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Meditation what is it and the benefits


12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation

By Matthew Thorpe, MD, PhD and Rachael Link, MS, RD — Medically reviewed by Marney A. White, PhD, MS, Psychology — Updated on October 27, 2020

Meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.

The popularity of meditation is increasing as more people discover its many health benefits.

You can use it to increase awareness of yourself and your surroundings. Many people think of it as a way to reduce stress and develop concentration.

People also use the practice to develop other beneficial habits and feelings, such as a positive mood and outlook, self-discipline, healthy sleep patterns, and even increased pain tolerance.

This article reviews 12 health benefits of meditation.

Stress reduction is one of the most common reasons people try meditation.

One review concluded that meditation lives up to its reputation for stress reduction (1).

Normally, mental and physical stress cause increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This produces many of the harmful effects of stress, such as the release of inflammatory chemicals called cytokines.

These effects can disrupt sleep, promote depression and anxiety, increase blood pressure, and contribute to fatigue and cloudy thinking.

In an 8-week study, a meditation style called “mindfulness meditation” reduced the inflammation response caused by stress (2).

Furthermore, research has shown that meditation may also improve symptoms of stress-related conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia (3, 4, 5).

Summary

Many styles of meditation can help reduce stress. Meditation can likewise reduce symptoms in people with stress-triggered medical conditions.

Meditation can reduce stress levels, which translates to less anxiety.

A meta-analysis including nearly 1,300 adults found that meditation may decrease anxiety. Notably, this effect was strongest in those with the highest levels of anxiety (6).

Also, one study found that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation helped reduce anxiety symptoms in people with generalized anxiety disorder, along with increasing positive self-statements and improving stress reactivity and coping (7).

Another study in 47 people with chronic pain found that completing an 8-week meditation program led to noticeable improvements in depression, anxiety, and pain over 1 year (8).

What’s more, some research suggests that a variety of mindfulness and meditation exercises may reduce anxiety levels (9).

For example, yoga has been shown to help people reduce anxiety. This is likely due to benefits from both meditative practice and physical activity (10).

Meditation may also help control job-related anxiety. One study found that employees who used a mindfulness meditation app for 8 weeks experienced improved feelings of well-being and decreased distress and job strain, compared with those in a control group (11).

Summary

Habitual meditation can help reduce anxiety and improve stress reactivity and coping skills.

Some forms of meditation can lead to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life.

For example, one review of treatments given to more than 3,500 adults found that mindfulness meditation improved symptoms of depression (12).

Similarly, a review of 18 studies showed that people receiving meditation therapies experienced reduced symptoms of depression, compared with those in a control group (13).

Another study found that people who completed a meditation exercise experienced fewer negative thoughts in response to viewing negative images, compared with those in a control group (14).

Furthermore, inflammatory chemicals called cytokines, which are released in response to stress, can affect mood, leading to depression. A review of several studies suggests meditation may also reduce depression by decreasing levels of these inflammatory chemicals (15).

Summary

Some forms of meditation can improve depression and reduce negative thoughts. It may also decrease levels of inflammatory cytokines, which could contribute to depression.

Some forms of meditation may help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself, helping you grow into your best self.

For example, self-inquiry meditation explicitly aims to help you develop a greater understanding of yourself and how you relate to those around you.

Other forms teach you to recognize thoughts that may be harmful or self-defeating. The idea is that as you gain greater awareness of your thought habits, you can steer them toward more constructive patterns (16, 17, 18).

One review of 27 studies showed that practicing tai chi may be associated with improved self-efficacy, which is a term used to describe a person’s belief in their own capacity or ability to overcome challenges (19).

In another study, 153 adults who used a mindfulness meditation app for 2 weeks experienced reduced feelings of loneliness and increased social contact compared with those in a control group (20).

Additionally, experience in meditation may cultivate more creative problem-solving skills (21).

Summary

Self-inquiry and related styles of meditation can help you “know yourself.” This can be a starting point for making other positive changes.

Focused-attention meditation is like weight lifting for your attention span. It helps increase the strength and endurance of your attention.

For example, one study found that people who listened to a meditation tape experienced improved attention and accuracy while completing a task, compared with those in a control group (22).

A similar study showed that people who regularly practiced meditation performed better on a visual task and had a greater attention span than those without any meditation experience (23).

Moreover, one review concluded that meditation may even reverse patterns in the brain that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying, and poor attention (24).

Even meditating for a short period each day may benefit you. One study found that meditating for just 13 minutes daily enhanced attention and memory after 8 weeks (25).

Summary

Several types of meditation may build your ability to redirect and maintain attention.

Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may help keep your mind young.

Kirtan Kriya is a method of meditation that combines a mantra or chant with repetitive motion of the fingers to focus your thoughts. Studies in people with age-related memory loss have shown it improves performance on neuropsychological tests (26).

Furthermore, a review found preliminary evidence that multiple meditation styles can increase attention, memory, and mental quickness in older volunteers (27).

In addition to fighting normal age-related memory loss, meditation can at least partially improve memory in patients with dementia. It can likewise help control stress and improve coping in those caring for family members with dementia (28, 29).

