Research Reveals the Benefits of Meditation by Susan Taylor, PhD

The practitioner looked at her patient and said, “Your physical symptoms are being caused by stress. One of the many ways to reduce stress and think more clearly is to meditate.”

 

What does “meditation” mean? It can mean many things to many people. But no matter what the meditation style or technique, during meditation people sit quietly, witnessing internal thoughts and external stimuli without getting caught up in them. Some of the practice forms are ancient, and they come from numerous sources.

 

Modern science has developed sophisticated tools to explore meditative practice for clues about how it affects our body and brain. The findings shed new light on the power of meditation to make a measurable difference in our experience of the world. A variety of studies examining different approaches to meditation show that we can exercise some degree of control over things we didn’t think we could change. These scientific studies show that new options for self-healing may be possible through meditation.

 

Concentration practices found in Transcendental Meditation and mindfulness meditation are perhaps the best-known meditation techniques. TM is a technique, derived from Hindu traditions, that promotes deep relaxation through the use of a mantra. A mantra is a sacred word or sound used to focus attention or concentration. Mindfulness meditation uses a process of intentionally paying attention to what is happening in the present moment, both internally and externally, without being distracted by what has already happened or what might happen. Mindfulness meditation trains the participant to be an observer without passing judgment.

 

The relaxation response described by Herbert Benson, MD — the author of the 1970s’ best seller “The Relaxation Response” and a pioneer in studying the effects of relaxation and meditation techniques — cites four basic elements common to eliciting such a response: a quiet environment, a mental device (such as a word), a passive attitude and a comfortable posture.^1,2 Benson’s framework has been established as the “relaxation response” that produces the opposite of the fight-or-flight response.³ The response includes decreases in oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide elimination, respiratory rate and volume, heart rate, muscle tension, and blood pressure, especially in hypertensive people. This relaxation response, or relaxation response meditation, has been used in a variety of healthcare settings by healthcare professionals of various disciplines to treat hypertension and anxiety.^4,5 Because of its physiological benefits, relaxation response meditation is used in most stress-reduction programs.

 

While other relaxation methods, such as prayer, visualization, guided imagery and hypnosis, help people work through stressful issues, they are not categorized as meditation. That is because they keep the client focused on the body, mind and senses. Meditation, in contrast, allows the client to quiet the mind to ultimately go beyond it. This can only be achieved without engaging the senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste — and thoughts.

 

About 13% of U.S. adults use deep-breathing exercises, and 9.4% use meditation as complementary to their healthcare, according to a National Institutes of Health survey. These numbers are higher than for yoga and massage therapy, 6% and 8% respectively.⁶

 

Relaxation and meditation have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of many diseases because they improve psychological and physical health. As complementary modalities, including meditation, gain more acceptance, healthcare providers as a team need to be informed about their uses and application to clinical practice.

 

Ancient Origins

 

Today’s meditation techniques have their origins in ancient spiritual and healing practices, mostly from Asian religions, particularly those of India, China and Japan. But similar techniques can be found in many other cultures around the world and throughout history. These cultures viewed the mind and body as inseparable, and meditation was the way to access the mind-body-spiritual matrix, allowing for greater awareness.¹ Meditation has been traditional in the East, but became more accessible to the West in the 1960s within the context of science. Researchers began recording changes in physical functions — such as the production of stress hormones and changes in blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory function — that occur with meditation.

 

Although Benson’s description of a relaxation response was convenient as an initial explanation for what happens in the meditative state, later work showed that what was happening physiologically was much more complex than just a reduction in heart and respiratory rate. By the 1990s, meditation was becoming accepted as part of Western medicine, especially through the stress-reduction programs in healthcare facilities. One well-known example is the mindfulness programs organized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, author, professor and stress-reduction expert at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

 

Inside the Brain

 

Using brain research, medical science has found concrete evidence for meditation’s effect on the body and mind. Research has found that mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness, including changes in states of consciousness and learning.⁷ Studies on the meditating brain are becoming more sophisticated with advances in brain imaging and other techniques. Imaging advances have led neuroscientists to reject the view that the brain is fixed early in life and does not change in adulthood, replacing it with a belief that the brain can adapt and change, a concept called neuroplasticity.

