Meditation For Health & Wellbeing

The following are just some of the potential benefits to health and wellbeing and some of the conditions which can be helped.
Taken daily, it can untangle tension, fight fatigue and even lower your blood pressure. It can lift your spirits…it costs nothing, has no side effects and doesn't require medical help.
Arthritis Today - magazine of the Arthritis Foundation
RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE FOR HEALTH & WELLBEING BENEFITS
There are hundreds of studies, ranging from Harvard Medical School and Yale University, through to the Swedish Airforce, which provide strong research on these benefits (and many others). Research on one form of meditation alone has been conducted at over 200 different universities, hospitals and research institutions in over 30 countries. Included below are just a few
Dr Craig Hassed, senior lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences at Melbourne's Monash University, says:
Meditation is a great adjunct for a lot of things, from chronic pain to improving sleep, helping reduce blood pressure and coping with stress, anxiety and depression.
Stress Reduction & Relaxation
• Meditation is the only activity that reduces 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 (cortisol is an adrenal hormone that is found in extremely high levels in people with pain).
• Meditation creates a unique state, in which the metabolism is in an even deeper state of rest than during sleep. During sleep, oxen consumption drops by 8 percent, but during meditation, it drops by 10 to 20 percent.
• 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.
Extracts from Meditation as Medicine - D. S. Khalsa, M.D. and C. Stauth - Pocket Books, 2001
Meditation provides a far deeper state of relaxation than does simple eyes-closed rest. The breath rate and plasma lactate decreases and the basal skin resistance increases significantly more during meditation than during eyes-closed rest. Prior to the meditation sessions, meditating subjects had lower levels of breath rate, plasma lactate, spontaneous skin conductance, and heart rate than did the controls and this deeper level of relaxation before starting the practice suggests that reduced physiological stress through meditation is cumulative.
American Psychologist 1987.
Experiments conducted by Dr H Benson of Harvard University into meditation techniques established that the techniques had a very real effect on reducing stress - direct effects included slowed heartbeat and breathing, reduced oxygen consumption and increased skin resistance. "The Relaxation Response" Dr H Benson 1968
According to a randomised study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure, the leading cause of death in the U.S. This study is in the winter 2007 issue of Ethnicity & Disease.
Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recommended meditation (along with salt and dietary restrictions) above prescription drugs as the first treatment for mild hypertension.
Improved Sleep
75 percent of insomniacs were able to sleep normally when they meditated. Meditation as Medicine. D.S. Khalsa, M.D. and C Stauth 2001
One hundred percent of insomnia patients reported improved sleep and 91% either eliminated or reduced the use of sleeping medication. The American Journal of Medicine 1996
Living Younger & Longer and slowing the ageing process
Reversal of Ageing Process - A study group of long-term meditators (practising meditation for five years or more) were physiologically twelve years younger than their chronological age, as measured by reduction of blood pressure, and better near-point vision and auditory discrimination. Short-term meditators were physiologically five years younger than their chronological age. The study controlled for the effects of diet and exercise.
International Journal of Neuroscience 1982.
• Meditators secrete more of the youth-related hormone DHEA as they age than non-meditators.
• Meditating 45 year old women and men had on average, respectively, 47% and 23% more DHEA than non-meditators - this helps decrease stress, heighten memory, preserve sexual function, and control weight.
• Meditation has a profound effect upon three key indicators of ageing: hearing ability, blood pressure, and vision of close objects.
Extracts from Meditation as Medicine - D. S. Khalsa, M.D. and C. Stauth - Pocket Books, 2001
A study by neuroscientist Sara Lazar Ph.D (who leads Meditation research at Harvard Medical School) showed that the 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.
Weight Management
According to Dr Pamela Peeke, assistant clinical professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, stress can be a major contributor in weight gain and an increase of body fat and particularly abdominal fat.
This is because when stressed or anxious, the body produces stress hormones such as cortisol. These are the "fight or flight" hormones and would normally be discharged/dispersed if either of those physical options were followed. However, in modern society, these options are often not realistic possibilities and the stress hormones do not get released - particularly when a person is under regular stress or unable to manage/release their stress.