Summary

The improved focus you can gain through regular meditation may boost your memory and mental clarity. These benefits can help fight age-related memory loss and dementia.

Some types of meditation may particularly increase positive feelings and actions toward yourself and others.

Metta, a type of meditation also known as loving-kindness meditation, begins with developing kind thoughts and feelings toward yourself.

Through practice, people learn to extend this kindness and forgiveness externally, first to friends, then acquaintances, and ultimately enemies.

A meta-analysis of 22 studies on this form of meditation demonstrated its ability to increase peoples’ compassion toward themselves and others (30).

One study in 100 adults randomly assigned to a program that included loving-kindness meditation found that these benefits were dose-dependent.

In other words, the more time people spent in weekly metta meditation practice, the more positive feelings they experienced (31).

Another study in 50 college students showed that practicing metta meditation 3 times per week improved positive emotions, interpersonal interactions, and understanding of others after 4 weeks (32).

These benefits also appear to accumulate over time with the practice of loving-kindness meditation (33).

Summary

Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, is a practice of developing positive feelings, first toward yourself and then toward others. Metta increases positivity, empathy, and compassionate behavior toward others.

The mental discipline you can develop through meditation may help you break dependencies by increasing your self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviors (34).

Research has shown that meditation may help people learn to redirect their attention, manage their emotions and impulses, and increase their understanding of the causes behind their (35, 36).

One study in 60 people receiving treatment for alcohol use disorder found that practicing transcendental meditation was associated with lower levels of stress, psychological distress, alcohol cravings, and alcohol use after 3 months (37).

Meditation may also help you control food cravings. A review of 14 studies found mindfulness meditation helped participants reduce emotional and binge eating (38).

Summary

Meditation develops mental awareness and can help you manage triggers for unwanted impulses. This can help you recover from addiction, manage unhealthy eating, and redirect other unwanted habits.

Nearly half of the population will struggle with insomnia at some point.

One study compared mindfulness-based meditation programs and found that people who meditated stayed asleep longer and had improved insomnia severity, compared with those who had an unmedicated control condition (39).

Becoming skilled in meditation may help you control or redirect the racing or runaway thoughts that often lead to insomnia.

Additionally, it can help relax your body, releasing tension and placing you in a peaceful state in which you’re more likely to fall asleep.

Summary

A variety of meditation techniques can help you relax and control runaway thoughts that can interfere with sleep. This can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep and increase sleep quality.

Your perception of pain is connected to your state of mind, and it can be elevated in stressful conditions.

Some research suggests that incorporating meditation into your routine could be beneficial for controlling pain.

For example, one review of 38 studies concluded that mindfulness meditation could reduce pain, improve quality of life, and decrease symptoms of depression in people with chronic pain (40).

A large meta-analysis of studies enrolling nearly 3,500 participants concluded that meditation was associated with decreased pain (41).

Meditators and non-meditators experienced the same causes of pain, but meditators showed a greater ability to cope with pain and even experienced a reduced sensation of pain.

Summary

Meditation can diminish the perception of pain in the brain. This may help treat chronic pain when used to supplement medical care or physical therapy.

Meditation can also improve physical health by reducing strain on the heart.

Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, which can lead to poor heart function.

High blood pressure also contributes to atherosclerosis, or a narrowing of the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

A meta-analysis of 12 studies enrolling nearly 1000 participants found that meditation helped reduce blood pressure. This was more effective among older volunteers and those who had higher blood pressure prior to the study (42).

One review concluded that several types of meditation produced similar improvements in blood pressure (43).

In part, meditation appears to control blood pressure by relaxing the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, blood vessel tension, and the “fight-or-flight” response that increases alertness in stressful situations (44).

Summary

Blood pressure decreases not only during meditation but also over time in individuals who meditate regularly. This can reduce strain on the heart and arteries, helping prevent heart disease.

People practice many different forms of meditation, most of which don’t require specialized equipment or space. You can practice with just a few minutes daily.

If you want to start meditating, try choosing a form of meditation based on what you want to get out of it.

There are two major styles of meditation:

  • Focused-attention meditation. This style concentrates attention on a single object, thought, sound, or visualization. It emphasizes ridding your mind of distractions. Meditation may focus on breathing, a mantra, or calming sound.
  • Open-monitoring meditation. This style encourages broadened awareness of all aspects of your environment, train of thought, and sense of self. It may include becoming aware of suppressed thoughts, feelings, or impulses.

To find out which styles you like best, check out the variety of free, guided meditation exercises offered by the University of California Los Angeles. It’s an excellent way to try different styles and find one that suits you.

If your regular work and home environments do not allow for consistent, quiet alone time, consider participating in a class. This can also improve your chances of success by providing a supportive community.

Alternatively, consider setting your alarm a few minutes early to take advantage of quiet time in the morning. This may help you develop a consistent habit and allow you to start the day positively.

Summary

If you’re interested in incorporating meditation into your routine, try a few different styles and consider guided exercises to get started with one that suits you.

Meditation is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health.