 

Some of the first research studies mapping the brain during meditation used electroencephalography. This technique records the electrical activity of the brain during meditation using an EEG monitor. Probes are placed on the scalp, and the changes in electrical activity occur as brain waves. Different regions of the brain are recorded and compared. Such studies on meditation usually report increased alpha waves, the waves that are extensive in anterior channels in the central and frontal regions of the brain and are associated with relaxation of the entire nervous system.^7,8 Theta waves have also been recorded during meditation. Theta waves are dominant in the frontal region, indicating a deeper state of mental silence and pleasant experiences.^9,10 Because these waves occur mostly in the part of the brain occupied by the limbic system — the home of emotional response — they are believed to activate our emotions. During deep meditation, experienced subjects sometimes enter into delta waves, associated with dreamless sleep.⁷

 

Through EEG monitoring during meditation, scientists have discovered increased correlated activity between the two hemispheres with respect to the distribution of alpha activity between the four anatomically distinct regions of the brain — left, right, anterior and posterior — or what is termed brain synchronicity. The research outcome linked hemispheric coherence (the correlated activity) to clear and pure thinking and to creativity.^11,12 This provides evidence that meditation can train the mind to influence and change the structure and connectivity of the brain.^{13 (Level B)}

 

In past two decades, neuroimaging techniques — such as positron emission tomography, single photon emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging — have been used to explore meditation’s effects on the brain. These techniques all measure cerebral blood flow and, therefore, record the metabolic activity in the brain. Because of their expense, these techniques have not been used as extensively as EEG monitoring. The first published study using neuroimaging to examine the meditative state recorded the metabolic state using glucose as the marker.¹⁴ Later, a study measuring oxygen metabolism among meditators proved to be more sensitive in detecting the increased frontal lobe activity.^{15 (Level B)}

 

Recent studies involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and meditation are advancing the understanding of mind-body mechanisms.¹⁶ With fMRI, it is possible to get a reading on brain activity in just seconds. The research involving fMRI suggests that various parts of the brain known to be involved in attention and in the control of the autonomic nervous system are activated, providing a neurochemical and anatomical basis for the effects of meditation on various physiological activities. Studies have shown signal increases during meditation in the areas that govern concentration, mood and memory, which include the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, hippocampus/parahippocampus, temporal lobe, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, striatum, and precentral and postcentral gyri.¹⁶

 

Data have shown that people who meditated 40 minutes a day had a thicker cerebral cortex (the area playing a critical role in decision-making) than people who did not meditate.¹⁷ This research suggests that daily meditation can alter the physical structure of the brain, and it may have positive applications related to aging, such as enhanced memory. Meditation has been shown to produce significant increases in left-sided anterior brain activity, which is associated with positive emotional states. Neuronal firings in the amygdala have been associated with positive emotions and have led researchers to discover and measure the connection between the brain’s lighted activity centers and mood.^{18 (Level B)} Not only did this map brain activity, but it also took the concept of neuroplasticity a step further by showing that meditation may change the mapping of brain circuitry. In a recent review, researchers say that meditation may be of benefit to adults with cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer disease, but more research is needed.¹⁹ 

 

Mind Over Matter

 

Many studies have shown the health benefits of meditation on various disorders and diseases.

 

Affective disorders. Studies have examined the effects of meditation-based practices on the treatment of depression and anxiety. In one study, patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder with or without agoraphobia showed a reduction in symptoms after a stress-reduction program based on mindfulness meditation.^{20 (Level B)} Patients who participated in a three-year follow-up study using mindfulness meditation techniques — which included body scanning (a practice of turning one’s attention to various areas of the body to de-stress), sitting meditation and mindful hatha yoga — showed a significant improvement in the number of occurrences and severity of anxiety symptoms.²¹ Others studies have shown a significant reduction in anxiety and depressive symptoms among subjects with a mean age of 49.^{22 (Level B)} In a recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, researchers found significant benefits for using mindfulness-based interventions for current episodes of depression, but not for anxiety.^{23 (Level B)}

 

Sleep disturbances related to cancer. A common problem for patients with cancer, sleep disturbance has remained largely unaddressed in the clinical intervention literature. In a study examining the effects of an eight-week program of mindfulness-based stress reduction on a sample of 63 outpatients with cancer, clinical benefits included improved sleep and mood and reduced stress and fatigue. The study findings suggest that programs based on meditation may improve quality of life in patients with cancer.^{24 (Level B)}

 

