rate in meditators (Pal, Velkumary et al. 2004) and the increased synchronization, or respiratory
sinus arrhythmia (RSA), between the breathing cycle and the heart beat during meditation (Cysarz and Bussing 2005; Ditto,
Eclache et al. 2006). RSA, corresponds to high variability in heart rate as heart rate becomes faster during inhalation and
slower during exhalation.
Decreased blood pressure: Slow breathing has also been associated with
increased baroreflex sensitivity (Joseph, Casucci et al. 2005; Reyes del Paso, Cea et al. 2006). Decrease in blood pressure
is often reported after meditation practice in both healthy individuals and hypertensive patients (Carlson, Speca et al. 2007;
Manikonda, Stork et al. 2008). Improved control of blood pressure is usually considered as a sign of balance between parasympathetic
and sympathetic activity.
Improved immune response: Although few studies are available, there is
increasing evidence that meditative practice also impacts the immune system. Psychological states such as stress impact the
functioning of the immune system (Segerstrom and Miller 2004). The immune system is indirectly under the influence of the
central nervous system via hormonal signaling and through activity of the autonomic nervous system (Dantzer and Kelley 1989;
Jänig 2003). Davidson et al. (2003) found faster peak rise for the antibody response to a flu shot in healthy meditators who
underwent a 8-week MBSR training course in open monitoring meditation when compared to non-meditators. Increased number and
increased activity of lymphocyte T and other natural killer cells has also been found in HIV patients after MBSR training
(Taylor 1995; Robinson, Mathews et al. 2003).
Meditation reduces pain: Clinical settings for treatment
of chronic pain based on diverse meditation practices, such as MBSR program (Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth et al. 1985; Morone, Greco
et al. 2008) or loving-kindness meditation (Carson, Keefe et al. 2005), have revealed positive outcomes, associated with overall
life quality improvement. Enhanced acute pain tolerance has also been assessed in different studies with both focused attention
and open-monitoring style of meditation. Longitudinal study with Transcendental Meditation shows decreased brain activation
in thalamus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulated cortex in response to acute pain protocol (hand immersion in hot water)
after 5 months of TM daily practice in naive participants (Orme-Johnson, Schneider et al. 2006). This study further suggests
that TM practice does not change actual pain sensation (as pain rating didn’t change pre or post TM practice and never
significantly differed between beginners and long term practitioners) but does reduce emotional distress associated with pain,
resulting in enhanced tolerance to acute pain.
Meditation slows down aging: As we have seen, meditation
training seems to protect against stress and boosts the immune system. It has also recently been shown to reduce neuronal
decay due to normal aging. Pagnoni (2007) founds greater prefrontal cortex thickness in middle-aged meditators than in non-meditators,
in which there was a decline in cortical thickness associated with age, a result that is also reported by Lazar et al. (2005).
Nagendra et al. (2008) also showed that expert Vipassana meditators did not present sleep patterns associated with aging.
Both the onset of the first REM episode and the total length of REM episodes typically decrease with age. They showed that
this decrease was drastically smaller in meditators of age 50-60 when compared to control subjects of the same age. This suggests
that meditation helps to slow down the brain aging process through a mechanism which has yet to be discovered. Cortical thickness
also generally reduces with aging but this trend can be inversed using meditation (see below).
Meditation increased
cortical thickness: Meditation-induced changes in cortical areas devoted to process inputs from the body are reported
by Lazar et al. (2005) and could account for the meditation trait increased awareness of the sensory field. Lazar et al. (2005)
study showed that regular practice of open monitoring meditation - which focuses on both internal and external sensation -
increases the thickness of cortex in somato-sensory brain areas.
Change in representation of self:
Meditation practice also induces changes in one’s representation of the self. The fMRI study of Farb et al. (2007) showed
a decreased coupling between the insular cortex - involved in perception of pain and internal body responses - and the medial
prefrontal cortex (mPFC), involved in higher level cognition after following an 8 week open monitoring meditation program.
This suggests the presence of a different type of self awareness in meditation experts that is less rooted in one’s
sense of body and more oriented toward an “impersonal beingness” (Cahn and Polich 2006).
MEDITATION AND ATTENTION
Meditation is attention training: The cognitive function that meditation may affect the most is attention
since meditation is a form of attention training. Meditation is a skill and as such it may train attentional systems.
As physical training strengthen body muscles, mental training involved in meditation reinforces brain attentional circuits.
Meditation recruits attentional brain areas involved in learning. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a techniques
that monitor metabolic activity in the brain as reflected by variations in blood flow, Brefczynski-Lewis (2007) found that
focused attention meditation is associated in Tibetan Buddhist meditators with greater activation in multiple attention-related
brain regions (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, superior frontal sulcus and intraparietal sulcus).
Three types
of attention: According to Lutz (2008), meditation practices involve at least three attention regulation subsystems:
Object-based concentration: Selective attention – or orienting – which is the selection of
specific information from the flow of sensory input and involve cortical structures known to gate information such as the
temporal-parietal junction, the ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex, the frontal eye field, and the intraparietal sulcus (Corbetta
and Shulman 2002).