You can do it anywhere, without special equipment or memberships.

Alternatively, meditation courses and support groups are widely available.

There’s a great variety of styles too, each with different strengths and benefits.

Trying out a style of meditation suited to your goals is a great way to improve your quality of life, even if you only have a few minutes to do it each day.

12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation

By Matthew Thorpe, MD, PhD and Rachael Link, MS, RD — Medically reviewed by Marney A. White, PhD, MS, Psychology — Updated on October 27, 2020

Meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.

The popularity of meditation is increasing as more people discover its many health benefits.

You can use it to increase awareness of yourself and your surroundings. Many people think of it as a way to reduce stress and develop concentration.

People also use the practice to develop other beneficial habits and feelings, such as a positive mood and outlook, self-discipline, healthy sleep patterns, and even increased pain tolerance.

This article reviews 12 health benefits of meditation.

Stress reduction is one of the most common reasons people try meditation.

One review concluded that meditation lives up to its reputation for stress reduction (1).

Normally, mental and physical stress cause increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This produces many of the harmful effects of stress, such as the release of inflammatory chemicals called cytokines.

These effects can disrupt sleep, promote depression and anxiety, increase blood pressure, and contribute to fatigue and cloudy thinking.

In an 8-week study, a meditation style called “mindfulness meditation” reduced the inflammation response caused by stress (2).

Furthermore, research has shown that meditation may also improve symptoms of stress-related conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia (3, 4, 5).

Summary

Many styles of meditation can help reduce stress. Meditation can likewise reduce symptoms in people with stress-triggered medical conditions.

Meditation can reduce stress levels, which translates to less anxiety.

A meta-analysis including nearly 1,300 adults found that meditation may decrease anxiety. Notably, this effect was strongest in those with the highest levels of anxiety (6).

Also, one study found that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation helped reduce anxiety symptoms in people with generalized anxiety disorder, along with increasing positive self-statements and improving stress reactivity and coping (7).

Another study in 47 people with chronic pain found that completing an 8-week meditation program led to noticeable improvements in depression, anxiety, and pain over 1 year (8).

What’s more, some research suggests that a variety of mindfulness and meditation exercises may reduce anxiety levels (9).

For example, yoga has been shown to help people reduce anxiety. This is likely due to benefits from both meditative practice and physical activity (10).

Meditation may also help control job-related anxiety. One study found that employees who used a mindfulness meditation app for 8 weeks experienced improved feelings of well-being and decreased distress and job strain, compared with those in a control group (11).

Summary

Habitual meditation can help reduce anxiety and improve stress reactivity and coping skills.

Some forms of meditation can lead to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life.

For example, one review of treatments given to more than 3,500 adults found that mindfulness meditation improved symptoms of depression (12).

Similarly, a review of 18 studies showed that people receiving meditation therapies experienced reduced symptoms of depression, compared with those in a control group (13).

Another study found that people who completed a meditation exercise experienced fewer negative thoughts in response to viewing negative images, compared with those in a control group (14).

Furthermore, inflammatory chemicals called cytokines, which are released in response to stress, can affect mood, leading to depression. A review of several studies suggests meditation may also reduce depression by decreasing levels of these inflammatory chemicals (15).

Summary

Some forms of meditation can improve depression and reduce negative thoughts. It may also decrease levels of inflammatory cytokines, which could contribute to depression.

Some forms of meditation may help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself, helping you grow into your best self.

For example, self-inquiry meditation explicitly aims to help you develop a greater understanding of yourself and how you relate to those around you.

Other forms teach you to recognize thoughts that may be harmful or self-defeating. The idea is that as you gain greater awareness of your thought habits, you can steer them toward more constructive patterns (16, 17, 18).

One review of 27 studies showed that practicing tai chi may be associated with improved self-efficacy, which is a term used to describe a person’s belief in their own capacity or ability to overcome challenges (19).

In another study, 153 adults who used a mindfulness meditation app for 2 weeks experienced reduced feelings of loneliness and increased social contact compared with those in a control group (20).

Additionally, experience in meditation may cultivate more creative problem-solving skills (21).

Summary

Self-inquiry and related styles of meditation can help you “know yourself.” This can be a starting point for making other positive changes.

Focused-attention meditation is like weight lifting for your attention span. It helps increase the strength and endurance of your attention.

For example, one study found that people who listened to a meditation tape experienced improved attention and accuracy while completing a task, compared with those in a control group (22).

A similar study showed that people who regularly practiced meditation performed better on a visual task and had a greater attention span than those without any meditation experience (23).

Moreover, one review concluded that meditation may even reverse patterns in the brain that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying, and poor attention (24).

Even meditating for a short period each day may benefit you. One study found that meditating for just 13 minutes daily enhanced attention and memory after 8 weeks (25).

Summary

Several types of meditation may build your ability to redirect and maintain attention.

Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may help keep your mind young.

Kirtan Kriya is a method of meditation that combines a mantra or chant with repetitive motion of the fingers to focus your thoughts. Studies in people with age-related memory loss have shown it improves performance on neuropsychological tests (26).