When held in this way, these hormones signal the fat cells to hold tight and this makes weight loss even harder. Additionally, stress hormones signal the brain to increase appetite. Finally, these hormones can have an effect on the "happy hormones" such as serotonin, which can lead to depressed moods and potentially, comfort eating.
Meditators secrete more of the youth-related hormone DHEA as they age than non-meditators and this can help decrease stress and control weight. Extracts from Meditation as Medicine - D. S. Khalsa, M.D. and C. Stauth - Pocket Books, 2001
Blood pressure
Meditation lowers blood pressure
BBC News report, August 1999
A randomised study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine showed that a widely practised, stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. Referenced in Ethnicity & Disease journal 2007.
"People with high blood pressure may want to medicate and meditate" American Heart Association journal. Results published in the Association's journal Hypertension, showed that the Transcendental Meditation technique significantly lowered blood pressure in older African American men and women who were at high risk for five major risk factor groups. August 1996
Practising 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 and referencing the March edition of the journal Stroke.
Eighty percent 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 1989
A relaxation technique known as transcendental meditation may decrease blood pressure and reduce insulin resistance among patients with coronary heart disease, according to a report in the June 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recommended meditation (along with salt and dietary restrictions) above prescription drugs as the first treatment for mild hypertension.
Greater Energy
TIME Magazine
Many people who meditate claim the practice restores their energy, allowing them to perform better at tasks that require attention and concentration. If so, wouldn't a midday nap work just as well? No, says Bruce O'Hara, associate professor of biology at the University of Kentucky. In a study he had college students either meditate, sleep or watch TV. Then he tested them for what psychologists call psychomotor vigilance. Those who had been taught to meditate performed 10% better - "a huge jump, statistically speaking," says O'Hara. Those who snoozed did significantly worse.
Improved General Health & Immune System
There is significant data that meditation can enhance healing - Executive Director, Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, University of Massachusetts, as quoted in Arthritis Today magazine.
Recent studies suggest meditation may balance the immune system to help the body resist disease. Arthritis Today magazine.
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
"...Meanwhile, the evidence from meditation researchers continues to mount. One study, for example, shows that women who meditate and use guided imagery have higher levels of the immune cells known to combat tumours in the breast. This comes after many studies have established that meditation can significantly reduce blood pressure.
TIME Magazine
A 5-year study of medical care statistics on 2,000 people who regularly practised Transcendental Meditation found that their overall rate of hospitalisation was 56% lower than the norm. Psychosomatic Medicine 1987.
A new study shows that 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.
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
The managers and employees in two companies which introduced meditation and who regularly practised meditation improved significantly in overall physical health and mental well being, as compared to control subjects with similar jobs in the same companies. The 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.
Better Cardiovascular Health
In a randomised study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a widely practised, stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure." The results of this study indicate that transcendental meditation can be effective in improving the functional capacity and quality of life of congestive heart failure patients" said Ravishankar Jayadevappa, PhD, lead author and Research Assistant Professor in Penn's Division of Geriatric Medicine. "These results also suggest long-term improvements in survival in these individuals." The study appears in the Winter 2007 issue of Ethnicity & Disease.
This study was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health-National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania with the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.
Pain Management
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. This study was published in the April 1982 issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.
Research shows 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.
Meditation reduces cortisol, the stress hormone, which is found in very high levels with people in pain. As referenced by DK Singh M.D. in his book, Meditation as Medicine.
"We're decreasing their bodily pain, decreasing the intensity of their pain and we're increasing the quality of their life" Dr Jackie Gardner-Nix, (who runs a meditation programme at Sunnybrook and St Michael's hospitals in Toronto).
Twelve healthy long-term meditators who had been practising Transcendental Meditation for 30 years showed a 40-50% lower brain response to pain compared to 12 healthy controls, reported by a latest NeuroReport journal article, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins August 2006. Further, when the 12 controls then learned and practised Transcendental Meditation for 5 months, their brain responses to pain also decreased by a comparable 40-50%. According to Orme-Johnson, lead author of this research, "Prior research indicates that Transcendental Meditation creates a more balanced outlook on life and greater equanimity in reacting to stress. This study suggests that this is not just an attitudinal change, but a fundamental change in how the brain functions".