Continuous attention monitoring: Second, meditation imposes continuous monitoring of the focus of attention. Sustained
attention – or alertness - is the maintenance of a state of high sensitivity toward perceived stimulus or mental object
over time and involve most likely sustained synchronous activity between the thalamus and the right frontal and right parietal
cortical structures – also known as the thalamo-cortical loop (Coull 1998; Berger, Kofman et al. 2007; Posner and Rothbart
2007). Executive attentions to redirect attention: Finally, meditation also consists in transient attention
shifts, as when disengaging attention from a source of distraction and redirecting it to the intended object of concentration
(Cahn and Polich 2006; Lutz, Slagter et al. 2008). This involves executive attention (EA) – or conflict monitoring -
the monitoring and resolution of conflicts among thoughts, feelings and mental plan. This function is managed by the dorsal
anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, structures that have also been shown to be activated when
self-conscious (Ridderinkhof, Van Den Wildenberg et al. 2004; Weissman, Roberts et al. 2006)).
Meditation improves perceptual attention capacity: Selective visual attention focused on an object
may be involuntarily influenced by the surrounding objects as distracting visual stimuli of high contrast have been shown
to automatically redirect this type of attention (Friedman-Hill, Robertson et al. 2003). The amplitude of the differential
brain electrical activity between frequent and infrequent stimuli, called the mismatch negativity (MMN), increases directly
after a Sahaj Samadhi focused attention meditation session in expert practitioners (Srinivasan and Baijal 2007). Similar findings
were found for Vipassana meditation (Cahn 2007). Focused attention training and the higher degree of awareness of the body
and sensation induced by meditation might be responsible for increase sensory cortex sensibility. These results indicate that
meditation tends to boost low-level attention. This could be due to increased attentional resources. Meditation could recruit
new attention-dedicated neuronal networks or strengthen existing ones.
Meditation decreases perceptual habituation:
Neural and perceptual systems tend to habituate to repetitive presentation of stimuli, early responses being larger than later
ones. Meditation has been shown to decrease perceptual habituation to repetitive stimuli. This type of effect has been mostly
observed for open monitoring meditation that develops attention to the present moment to moment experience without allowing
attention to wander. Non-habituation was demonstrated with open monitoring meditators where the electroencephalographic alpha
rhythm amplitude did not decrease after repeated stimulus presentations (Wenger and Bagchi 1961; Deikman 1966). These findings
are also consistent with Cahn’s study (2008) showing less automated recruitment of frontal attentional circuits when
processing rare and salient auditory stimuli during Vipassana open-monitoring meditation practice. These results indicate
that meditation allows for non-habituation and faster re-allocation of attention.
Attention reduces fluctuation
of attention: For non-expert meditators, practicing focused attention meditation on a particular object brings to
awareness how frequent and pervasive mind-wandering events are. Sonuga-Barke et al. (2007) proposed a hypothesis to explain
the presence of mind-wandering events. Fluctuation in the quality of sustained attention, i.e. the occurrence of mind-wandering
events while focusing on a task, could be in part due to interference with the default mode of brain activity. In this model,
interoceptive and exteroceptive attentional focus is slowly but continuously fluctuating at rest, so as to allow individuals
to perceive the environment and process it cognitively. Long-term effect of meditation training could involve enhanced capacities
to inhibit introspective spontaneous activity during sustained attention engagements by modifying large-scale neuronal network
connectivity and activity Lutz (2008). Consistent with this hypothesis, using electro-encephalography, the resting state brain
activity shows spontaneous fluctuations between two distinct and supposedly opposites modes (Laufs, Holt et al. 2006).
One of these modes is characterized by the presence of slow 3 to 7 Hz oscillations (theta activity) that are associated with
reduced level of vigilance. The other mode is characterized by the presence of fast 12 to 30 Hz oscillations which is usually
associated with high vigilance levels. These spontaneous patterns of increase and decrease of theta activity have recently
been associated with periods of mind-wandering and periods of concentration respectively (Cahn 2007; Braboszcz and Delorme
2009).
Meditation, mind wandering, and “default network” brain activity: The concept
of a default mode of brain functioning at rest emerged from the consistent deactivation of a brain area network during a series
of psychophysic tasks compared to resting baseline (Raichle, MacLeod et al. 2001; Greicius, Krasnow et al. 2003). The brain
network involved in baseline activity includes the median prefrontal cortex (mPFC) which dorsal part has been associated with
self-referential and emotional mental activity (Ingvar 1985; Gusnard, Akbudak et al. 2001). Recently, higher activity
in the same default network has been found during a task with high occurrence of mind-wandering episodes compared with a task
with low occurrence of such episodes (Mason, Norton et al. 2007), which suggests that mind-wandering could be the main underlying
experience of the brain default network.
MEDITATION AND EMOTIONS
Meditation affect emotions: Regardless of the specific meditation technique, meditation leads to state
and trait experiences involving a deep sense of peace and calm. In fact achieving enduring happiness by freeing oneself from
affliction is the central doctrine of Buddhism (Ekman, Davidson et al. 2005). The fact that meditation affects the way emotions
are experienced and allows for better regulation of negative and distressing feelings is in part an outcome of meditation-induced
changes on body, brain and cognitive functioning reviewed in the previous sections.