Furthermore, a review found preliminary evidence that multiple meditation styles can increase attention, memory, and mental quickness in older volunteers (27).

In addition to fighting normal age-related memory loss, meditation can at least partially improve memory in patients with dementia. It can likewise help control stress and improve coping in those caring for family members with dementia (28, 29).

Summary

The improved focus you can gain through regular meditation may boost your memory and mental clarity. These benefits can help fight age-related memory loss and dementia.

Some types of meditation may particularly increase positive feelings and actions toward yourself and others.

Metta, a type of meditation also known as loving-kindness meditation, begins with developing kind thoughts and feelings toward yourself.

Through practice, people learn to extend this kindness and forgiveness externally, first to friends, then acquaintances, and ultimately enemies.

A meta-analysis of 22 studies on this form of meditation demonstrated its ability to increase peoples’ compassion toward themselves and others (30).

One study in 100 adults randomly assigned to a program that included loving-kindness meditation found that these benefits were dose-dependent.

In other words, the more time people spent in weekly metta meditation practice, the more positive feelings they experienced (31).

Another study in 50 college students showed that practicing metta meditation 3 times per week improved positive emotions, interpersonal interactions, and understanding of others after 4 weeks (32).

These benefits also appear to accumulate over time with the practice of loving-kindness meditation (33).

Summary

Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, is a practice of developing positive feelings, first toward yourself and then toward others. Metta increases positivity, empathy, and compassionate behavior toward others.

The mental discipline you can develop through meditation may help you break dependencies by increasing your self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviors (34).

Research has shown that meditation may help people learn to redirect their attention, manage their emotions and impulses, and increase their understanding of the causes behind their (35, 36).

One study in 60 people receiving treatment for alcohol use disorder found that practicing transcendental meditation was associated with lower levels of stress, psychological distress, alcohol cravings, and alcohol use after 3 months (37).

Meditation may also help you control food cravings. A review of 14 studies found mindfulness meditation helped participants reduce emotional and binge eating (38).

Summary

Meditation develops mental awareness and can help you manage triggers for unwanted impulses. This can help you recover from addiction, manage unhealthy eating, and redirect other unwanted habits.

Nearly half of the population will struggle with insomnia at some point.

One study compared mindfulness-based meditation programs and found that people who meditated stayed asleep longer and had improved insomnia severity, compared with those who had an unmedicated control condition (39).

Becoming skilled in meditation may help you control or redirect the racing or runaway thoughts that often lead to insomnia.

Additionally, it can help relax your body, releasing tension and placing you in a peaceful state in which you’re more likely to fall asleep.

Summary

A variety of meditation techniques can help you relax and control runaway thoughts that can interfere with sleep. This can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep and increase sleep quality.

Your perception of pain is connected to your state of mind, and it can be elevated in stressful conditions.

Some research suggests that incorporating meditation into your routine could be beneficial for controlling pain.

For example, one review of 38 studies concluded that mindfulness meditation could reduce pain, improve quality of life, and decrease symptoms of depression in people with chronic pain (40).

A large meta-analysis of studies enrolling nearly 3,500 participants concluded that meditation was associated with decreased pain (41).

Meditators and non-meditators experienced the same causes of pain, but meditators showed a greater ability to cope with pain and even experienced a reduced sensation of pain.

Summary

Meditation can diminish the perception of pain in the brain. This may help treat chronic pain when used to supplement medical care or physical therapy.

Meditation can also improve physical health by reducing strain on the heart.

Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, which can lead to poor heart function.

High blood pressure also contributes to atherosclerosis, or a narrowing of the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

A meta-analysis of 12 studies enrolling nearly 1000 participants found that meditation helped reduce blood pressure. This was more effective among older volunteers and those who had higher blood pressure prior to the study (42).

One review concluded that several types of meditation produced similar improvements in blood pressure (43).

In part, meditation appears to control blood pressure by relaxing the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, blood vessel tension, and the “fight-or-flight” response that increases alertness in stressful situations (44).

Summary

Blood pressure decreases not only during meditation but also over time in individuals who meditate regularly. This can reduce strain on the heart and arteries, helping prevent heart disease.

People practice many different forms of meditation, most of which don’t require specialized equipment or space. You can practice with just a few minutes daily.

If you want to start meditating, try choosing a form of meditation based on what you want to get out of it.

There are two major styles of meditation:

  • Focused-attention meditation. This style concentrates attention on a single object, thought, sound, or visualization. It emphasizes ridding your mind of distractions. Meditation may focus on breathing, a mantra, or calming sound.
  • Open-monitoring meditation. This style encourages broadened awareness of all aspects of your environment, train of thought, and sense of self. It may include becoming aware of suppressed thoughts, feelings, or impulses.

To find out which styles you like best, check out the variety of free, guided meditation exercises offered by the University of California Los Angeles. It’s an excellent way to try different styles and find one that suits you.

If your regular work and home environments do not allow for consistent, quiet alone time, consider participating in a class. This can also improve your chances of success by providing a supportive community.