Chronic pain. Strong evidence exists that relaxation practices are useful for pain. Mindfulness meditation was the basis for an effective behavioral program in self-regulation for chronic-pain patients experiencing low-back, neck and shoulder pain and headache. The 10-week study showed an improvement in patients while traditional medicine had not.²⁵ Another examination of mindfulness meditation in a 10-week study of 90 patients with chronic pain showed positive results in measures of pain, negative body image, symptoms, mood disturbance, anxiety and depression as compared to patients who were given traditional treatment protocols.^{26 (Level B)} A study looking at mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic low-back pain in adults with a mean age of 75 showed that an eight-week program may lead to improvement in pain acceptance as well as physical function.^{27 (Level A)}

 

Fibromyalgia. The chronic illness fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and resistance to treatment. Seventy-seven patients meeting the 1990 criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for fibromyalgia took part in a 10-week group outpatient program to evaluate the effectiveness of a meditation-based stress-reduction program on their illness. The program proved effective, with patients experiencing increased pain relief, global well-being and reduced fatigue.²⁸

 

Immunity. A study compared 10 male runners who practiced meditation for a mean of 12 years to a control group of runners who did not practice meditation. Blood samples were taken before, immediately after and two hours after a race. The study found that runners practicing meditation had lower lymphocyte counts at rest before the race. Just after the race, both groups had more than doubled their white blood cell counts. The study suggests that the long-term practice of meditation may influence absolute lymphocyte counts at rest.²⁹

 

Recent studies involving psychosocial factors and immunologic functioning prove positive. A study based on participation in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for eight weeks showed not only reductions in anxiety and distress, but those experiencing psychosocial improvements also had reductions in C-reactive protein and an increase in natural killer cell cytolytic activity.^{30 (Level B)}

 

Quality of life. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has been shown to enhance quality of life in patients with cancer in different areas and stages. The study involved eight weekly two-hour sessions; participants showed improvement in depression, anxiety, stress and quality of life.³¹

 

Stress. Scientists now understand that under stress, the nervous system activates the fight-or-flight response. The activity of the sympathetic portion of the nervous system increases, causing an increased heart rate, increased respiratory rate, elevated blood pressure and increased oxygen consumption. This fight-or-flight response has an important survival function: It helps an organism to run quickly and escape an attack or to fight off an attacker. But if the fight-or-flight response is activated repeatedly, as often happens in modern societies, the effects are harmful. Many researchers believe that the epidemic of hypertension and heart disease in the Western world is a direct result of this stress. Through meditation, the body gains a state of deep relaxation that diminishes accumulated stress and fatigue.²

 

Other studies have shown that an eight-week meditation program may be effective in reducing perceived stress and improving sleep, mood and memory.^{13 (Level B)}

 

Disordered eating and weight loss. Obesity is an epidemic. A new movement, “mindful eating” brings awareness to an individual about their relationship to food and how that shapes our actions, thoughts and feelings. In a systematic review of the literature, mindful meditation was effective at decreasing binge eating and emotional eating, but had mixed results for weight loss.³²

 

The Contemplative Connection

 

Healthcare practitioners of various disciplines and patients use meditation in a variety of settings. A healthcare provider’s relationship with patients can influence the outcome of clinical problems as well as the satisfaction of provider and patient. A healthcare provider’s physical, emotional and mental health can influence the provider-patient relationship. A study showed that healthcare providers practicing hospice care benefited from meditation practice and that patients in general benefited when their healthcare providers practiced meditation.³³ Meditation training has proved an excellent adjunct therapy for many conditions and should be discussed as an option among healthcare providers.³⁴ And meditation and relaxation techniques are part of a program to help patients reverse heart disease.³⁵

 

Meditation is being incorporated into many clinical practices by teams of healthcare providers. By reducing stress and developing concentration, meditation can not only increase concentration but also may help prevent job burnout.^{36 (Level C)} The result is a better relationship with patients and perhaps a method for self-healing.

 

Meditation is contraindicated in certain conditions and situations. A rule of thumb is that meditation should be used with caution if concerns exist about a patient’s reality testing, ego boundaries, lack of empathy or rigid overcontrol. For example, when treating a patient with schizophrenia with active psychotic symptoms, it may be inadvisable to include meditation as part of treatment because reality testing may be impaired.³⁷

 

Similarly, meditation may be inadvisable in treating some personality disorders that involve a lack of empathy. In such cases, meditation could reinforce the preoccupation with the self that characterizes the disorders.³⁸

 

Meditation is becoming more accessible. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, considers meditation a “mind-body method,” a category of complementary and alternative medicine that includes interventions that use a variety of techniques to boost the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms. Research on meditation and mind-body interventions continues through the National Institutes of Health. With the growing concern about stress-related illness, there may be room for meditation programs as a component of protocols.