Brain asymmetry and body-emotion:
In the last twenty years, asymmetries in brain electrical activation has been linked with the way people react to emotional
situations and regulate their emotions (Wheeler, Davidson et al. 1993; Allen and Kline 2004). In individuals that are more
likely to react positively and to let go quickly of negative emotions, the baseline electrical activity of their brain exhibited
greater left sided anterior activation when compared to recordings of individuals which or who were more prone to nourish
and remain in negative emotions (for a review, see Davidson (2004)). After 6 months practice of mindfulness and MBSR meditation,
healthy participants showed enhanced left-sided prefrontal electrical activity in the alpha band after induction of both positive
and negative feelings (Davidson, Kabat-Zinn et al. 2003). In this study, increase left-sided PFC activity is furthermore associated
with reduced anxiety and negative affect, that is a tendency to have more negative emotional reactivity and increase experience
of positive affect.
Decreased brain response to emotions: Studies show that meditation actually affects
two important areas of the brain emotion circuitry: the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The amygdala is engaged
in producing autonomic, endocrine and somatic responses as well as directing the attention toward affective stimuli that are
potentially important for the individual, such as potential threat or potential source of food (Davis and Whalen 2001).
The PFC down-regulates neural activity in the amygdala and both areas share reciprocal connections (Davidson 2002; Banks,
Eddy et al. 2007). Less body arousal and EEG brain activation has been observed in response to negative affects for yoga practitioners
(Aftanas and Golosheykin 2005). Consistent with this result, when engaged in focused attention meditation, amygdala fMRI activity
in response to emotional negative or positive sounds is decreased in long-term Tibetan expert practitioners compared to novice
ones. Interestingly, the more hours participants have spent meditating in their life, the more important is the decrease in
amygdala activity (Brefczynski-Lewis, Lutz et al. 2007).
Medication-based therapy reduces depression relapse:
Medication-based therapy as well as psychotherapies (Cognitive Therapy and interpersonal therapy) are successful for curing
punctual depressive episodes, but fail to prevent relapses. After three major depressive episodes, the probability of relapse
is about 90%. Jon Kabat Zinn relied on mindfulness-based practices to put distance between the patient and his cognitive,
emotional and sensory experiences Kabat Zinn (1986; 1992). Since about 1970, Kabat Zinn mindfulness-based stress reduction
program has become widely popular and is now often accepted within clinical settings. MBSR is a structured group program composed
of 8 two-hour weekly sessions. Sessions are centered on mindfulness practice (simple Zen-like mindfulness meditation)
and experiential feedback. Participants commit to practice at home for forty-five minutes daily, at least 6 days a week. MBSR
has been shown to be efficient for stress reduction (Davidson, Kabat-Zinn et al. 2003). MBCT is largely based on Jon Kabat
Zinn stress reduction program (MBSR) and has the same format as MBSR except that it associates known Cognitive Therapy (CT)
in addition to meditation McQuaid (2004). MBCT therapy proved to be efficient as it reduced the probability of relapse by
about half in patients that had experienced at least three major depressive episodes (Teasdale, Segal et al. 2000; Michalak,
Heidenreich et al. 2008).
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LIBC Symposium: meditation changes brain activity
Meditation has the reputation of being vague and woolly. Some neuroscientists have a different opinion: meditation has
measurable effects on the brain. They will present their findings on Friday 20 March during the first symposium of the Leiden
Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC): ‘Imag(in)ing the buddhist brain’.
The symposium ‘Imag(in)ing
the Buddhist Brain’ is the result of an interfaculty partnership between (from l to r) Buddhist scholar Jonathan Silk,
linguist Lisa Cheng and psychologist Lorenza Colzato.
For some people, meditation is a spiritual or religious experience. Is it possible to study such a phenomenon scientifically?
Professor Lisa Cheng, co-founder of the LIBC and iniator of the symposium, understands this scepticism. 'Buddhism and meditation
are traditionally shrouded in mystery. 'But does that mean that meditation is incomprehensible for science? Cheng believes
not. 'Our symposium will prove the opposite.'
Cheng is alluding to recent research by Antonino Raffone (University of Rome) and Heleen Slagter (University of Wisconsin).
Independently of one another they have succeeded in measuring the effects of meditation on the brain. Raffone studied Buddhist
monks and came to the conclusion that particular forms of meditation lead to a lasting reorganisation of brain activity. His
American colleague Heleen Slagter discovered that, after three months of meditating, people find it easier to divide their
attention over stimuli from their environment. The difference was also visible in EEG scans. The conclusion reached by the
researcher is that, through meditation, individuals gained greater control over the limited capacity of their brain. Raffone
and Slagter will present their findings during the symposium.
Regular meditation leads to lasting changes in brain activity. (From: Slagter et al., 2007: Mental training affects distribution of limited brain resources. )
Specifically because meditation is such a traditional subject in the perception of many people, Cheng chose this as the
theme for the first symposium, of the modern, progressive LIBC. Research into the working of the brain is not separate from
the humanities, is her message. 'When I first came to Leiden, I noticed that there were major barriers between different disciplines,'
Cheng explains. 'One of our aims in setting up the LIBC in 2005 was to remove these barriers.'
The LIBC is an interfaculty institute where scientists from different disciplines come together to find out more about
humankind by studying the brain. The interfaculty character of the LIBC is also readily visible from the organisation of the
symposium: Cheng, originally a linguist, ris supported by Professor Jonathan Silk, Professor of the Languages and Culture
of India and Tibet, and Dr Lorenza Colzato, a cognitive psychologist.