Alternatively, consider setting your alarm a few minutes early to take advantage of quiet time in the morning. This may help you develop a consistent habit and allow you to start the day positively.

Summary

If you’re interested in incorporating meditation into your routine, try a few different styles and consider guided exercises to get started with one that suits you.

Meditation is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health.

You can do it anywhere, without special equipment or memberships.

Alternatively, meditation courses and support groups are widely available.

There’s a great variety of styles too, each with different strengths and benefits.

Trying out a style of meditation suited to your goals is a great way to improve your quality of life, even if you only have a few minutes to do it each day.

Meditation: what is it, what is it for and how does it work

Religious practice or a simple self-help exercise? Understanding what meditation is, does psychology recognize it, and what to do if “just close your eyes and relax” doesn’t work

What is meditation

Meditation is a mental training as part of religious practice or with the goal of achieving calmness and relaxation. In European languages, the word comes from the Latin meditari, which means "contemplate", "contemplate", "meditate".

There are many branches of meditation. Some track their own emotions from the position of an observer, others read mantras or concentrate on breathing, and someone tries to “switch” the mind from thinking about everyday tasks to a deeper level for a while. The creators of Headspace, a meditation app and meditation project of the same name for Netflix, note that all the directions, in fact, have the same goals: mental clarity, inner peace and stress reduction.

Originating as a religious practice in Asia, meditation is now popular among Westerners as a way to relieve psychological and physical stress. According to official statistics, in 2017 in the United States, 14% of adults practiced meditation.

Meditation as a religious practice

The first documented mention of meditation appeared in ancient India around the 15th century BC in the Vedas, the Sanskrit sacred texts of Hinduism. Over time, this practice began to be used by adherents of other religions. It is believed that in the 6th century BC, the founder of Buddhism, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, achieved enlightenment and became a Buddha in the process of meditation, one day sitting under the Bodhi tree. Subsequently, he himself and his followers used this practice to achieve nirvana.

Other religions also have spiritual practices that resemble meditation in their forms and purposes. In Sufism, the mystical direction of Islam, the ritual of dhikr (“remembrance”) is widespread, which consists in repeatedly pronouncing one of the names of Allah or phrases from the Koran. During practice, a rosary with 99 beads is often used, each of which symbolizes one of the names of Allah. The purpose of the ritual is the praise of Allah and spiritual improvement in search of merging with God. A separate type of dhikr is the sema or dance of the dervishes, who whirl around in a circle to free themselves from their own ego and merge with God through dance and music.

Dervish dance (Photo: Unsplash)

A special kind of meditation is also present in different branches of Judaism. So, in Kabbalah, the meditator concentrates, peering into the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each of which is assigned a role in the creation of the world.

In the Middle Ages, the practice of Lectio Divina (“Divine Reading”), the monastic practice of reading texts of Holy Scripture, became widespread in Western Christianity. It was practiced by monks belonging to the Benedictine, Cistercian and Carthusian orders. One of the four stages of the process was the meditatio, or reflection on the content of the sacred text, which followed the reading and preceded prayer and dialogue with God.

The continuous repetition in the mind of prayer by ascetic monks in hesychasm, a movement in monasticism in Eastern Christianity, is also compared to meditation. It taught "intelligent doing" - sacred peace, silence and divine prayer, combined with control over inner thoughts. Over time, this teaching came to Russia, where the most famous hesychasts were Andrei Rublev, Feofan Grek and Maxim Grek.

Popularization of meditation in the West

Interest in Eastern spiritual practices in the West began to develop at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Then translations of sacred texts came out, departments for the study of Eastern religions appeared. In 1875, the Theosophical Society arose in the United States, founded by an emigrant from the Russian Empire, Helena Blavatsky. A religious philosopher and occultist, Blavatsky declared herself a student of the Tibetan mahatmas and the chosen one of the "great spiritual principle. " The Theosophical Society aimed at the formation of a worldwide brotherhood without distinction of race, color or creed, as well as the study of the hidden powers of man. In the first half of the 20th century, the Russian artist and mystic philosopher Nicholas Roerich and his wife Helena Roerich, who translated the works of Blavatsky, brought to Russia and other countries the philosophical and ethical teaching of the Agni Yogi or Living Ethics. It used meditation as the main method of improving consciousness.

At this time, more and more people went on trips to Asia. Among them was the Swiss psychiatrist, the founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung, who visited India in 1938-1939. Interest in Indian philosophy and the history of religion was reflected in his writings. At the same time, while studying the applicability of yoga and meditation in Western culture, he warned Europeans against blindly copying Eastern practices.

In the mid-1960s, a hippie movement arose in the United States, whose representatives were fond of Eastern religions and cults, defended the principles of universal freedom and non-violence, and practiced meditation.

Photo: Unsplash

But the real popularization of meditation in the West began in the 1970s. At this time, meditation began to consolidate its secular status and was perceived by people as a technique for mental well-being. Meditation wasn't just for hippies anymore. Celebrities became interested in the practice, and ordinary people followed them. Trying to cope with the weight of the collapsed popularity, The Beatles went to India to study transcendental meditation at the Maharishi's ashram. They were joined by actress Mia Farrow, fleeing the tabloid spotlight after her divorce from Frank Sinatra. At 19In 1975, TIME magazine called transcendental meditation a “drug-free high.”