Improved Mental Function, Intelligence & Memory
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.
Intelligence increased significantly in University students who regularly practised meditation over a 2-year period. Personality and Individual Differences 1991 and Perceptual and Motor Skills 1986.
Results showed that the practice of meditation techniques develops greater field independence (which is associated with a greater ability to assimilate and structure experience, greater organisation of mind and cognitive clarity, improved memory and greater creative expression). This improvement in meditators is remarkable because it was previously thought that these basic perceptual abilities do not improve beyond early adulthood.
Perceptual Motor Skills.
A study using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (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 Behaviour.
Depression
In the 1990s British psychiatrist John Teasdale became intrigued with mindfulness meditation, a Buddhist practice in which you sit quietly and observe whatever thoughts and perceptions arise in your consciousness, but without judging them. He and colleagues showed that mindfulness training halves the rate at which people treated for depression relapse. Newsweek 2007
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
This is an extract taken from additudemag.com from an interview with psychiatrist L Zylowska MD who heads the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Centre's ADHD programme.
"We just completed a study involving 25 adults and eight adolescents, half of whom had the combined (both inattentive and hyperactive) form of ADHD, and the results were very promising. We observed significant improvements in both inattention and hyperactivity. In cognitive tests, the participants got better at staying focused, even when different things were competing for their attention. Many of them also felt less anxious and depressed by the end of study. Researchers have shown that, compared with people who don't meditate, long-time meditators have different EEG and MRI patterns, particularly in the brain's frontal region-the region that is involved with AD/HD. Another study found a rise in the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine during meditative states. Lowered levels of dopamine have been found regularly in people with ADHD.
Respiratory Conditions
Asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) all restrict breathing and raise fears of suffocation, which in turn makes breathing even more difficult. Studies show that when people with these respiratory conditions learn breath meditation, they have fewer respiratory crises.
Improved mental function in older age
A study by neuroscientist Sara Lazar Ph.D (who leads Meditation research at Harvard Medical School) showed that the 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.
The structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing. Jeremy Gray, assistant professor of psychology at Yale and co-author of the study led by Sara Lazar, said "What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone's grey matter. The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don't have to be a monk.
Magnetic resonance imaging showed that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to sensory, auditory, visual and internal perception, such as heart rate or breathing. The researchers also found that regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex. November issue of NeuroReport.
The hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which are over produced under stress "accelerate the ageing process and is a major risk factor not only in Alzheimer's disease but also in the far more common condition of age-associated memory disorder". D S Khalsa M.D. Meditation as Medicine 2001.
Cancer Management
Meditation and other approaches to deep relaxation help centre people so they can figure out how they'd like to handle the illness and proceed with life. An Australian psychiatrist who uses meditation with cancer patients, studied seventy-three patients who had attended at least twenty sessions of intensive meditation, and wrote: "Nearly all such patients can expect significant reduction of anxiety and depression, together with much less discomfort and pain. There is reason to expect a 10 percent chance of quite remarkable slowing of the rate of growth of the tumour, and a 50 percent chance of greatly improved quality of life.
Long-term meditators experience 80 percent less heart disease and 50 percent less cancer than nonmeditators.
Meditation as Medicine 2001 D S Khalsa and C Stuath
Reduced Hospitalisation
In a study reported in Psychosomatic Medicine 1987, a study was compiled from health insurance statistics on over 2,000 people who had practised meditation for a five or more years period. This study found that the meditators consistently underwent less than half of any hospitalisation undertaken by other groups and this factored in those of comparable age, gender and profession. This difference increased in older-age brackets and the meditators had fewer incidents of illness in seventeen medical treatment categories, including 87% less hospitalisation for heart disease and 55% less for cancer. Finally, the meditators consistently had more than 50% fewer doctor visits than did other groups.
Multiple Sclerosis
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 Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society.