Jonathan Silk, Buddhist scholar, will place the symposium in a historic perspective. Meditation is indeed apparently related
to Buddhism, but not as closely as many people think. 'Some Buddhists meditate, but meditation is not a core aspect of most
Buddhist practices. It is rather a modern, Western interpretation of Buddhism.' Neuropsychological research is unfamiliar
territory for Silk. He is curious about the research findings of the guest speakers, as well as being somewhat sceptical:
'It seems to me difficult to prove conclusively that there is a link between electrical activity in the brain and mental processes.'
Indeed, it is not easy, psychologist Lorenza Colzato admits. Nonetheless, she believes that brain activity can give us
more insight into the working of mental processes such as meditation. Colzato has previously worked as a therapist with terminal
HIV patients. Eighty per cent of the patients became calmer by practising meditation. Colzato: ‘As a therapist I saw
that meditation works. As a scientist I want to understand how it works.'
According to Jonathan Silk, meditation
is a modern, Western interpretation of Buddhism.
Colzato recently started researching the effect of religion on cognitive processes. The Veni winner is currently involved
in setting up a partnership with the University of Taipei (Taiwan), where she wants to compare the visual perception of Buddhists
with that of Taoists, Confucianists and atheists. Colzato expects that Buddhists are more focused on the greater whole in
their perception of the world than atheists and than people with a different belief. Such distinctions are difficult to trace
back to differences in brain activity.
Colzato, like co-founder Lisa Cheng, is a firm proponent of interdisciplinary research. 'Meditation has such a long history,
as a psychologist you have to know something about it if you want to say anything sensible about it.' Jonathan Silk stresses
the importance of a historic awareness: 'It is important to understand what precisely we are talking about when we discuss
meditation.'
Lisa Cheng explains that the symposium coincides with a growing interest within the University in cross-fertilisation between
scientific fields. Cheng also senses the desire among students for greater interdisciplinary depth. The start of a minor in
Brain and Cognition in September 2009 should further stimulate this development. Cheng: 'It is my dream to have the traditional
barriers between different disciplines dissolbe even further. Subjects such as meditation are much too complex for us to study
them from just a single perspective.'
20 March 2009,
MEDITATION
LOWERS HEART RATE
80% of hypertensive patients have lowered blood pressure and decreased medications – 16% are able to discontinue
all of their medications. These results lasted at least three years. (Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation,
Volume 9, pages 316-324, 1989)
In a clinical experiment with elderly African American (mean age 66) dwelling in an inner-city community, meditation was
compared with the most widely used method of producing physiological relaxation. Those who practiced meditation over a three
month period and who had moderately elevated blood pressure levels dropped their blood pressure significantly. A second study
conducted at Harvard found similar blood pressure reduction changes. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
57: 950-964, 1989)
Regular practice of silent mantra meditation has been shown to significantly help high blood pressure over the long term,
according to government-sponsored studies conducted at the College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine in Fairfield, Iowa. Among those
studies, one showed significant lowering of blood pressure and heart rate in black adults. (Meditation Balances the Body’s
Systems, WEB MD January 2008)
A study showed meditation can lower blood pressure and mortality rates in older people with hypertension. (American
Journal of Cardiology, 2004)
A 16-week trail of transcendental meditation in patients with coronary heart disease was instituted by Maura Paul-Labrador,
M.P.H. of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. Patients who meditated had significantly lower blood pressure; improved
fasting blood glucose and insulin levels and more stable functioning of the autonomic nervous system. (Maura Paul-Labrador,
M.P.H., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles)
Meditation training has been shown to reduce hypertension and blood pressure in amounts comparable to the changes produced
by medication and other lifestyle modifications such as weight loss, sodium restriction, and increased aerobic activity. (Schneider
1995, Linden 1996)
MEDITATION LOWERS HEART RATE
According to Kofi Kondwani, professor of meditation at Morehouse School of Medicine, the oxygen/breathing rate decreases
16% - 30% during meditation whereas this rate only decreases about 8% during sleep.
During meditation, oxygen consumption drops by 10-20% and it produces a deeper state of rest than sleep. In fact, 75% of
insomniacs were able to sleep normally when they meditated (William Bodri’s Learn How to Meditate)
In people who are meditating, brain scans called MRI have shown an increase in activity in areas that control metabolism
and heart rate. (Herbert Benson, MD, Mind/Body Institute at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center.)
MEDITATION LOWERS BUILDUP OF PLAQUE IN CORONARY ARTERIES
Recent studies show that meditation, along with diet and exercise, can reduce buildup of plaque in coronary arteries. Long
term meditators experience 80% less heart disease and 55% less cancer than nonmeditators. (Psychosomatic Medicine 49 (1987):
493-507)
The addition of meditation training to standard cardiac rehabilitation regimes has been shown to reduce mortality by 41%
during the first two years, and a 46% reduction in recurrence rates of coronary artery disease. (Linden 1996, Zammara
1996, Ornish 1983.)