The person who finally freed meditation from its religious context and brought it into the scientific field was John Kabat-Zinn, a biologist and professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts. He developed an 8-week mindfulness-based training program he called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). According to him, he took mindfulness meditation from Buddhism as a basis, but removed the mention of religion from there: “I went out of my way to structure it and present it in such a way that it was not perceived as Buddhism, New Age, Eastern mysticism or just nonsense” .

In 1996, meditation made its way to the Oprah Winfrey show - Deepak Chopra's book on transcendental meditation was mentioned there - and from there it went into the mainstream. Today, meditation is practiced by millions of people around the world, and The Beatles have a club of like-minded meditating stars. Among them are David Lynch, Richard Gere and Hugh Jackman.

Secular meditation is practiced in the offices of corporations such as Google and Apple and used by government agencies. In 2017, in the British Parliament, MPs meditated in a collective session led by Jon Kabat-Zinn himself. His same approach has been used in the UK to combat depression and stress among police and healthcare workers.

Types of meditation

Today there are dozens of directions and techniques of secular meditation. The most popular of them are:

  • Mindfulness meditation. The creator of the direction, Jon Kabat-Zinn, describes it as "the awareness that arises from focusing on the present moment and without judgment." The idea is to focus on your breath and nonjudgmentally observe your thoughts and emotions in the present moment without letting them linger in your head.
  • Body scan. Often the body is busy with one thing and the mind is busy with another. This technique is designed to synchronize the body and mind through a mental scan from the top of your head to your toes: as if the light of a copier is slowly moving through the body, noting any sensations in it.
  • Concentration meditation . The goal is to learn to focus all attention on a single object, such as a candle flame, a mantra, or the breath. This concentration develops the ability to remain focused and calm.
  • Transcendental Meditation (TM) . Its goal is to transcend, that is, to go beyond all levels of thought processes. Practices are held twice a day for 20 minutes under the supervision of certified teachers. TM does not involve focusing on an object or monitoring the breath. During meditation, attention from the surface level is directed inward, which allows the mind to move into a deeper and calmer state. It is this type of meditation practiced by director David Lynch: “I started doing transcendental meditation at 1973 years old and since then he has not missed a single meditation - twice a day, every day.
  • Loving kindness or metta meditation . The meditator sends good wishes to other people, familiar and unfamiliar. The practice ends with the words: "May all living creatures everywhere be happy and free."

It is very easy to get lost in this variety of techniques. Tonya Arno, a Jivamukti yoga teacher with ten years of meditation experience, advises those who want to start meditating, but cannot decide on the direction: “It is worth asking yourself the question: why do you need this tool. All directions are essentially about one thing, so at the beginning of the journey it is worth deciding how much time you have for practice and what is your intention. For example, if you have 10 minutes each day and a request for peace and concentration, it is worth starting with the body scan technique. You should not scatter on everything at once, it is better to focus on the main thing.

The Benefits of Meditation

Answering the question about why it is worth meditating, Tonia Arno notes that meditation stimulates brain activity. This, in turn, helps you focus, slows your heart rate, and brings you into the present moment. According to her, for some, meditation becomes an opportunity to get rid of panic attacks or build relationships in the family, cope with anger or monitor their reactions to trigger points. Tonya says: “I teach meditation for office workers: we don’t sing mantras and I don’t talk about the Vedas. We keep the focus of attention on our physical body and breath - this is the basis of meditation.

Numerous studies have been published proving the positive effects of meditation on the physiological and mental health of a person, from reducing stress levels to improving connections between brain regions. Practicing psychologist and author of the Emotional Intelligent podcast Anna Provornaya explains: “Meditation allows you to better control emotions and adds so-called top-down regulation: when the prefrontal cortex of the brain (responsible for thinking, managing emotions, decision-making and self-control) has a dominant influence on the limbic system , which is responsible for the emotional response. In people who meditate, the reactivity or dependence of the state on external stimuli decreases. They develop conscious regulation, when thoughts and ideas influence emotions to a greater extent than vice versa.

Anxiety and Stress Reduction Method

In his book Mindfulness. How to find harmony in our crazy world," Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford Mark Williams and Doctor of Biochemistry Danny Penman write, based on the experience of colleagues, that mindful meditation reduces key indicators of chronic stress, including high blood pressure.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive Sciences and the Brain in Germany have shown that meditation reduces the concentration of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body by 25%. Williams and Penman explain this effect as follows: “Studies conducted using computed tomography of the brain confirm that in people who are always in a hurry, have difficulty focusing on the present and fixate on their goals, the amygdala (brain area responsible for "fight or flight") is always on alert." But too frequent “mobilizations” of this kind wear out the body. According to experts, meditation practices lead to the desired effect in the fight against stress.

A meta-analysis led by American psychology professor David Orme-Johnson found that meditation also helps reduce anxiety. Notably, this effect was most pronounced in people with the highest levels of anxiety.

