Researchers have studied meditation for its effects on the body and mind and reported positive results. Meditative states, like those entered through activities such as meditation, prayer, hypnosis and yoga, can be beneficial for both healthy people and those with health concerns. In the 1960s, scientific studies found that it affects the endocrine system, central and autonomic nervous systems and metabolism.
Meditation
When you meditate, you focus on an object, sound, your breath, a visualization, movement or the act of paying attention itself to increase your awareness of the present moment. Although yogis originally practiced meditation to attain a higher spiritual awareness, some people today use it to decrease stress and physical pain, and as a therapy for certain diseases. You can meditate in a seated upright position, either on the floor or in a chair with eyes open or closed. In concentration meditation, such as Transcendental Meditation and the relaxation response, you focus on an object. In Mindfulness meditation, you try to become aware of your entire field of attention.
Stress
Jon Kabat-Zinn and other researchers conducted a pilot study on 22 medical outpatients suffering from generalized anxiety or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. The results of the eight-week mindfulness meditation practice study, published in the "American Journal of Psychiatry" in 1992, found significant clinical improvements in symptoms as identified by patients' self-ratings and interviewers ratings. A three-year followup of 18 of the medical outpatients indicated the outpatients had maintained their gains over time and the majority were complying with the meditation practice.
Fibromyalgia
K. H. Kaplan and others from the Arthritis-Fibromyalgia Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts studied the impact of meditation on fibromyalgia, a chronic condition with symptoms of widespread pain, fatigue and disturbed sleep. Seventy-seven patients participated in the 10-week program of meditation-based stress reduction.They were evaluated before and after the program and showed improvement in the areas of well-being, pain, fatigue, sleep, feeling refreshed in the morning, medical symptoms and psychiatric symptoms. They also were able to cope better and had a more positive attitude toward fibromyalgia and its impact on their lives.
Skin Disorders
Jon Kabat-Zinn and others studied subjects undergoing treatment for psoriasis and published the results in "Psychosomatic Medicine" in 1998. They randomly assigned 37 people to a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction program that guided them through audiotaped instructions during light treatments, or to a control group treated by light treatments only. Researchers monitored four skin status indicators that registered first response, turning, halfway and clearing points. The group receiving meditation reached the halfway point and clearing point much more rapidly than the light treatment only group.
References
- The Free Dictionary: Meditation
- Stanford.edu; Mindfulness Meditation Research Findings; Philippe Goldin; January 2001
- "American Journal of Psychiatry"; Effectiveness of a Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders; J. Kabat-Zinn et al.; July 1992
- "General Hospital Psychiatry"; The Impact of a Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Fibromyalgia; Kaplan et al.; September 1993
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