Psychosocial interventions for heart disease have been shown to reduce the risk of further cardiac events by as much as
75% compared with a usual medical care condition. Over the past 20 years, mind/body medicine has provided ample evidence of
improving the health of patients with heart disease and chronic illness, and preparing patients for a successful recovery
after a surgical procedure. (Sobel, D. S. “MSJAMA: Mind Matters, Money Matters: The Cost-effectiveness of Mind/Body
Medicine.” Journal of the American Medical Association: 284, 1705)
A randomized study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine showed that a widely practiced, stress-reducing
meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. (Ethnicity & Disease Journal
2007)
Practicing meditation may play an important role in controlling certain risk factors for heart disease…practice for
20 minutes a day has a positive, measurable effect on the build up of fatty deposits in arteries or atherosclerosis…just
a small reduction could reduce the risk of heart attack by 11% and reduce the risk of stroke by 15%. (CNN, July 2000 referencing
the March edition of the journal Stroke)
MEDITATION LOWERS CHOLESTEROL
A longitudinal study showed that cholesterol levels significantly decreased through meditation in hypercholsteolemic patients,
compared to matched controls, over an eleven month period. (Journal of Human Stress, 5: 24-27, 1979)
MEDITATION NORMALIZES BLOOD SUGAR
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles showed that patients were able to lower their blood pressure,
blood sugar and insulin by practicing transcendental meditation. (Maura Paul-Labrador, M.P.H., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,
Los Angeles)
MEDITATION STRENGTHENS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported that people newly trained in meditation have shown an increase in electrical
activity in the left frontal part of the brain, an area associated with positive emotion and happiness. Meditators also showed
a significant boos of immunity to the flu. (Article: Meditation “fools the brain’ in a threatening world,
by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, using the latest techniques in brain imaging technology (fMRI , EEG
and MEG), has shown that meditation produces demonstrable positive effects in both brain and immune functions. (Davidson,
R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570.)
Extensive research on the benefits of meditation has shown significant improvements in patients with cancer, diabetes,
asthma, psoriasis, headache, multiple sclerosis, and other ailments. (University of Massachusetts Medical School Center
for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society; used by permission.)
Meditation helps ward off illness and infections. In one study testing immune function, flu shots were given to volunteers
who had meditated for eight weeks and to people who didn’t meditate. Blood tests taken later showed the meditation group
had higher levels of antibodies produced against the flu virus, according to the study in Psychosomatic Medicine. (Meditation
Balances the Body’s Systems, WEB MD, January 2008)
MEDITATION REDUCES DOCTOR VISITS, ILLNESS, POST-OPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
& HOSPITALIZATIONS
There is approximately a 50% reduction in visits to a HMO after a relaxation-response based
intervention which resulted in estimated significant cost savings. (Behavioral Medicine, Volume 16, pages 165-173, 1990)
Chronic pain patients reduced their physician visits by 36%. (The Clinical Journal of Pain, Volume 2, pages 305-310,
1991)
Open heart surgery patients have fewer post-operative complications. (Behavioral Medicine, Volume 5, pages 111-117,
1989)
The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness Stress Reduction Program’s medical
outcomes from 15,000 patients’ participation since 1979 have shown a 35% reduction in the number of medical symptoms
and a 40% reduction in psychological symptoms. (University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness
Stress Reduction Program, under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (Kabat-Zinn 1982, 1985, 1986, 1992, 1998, Miller 1995,
etc.)
Health insurance statistics on over 2,000 people practicing meditation over five-year period show meditators consistently
had less than half the hospitalization than did other groups with comparable age, gender, profession, and insurance terms.
(Psychosomatic Medicine, 49: 493-507, 1987)
In addition, the meditators had fewer incidents of illness in
seventeen medical treatment categories, including 87% less hospitalization for heart disease and 55% less for cancer. The
meditators consistently had more than 50% fewer doctor visits than did other groups. (Psychosomatic Medicine, 49: 493-507,
1987)
Meditation can help produce antibodies against illness and also lift your spirits. Researchers say biological effects seen
in the study are long lasting – up to four months after the end of meditation training. (Psychosomatic Medicine,
2003)
MEDITATION REDUCES REACTION TO PAIN
Meditation has been shown to reduce both the experience of chronic pain and its inhibition of everyday activities. Pain-related
drug utilization was decreased and activity levels and self-esteem increased. (Kabat-Zinn 1982, 1985, 1987)
65 percent of the patients who spent 10 weeks in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Stress Reduction Clinic reported that their pain
was reduced by one-third or more. (General Hospital Psychiatry, April 1982)
A recent study in PAIN found that people with chronic back pain who meditated for eight weeks had a decreased amount of
pain and an improvement in physical function.