Antidepressant

The 2021 update of the UK National Institute for Clinical Research guidelines advises against prescribing antidepressants as the first line of treatment for patients with moderate depression. As an alternative, experts suggest meditation or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Researcher Madhav Goyal of Johns Hopkins University and his team also concluded that the effectiveness of meditation in the treatment of depression is identical to that of taking antidepressants. Goyal notes: “Many people have the idea that to meditate is to sit down and do nothing. But it's not. Meditation is the active training of the mind in order to develop awareness.”

Concentration Booster and Monkey Mind Block

A review of 23 different studies found that people who meditated for just a few months were better at tasks that required blocking out distractions. Those who meditated longer had a much better ability to maintain concentration for a long time. So, participants in one experiment were offered a task based on the Stroop effect. This effect manifests itself in the form of a delay in the reaction when reading the names of colors, when the color of the letters does not match the written name (for example, the word "green" is written in red letters). As a result, it turned out that those who practiced any type of meditation completed the task faster.

In addition, mindfulness meditation helps control the activity of the dormancy network where thoughts wander, the so-called monkey mind. This was proven by a Yale University study. The passive mode network turns on when we are not thinking about anything in particular and the mind wanders from thought to thought. As a rule, this turns into reflection and concern about the past and future. American psychologist Daniel Goleman explains: “Meditation improves the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the passive mode network. The stronger the connection, the more likely the regulatory regions of the prefrontal cortex will slow down the passive mode networks, stopping the simian mind - the incessant chatter that fills our minds in the absence of other important thoughts.

A tool to fight addictions

A number of studies have shown that meditation can help people get rid of addictions by influencing areas of the brain responsible for self-control. One study compared mindfulness meditation and an addiction recovery program for smokers from the American Lung Association. It turned out that people who practiced mindfulness meditation were more likely to quit smoking than those who used the association program. Scientists attributed this to the fact that meditation helps people break the connection between cravings and the act of smoking and gradually get rid of it.

A way to keep your brain youthful

A study by the University of California, Los Angeles showed that meditators tend to keep their brains better with age. Focus group participants who meditated for an average of 20 years had more gray matter volume than those who did not meditate.

Can Meditation Be Harmful

Along with studying the benefits of meditation, scientists are also exploring its potential negative effects. At the same time, according to Anna Provornaya, such studies are still insufficient, especially longitudinal ones, that is, involving long-term observation of the focus group.

An extensive review of existing research notes cases in which the experience of meditation resulted in increased anxiety, panic, insomnia, emotional flashbacks, manic episodes, and other undesirable effects. At the same time, as part of a study by Brown University professor Wiloby Britton, it was found that long-term side effects of meditation were more likely to be felt by people who meditated for a longer time. Experts separately note) the risk of retreats, where meditation is carried out for 12-15 hours a day for untrained practitioners.

Anna Provornaya adds that too long meditations can give the opposite result of the practitioners' hopes: "Sensitivity to emotions can develop to such an extent that any experiences can provoke distress, up to the appearance of panic attacks." According to her, there is another negative effect: “Sometimes people meditate so much that under the influence of regulation from the top down they lose any bright emotions - both good and bad. ” She also notes that various psychological disorders can become contraindications for meditation, for example, it will be very difficult for a person in deep depression to meditate, most likely, he will receive a lot of frustration and little benefit.

Tonya Arno says: “When it comes to secular mindfulness-style meditation, a five-minute daily practice cannot harm or become a trigger; rather, on the contrary, it will help you look at your condition from a different angle. As for deeper immersion or vipassana, there are indeed moments in which a mentor is needed. For example, if a person suffers from panic attacks, he should definitely inform the teacher about it.”

Psychological meditation

According to Anna Provornaya, psychology recognizes the secular areas of meditation and programs based on it, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The main psychological problems for which meditation practices can be applied are mild to moderate depression, various anxiety disorders, stress, and chronic pain.

Modern psychotherapy has an approach called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which uses CBT techniques combined with mindfulness meditation practices.

Provornaya notes that in some cases meditation can replace medicines, for example, for anxiety, but it cannot be taken as a panacea: “There are a huge number of cases when it is impossible to help or even just start meditating without medical help.”

According to her, for a tangible positive effect, the meditator must enjoy the process: someone likes to run to clear the mind, and someone likes to meditate. And remember that no kind of meditation solves problems, but only helps a person with self-regulation.

How to change your life through meditation: scientific arguments and practice

Health

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Author Ekaterina Tikhonova

May 21, 2021

Studies have shown that regular meditation has a direct impact on happiness, helps to stay in good shape and cope with stress. Understanding how meditation is scientifically useful and how to approach it

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, author of The Buddha, the Brain and the Neurophysiology of Happiness, is one of the popularizers of Tibetan meditation. For many years he has been involved in brain research during meditation, finding more and more evidence of its usefulness for each of us. Here's what we know about it so far.