A study by Dr. Natalia Morone of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that seniors with chronic lower
back pain felt better and were able to function better after 8 weeks of meditation training. (Article: Seniors Transcend
Back Pain with Meditation, ABC News 2008)
Meditation can help relieve many arthritis symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, stress and depression, as well as relieve the
fatigue and insomnia associated with fibromyalgia. (Arthritis Foundation)
Adults with rheumatoid arthritis who participated regularly in a 6-month meditation program experienced less emotional
distress and a higher quality of well-being than their counterparts who did not meditate. (Arthritis & Rheumatism,
October 2007)
MEDITATION DECREASES CIGARETTE, ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE
Meditation produced a significantly larger reduction in tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use than either standard substance
abuse treatments or prevention programs. (Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 11: 13-87, and International Journal of the
Addictions, 26: 293-325, 1991)
MEDITATION INCREASES FERTILITY RATE
Infertile women have a 42% conception rate, a 38% take-home baby rate, and decreased levels of depression, anxiety and
anger. (Journal of American Medical Women’s Association. Volume 54, pages 196-8, 1999)
Women struggling with infertility had much less anxiety, depression, and fatigue following a 10-week meditation program
(along with exercise and nutrition changes); 34% became pregnant within six months. (Meditation Balances the
Body’s Systems, WEB MD, January 2008)
MEDITATION IMPROVES PMS SYMPTOMS
Women with severe PMS have a 57% reduction in physical and psychological symptoms. (Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume
75, pages 649-655, April, 1990)
Premenstrual syndrome, infertility problems, and even breastfeeding can be improved when women meditate regularly. In one
study, PMS symptoms subsided by 58% when women meditated. Another study found that hot flashes were less intense among meditating
women. (Meditation Balances the Body’s Systems, WEB MD, January 2008)
MEDITATION IMPROVES ENERGY
In a study where college students either meditated, slept or watched TV, those who had been taught to meditate performed
10% better at tasks that require attention and concentration. Those who snoozed did significantly worse. (Bruce O’Hara,
associate professor of biology at the University of Kentucky)
MEDITATION IMPROVES SLEEPING PATTERNS
100% of insomnia patients reported improved sleep and 91% either eliminated or reduced sleeping medication use. (The
American Journal of Medicine, Volume 100, pages 212-216, 1996)
MEDITATION SLOWS DOWN AGING PROCESS
Long-term meditators who had been practicing meditation for more than five years were physiologically
twelve years younger than their chronological age, as measured by reduction of blood pressure, and better near-point version
and auditory discrimination. Short-term meditators were physiologically five years younger than their chronological age. (International
Journal of Neuroscience, 16: 53-58, 1982)
Longer life – In a study of residents in homes for the elderly who practiced meditation,
the survival rate for those using a silent mantra meditation technique was 100% after 3 years compared to 65%, 77% or 88%
survival rates for other treatment groups using different forms of relaxation based therapies. The untreated group’s
survival rate was 63%. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75 (6): 950-964, 1989.)
Meditation has a profound effect upon three key indicators of ageing: hearing ability, blood pressure and vision of close
objects. Meditators secrete more of the youth-related hormone DHEA as they age than non-meditators. (Meditation as Medicine
– D.S. Khalsa, MD and C. Stauth – Pocket Books, 2001)
A part of the brain known as the cerebral cortex (critical in decision making and working memory) was thicker in people
who meditated for as little as 40 minutes a day, compared with people who did not. It is possible that meditation may protect
against age-related thinning of this part of the brain. (Sarah Lazar PhD, Meditation research at Harvard Medical School)
MEDITATION HELPS PEOPLE BREATHE EASIER
Respected asthma researchers in Australia compared the effect of meditation against a simple relaxation technique on 30
people with severe asthma who were divided into two groups. One group received regular instruction in meditation while the
other was taught a popular relaxation technique. Before, and then after, about 16 meditation sessions, the patients were assessed.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners funded the 18 month project and results clearly showed that while both
groups did appear to bring about improvements in the way the patients felt, the meditation group also showed improvements
in the severity of the disease process itself. This effect was not seen in the relaxation group suggesting meditation can
actually influence the disease process. (R Manocha, G B Marks, P Kenchington, D Peters, C M Salome, Thorax Journal 2002;57:110–115)
Improves Emotional & Mental Health:
MEDITATION REDUCES STRESS
“Meditation promotes a neurochemical shifting. The stress hormones are acutely lowered,” says Dr. Robert Bonakdar,
director of pain management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. “When we feel more relaxed, the brain generates
natural anti-anxiety and happiness-enhancing chemicals like endorphins and high levels of serotonin.” (Article:
Meditation “fools the brain’ in a threatening world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
“Not only do studies show that meditation is boosting their immune system, but brain scans suggest that it may be
rewiring their brains to reduce stress… Ten million American adults now say they practice some form of meditation regularly.”
(Stein, J. (2003) The Science of Meditation, TIME magazine (cover story), August 4: 48-56.)
“Any condition that’s caused or worsened by stress can be alleviated through meditation”
says, cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD. He is well known for three decades of research into the health effects of meditation.
He is the founder of the Mind/Body Institute at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. (Meditation
Balances the Body’s Systems, WEB MD, January 2008)
An overwhelming 95.6 percent of employees surveyed reported that mental and behavioral health is
very (75.3%) or somewhat (20.3%) important in determining overall health. Researchers have discovered that meditating 10-20
minutes a day can reverse the ill effects of stress. It has also been found to alleviate insomnia, depression, anxiety, anger,
headaches, hot flashes and physical pain. Large corporations such as Google, Hughes Aircraft and Deutsch Bank are now routinely
providing meditation instruction to their employees. Employers note that it not only increases employee productivity but also
significantly decreases absenteeism, workers compensation and disability claims from stress related illnesses (Meritian
Health and the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health – article: Dateline UC Davis, December 14, 2007)
After a six month study by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, stress levels were 35%
lower in the group who meditated than in those who did not meditate. (Article: IDEA fit tips, Shirley Archer, JD, MA,
2008)
Patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia who participated in
a group mindfulness meditation training program showed reductions in symptoms of anxiety and panic and maintained these reductions.
(Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD)
Meditation is the only activity that reduced blood lactate, a marker of stress and anxiety. The calming hormones melatonin
and serotonin are increased by meditation and the stress hormone cortisol is decreased. Meditation creates a unique state,
in which the metabolism is in an even deeper state of rest than during sleep. Meditating 45 year old women and men had on
average, respectively, 47% and 23% more DHEA (the youth related hormone) than non-meditators – this helps decrease stress,
heighten memory, preserve sexual function and control weight. (Meditation as Medicine – D.S. Khalsa, MD and C. Stauth
– Pocket Books, 2001)
Stutkin of Boston University’s Center for Anxiety Related Disorder, found slow diaphragmatic breathing proved just
as effective in reducing anxiety as the antidepressant drug imipramine.
Research suggests that by meditating regularly, the brain is reoriented from a stressful fight-or-flight mode to one of
acceptance, a shift that increases contentment. (Lutz, A., Greischar, L., Rawlings, N.B., Ricard, M., Davidson, R.J. (2004)
Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitute synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, 101, 16369-16373)
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction is an effective treatment for reducing stress and anxiety that accompanies daily life
and chronic illness. It is also therapeutic for healthcare providers, enhancing their interactions with patients. No
negative side effects from MBSR have been documented. (Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center: PubMed: 18387018 indexed
for MEDLINE)
A study at the University of New Mexico compared the effects of two mind-body interventions on stress: meditation and cognitive
behavioral stress reduction. After two groups students participated in the separate 8-week courses, results indicated that
the meditation students improved on eight measured outcomes while the cognitive students improved on only six. (Department
of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque: PMID: 18370583 (PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE)
MEDITATION CREATES DEEPER LEVELS OF RELAXATION
A comprehensive statistical study shows that meditation provides a far deeper state of relaxation than does simple eyes-closed
rest and that reduced physiological stress through meditation is cumulative. (American Psychologist, 42: 879-881, 1987)
According to Stan Chapman, PhD, a psychologist in the Center for Pain Medicine at Emory Healthcare
in Atlanta, tells WebMD that the soothing power of repetition is at the heart of meditation and focusing on the breath, ignoring
thoughts and repeating a word or phrase – a mantra – creates the biological response of relaxation. (Meditation
Balances the Body’s Systems, WEB MD, January 2008)
People who meditate have a decreased breath rate indicating meditation produces a state of rest
and relaxation. The change in breath rate is natural, effortless and comfortable. (American Journal of Physiology, 22:
795-799, 1971)
MEDITATION ALLEVIATES DEPRESSION
Meditation may help alleviate mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Researchers at the University of Louisville found
that mindfulness meditation alleviates depression in women with fibromyalgia. Dr. Robert Bonakdar, from the Scripps
Center for Integrative Medicine states “If you look at depression as an inflammatory state, we see that meditation causes
those inflammatory neurochemicals not to pour out.” (Article: Meditation “fools the brain’ in a threatening
world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
The skills derived from meditation training have been shown effective in significantly reducing the recurrence of major
depressive episodes by half in patients treated for depression. (Teasdale, J., Cambridge University, 2000)
Since 1967, Dr. Herbert Benson and the Mind-Body Medical Institute of Boston (affiliated with Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital
and Harvard Medical School) have produced a large and varied volume of work on the beneficial effects of meditation on physical
and mental health, including the 1975 best-seller “The Relaxation Response.” “A federal study published
last year found that 62% of adults had used some form of nonconventional therapy in the previous 12 months, with top choices
including prayer, deep-breathing exercises, and meditation.” (Wall Street Journal article, March 15, 2005. Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advanced Data Report, 2004)
MEDITATION INCREASES CONTENTMENT
Research suggests that by meditating regularly, the brain is reoriented from a stressful fight-or-flight
mode to one of acceptance, a shift that increases contentment. (Lutz, A., Greischar, L., Rawlings, N.B., Richard, M.,
Davidson, R.J. (2004) Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101, 16369-16373)
People who meditate can cultivate compassion, specifically concentrating on the loving kindness one feels toward one’s
family and expanding that to include strangers. There are measurable physical changes in the brain regions that play a role
in empathy. (Antoine Lutz, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Scientific American, March 2008)
Tibetan meditation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Miami and Ohio State university researchers are investigating the
impact of Tibetan meditation on victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Urbanowski, at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center Stress Reduction Program, found that
by combining meditation with psychotherapy one can simultaneously develop ego strength as well as meaningful experiences of
egolessness, even for trauma survivors.
A statistical meta-analysis of 146 previously conducted studies indicated that compared with every other meditation and
relaxation technique tested to date, a silent mantra meditation technique is much more effective at reducing anxiety, the
most common sign of psychological stress. (Journal of Clinical Psychology 45: 957-974, 1989)
A second meta-analysis of 42 studies found that a silent mantra meditation technique was significantly
more effective in increasing self-actualization than other meditation and relaxation techniques (Journal of Social behavior
and Personality 6: 189-247, 1991)
MEDITATION INCREASES ALERTNESS
University of Kentucky researchers found that sleepy people who meditated for 40 minutes did better on a test of mental
quickness than people who had taken a 40-minute nap. (Article: Meditation “fools the brain’ in a threatening
world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
MEDITATION MAY HELP CONTROL BINGE EATING
A study at Indiana State University found that obese women who practiced mindfulness meditation had an average of four
fewer binge-eating episodes a week than before they took up the practice. (Article: Meditation “fools the
brain’ in a threatening world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
MEDITATION ENHANCES MEMORY AND ATTENTION & FOCUS
A study at Massachusetts General Hospital found that parts of the brain’s cerebral cortex were thicker in people
who had practiced meditation daily for just 40 minutes for several years. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that
deals with attention and processing sensory input and tends to thin with age. (Article: Meditation “fools the brain’
in a threatening world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
Research has shown that if you stress an animal, there is degeneration of the brain. Physiologically, when the brain is
functioning in a more relaxed state, it’s able to absorb and retain memory better. (Article: Meditation “fools
the brain’ in a threatening world, by R.J. Ignelzi, San Diego Union Tribune March 6, 2007)
Brief meditation boosts attention and curbs stress. After just five days, subjects who meditated
showed significantly greater improvement on tests of attention and mood than did the control group. (Reuters: PNAS Early
Edition 2007)
Three months of rigorous training in meditation leads to a profound shift in how the brain allocates
attention. (Article: “Study Suggests Meditation Can Help Train Attention” The New York Times May 8, 2007.