Meditation is various psycho-physiological practices (religious or healing) that allow you to make your consciousness clearer, understand yourself and control your mind. Depending on the technique, meditations are based on concentration and/or willpower. Initially, the practice of meditation came from Hinduism. It occupies an important place in yoga. Today, however, meditation is increasingly spoken of without an esoteric component - as a means to train your mind and become calmer.

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There are over 3,000 scientific studies on the benefits of meditation. They involved both Buddhist monks who have devoted thousands of hours to meditation, and beginners who practice meditation for 15 minutes a day. The results recorded positive changes in most of the subjects. And here are some.

  • Stress reduction

For this, people usually begin to meditate. A study of 3,500 adults showed it worked. When our bodies are exposed to sudden stress or threat, the brain responds with a fight-or-flight response. It is caused by a surge in the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which leads to sleep disturbance, depression and anxiety, increased blood pressure, fatigue and confusion. Meditation gives you the opportunity to step back, recognize stress and choose how to respond to it. For example, it could be a regular relaxation practice that allows you to act rationally even under stress.

  • Anxiety control

There is a part of our brain responsible for fear. This is the amygdala, called the amygdala, which works like an alarm, looking for sources of danger around. She kept the ancient man alive by catching rustles in the forest or aggressive fellow tribesmen. For a modern person, it often works as a "false call", awakening unreasonable anxiety. Research has shown that amygdala activity decreases when a person is in a meditative state. These data were obtained both in experiments with people without experience in meditation, and in trials with both healthy people and those suffering from chronic anxiety. The effect is comparable to the action of drugs, but does not cause side effects. Regular practice reprograms the fear center, reduces anxiety and symptoms of anxiety disorders and panic attacks.

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  • Emotional recovery

Our brain tends to emotionally color or "stick" to situations and problems. For example, if a person has troubles at work, he can transfer them to family life. Conversely, troubles in personal life can be reflected in work. Meditators have the ability to not "stick". To see an emotion, a problem, to realize it and not fall into a trap.

Scientists attribute this to a decrease in the production of substances called cytokines. They are released in response to stress, affect mood and often cause depression. In the brains of those who practice meditation, connections appear that increase empathy and the ability to rationally assess problems.

Research shows that meditation is as effective as antidepressants! Therefore, for people suffering from depression, it is increasingly being prescribed as an alternative to drug treatment.

  • Raising awareness

Already in the eighth week of regular meditation, practitioners form their "unique brain" with well-developed areas. These areas are primarily associated with awareness and memory. Scientists are seeing an increase in the thickness of the hippocampus, which increases the brain's ability to learn and remember new material, as well as regulate its emotions. It used to be thought that mindfulness is the effect of long reflection and concentration on oneself. It is now clear that during meditation there are physical changes in the brain that help develop this skill.

  • Increasing mindfulness

Problems with concentration are not only found in children, attention deficit disorder has been diagnosed in millions of adults. One of the main benefits of meditation is improved focus and concentration. Like sports training, daily meditation increases the power and endurance of attention. Two weeks of practice has been found to increase attention scores by 16%. Thanks to meditation, cognitive skills at work quickly develop - and we better concentrate on the tasks at hand.

  • Prevention of brain aging

I lost my keys, I can't remember my name, I can't solve a simple math problem - as we approach middle age, we are increasingly faced with such problems. The decrease in mental abilities is associated with the loss of volumes of gray matter - brain neurons responsible for memory and learning. This is called cognitive decline associated with aging. For many years, scientists thought this decline was inevitable, but research over the past two decades has shown that the adult brain changes throughout life. This is a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity.

Regular meditation increases the neuroplasticity of the brain, maintains and even increases the concentration of gray matter. The brains of people over the age of 50, who constantly practice meditation, “look” seven years younger.

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  • Sleep Improvement

Meditation helps you to relax and not dwell on thoughts that prevent you from falling asleep. This practice activates the area of ​​the brain responsible for the transition to deep sleep. Thanks to it, we fall asleep faster and get better quality sleep. When the sleep characteristics of the two groups were compared (one practiced meditation, the other did not), it became clear that the participants who meditated fell asleep faster, their sleep was deeper and longer compared to those who did not meditate.

  • Pain control

Meditation reduces the perception of pain in the brain. It complements medical treatment of chronic pain or physiotherapy. Research confirms that mindfulness calms the brain centers responsible for pain, and over time, these changes take root and change the structure of the brain itself in such a way that patients no longer feel pain as intensely as they used to. Polls show that they stop noticing it.

Clinics prescribe meditation to help patients cope with the pain of heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. It is also used to relieve migraines, chronic fatigue, and even multiple sclerosis.

Most researchers agree that eight weeks of daily sessions of 10-12 minutes is enough to feel the positive effects of meditation. Experienced practitioners recommend meditating in the morning or immediately after waking up, when the brain is not yet preoccupied with solving a large number of problems.

It is not necessary to meditate while sitting at home. A simple breathing practice is available anytime, anywhere. Focusing on the breath is the most common approach to meditation. The main thing is to focus on the process of inhalation and exhalation. If thoughts and emotions come during practice, there is no need to block them. Look at them from the side, like a boat passing you on a river, and continue to focus on your breath.