Study published in the online edition of the journal PloS Biology, May 2007)
Significant performance improvements in memory and cognition were shown by students instructed
in meditation, as compared with students randomly allocated a routine of “eyes closed’ rest twice a day and those
who did not have any change to their routine. (Memory and Cognition, 1982)
Practices of meditation techniques develop greater basic perceptual abilities including improved
memory, greater creative expression and greater organization of mind and cognitive clarity. (Perceptual Motor Skills 39:
1031-1034, 1974 and 62: 731-738, 1986)
Other studies on Buddhist monks have shown that meditation produces long-lasting changes in the brain activity in areas
involved in attention, working memory, learning and conscious perception. (Meditation Balances the Body’s Systems,
WEB MD, January 2008)
MEDITATION CREATES GREATER ORDERLINESS OF BRAIN FUNCTIONING
EEG coherence increases between and within the cerebral hemispheres during meditation. EEG coherence
is a quantitative index of the degree of long-range spatial ordering of the brain waves. In a new meditator, the EEG coherence
increased during the period of meditation. In a person who had been meditating for 2 years, spreading of coherence occurred
even before meditation began, spreading of coherence to high and lower frequencies about half way through the meditation period,
and continuing high coherence even into the eyes-opened period after meditation.
(Psychosomatic Medicine 40: 267-276, 1984)
MEDITATION INCREASES INTELLIGENCE & CREATIVITY
University students who regularly practiced meditation increased significantly in intelligences
over a two-year period, compared to control subjects. The finding corroborates the results of two other studies showing increased
IQ in meditation students. (Personality and Individual Differences, 12: 1105-1116, 1991 and Perceptual and Motor Skills,
62: 731-738, 1986)
A study measuring creative thinking showed those who meditate scored significantly higher on figural
originality and flexibility as well as on verbal fluency. (Journal of Creative Behavior, 13: 169-190, 1979 and Dissertations
Abstracts International, 38: 3372-3373, 1978)
A study measuring figural and verbal creativity in a control group and in a group that subsequently learned meditation,
showed five months later that the meditation group scored significantly higher on figural originality, flexibility and verbal
fluency. (Journal of Creative Behavior)
MEDITATION INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY
Job performance and job satisfaction in those who meditate increased while desire to change
jobs decreased. (Academy of Management Journal, 17: 362-368, 1974)
MEDITATION REDUCES ADHD SYMPTOMS
Seventy eight percent of adults who completed an 8 week meditation study reported a reduction
in total ADHD symptoms. On neurocognitive test performance, significant improvements were found on the measure of attentional
conflict. (Mindfulness meditation training in adults and adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 11, 737-746)
MEDITATION IMPROVES HEALTH AND CREATES MORE POSITIVE HEALTH HABITS
In two companies that introduced meditation, managers and employees who regularly practiced meditation improved significantly
in overall physical health, mental well-being, and vitality when compared to control subjects with similar jobs in the same
companies. Meditation practitioners also reported significant reductions in health problems such as headaches and backaches,
improved quality of sleep, and a significant reduction in the use of hard liquor and cigarettes, compared to personnel in
the control groups. (Anxiety, Stress and Coping International Journal, 6: 245-262, 1993)
Extensive research on the benefits of meditation has shown significant improvements in patients with cancer, diabetes,
asthma, psoriasis, headache, multiple sclerosis, and other ailments. (University of Massachusetts Medical School Center
for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society; used by permission.)
Research Findings regarding Children & Teenagers:
MEDITATION REDUCES BLOOD PRESSURE
A study published in the American Journal of Hypertension reveals that daily meditation results
in a measurable drop in blood pressure in at-risk teenagers. (Article: Meditation lowers blood pressure with no
drugs, no side effects, and zero cost by Mike Adams, NewsTarget.com – originally published May 21, 2004)
MEDITATION INCREASES SELF-ESTEEM
High school students exposed to a relaxation response-based curriculum had significantly increased
their self-esteem. (The Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 27, pages 226-231, 1994)
MEDITATION IMPROVES GRADES AND WORK HABITS
Inner city middle school students improved grade score, work habits and cooperation and decreased
absences. (Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 33, pages 156-165, Spring 2000)
MEDITATION REDUCES ADHD SYMPTOMS
Seventy eight percent of adolescents who completed an 8 week meditation study reported a reduction in total ADHD symptoms.
On neurocognitive test performance, significant improvements were found on the measure of attentional conflict. (Mindfulness
meditation training in adults and adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 11, 737-746)
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