What Does The Science Say About Meditation?
Meditation has become so popular that it is a part of our lives in many environments, with different goals. This is not without reason. Meditation has several benefits for your physical and mental health. Maybe that’s why meditation is becoming fashionable and science wonders if meditation has anything to do with it.
However, many people reject meditation because they do not “believe” in it. But meditation is not a religion : you do not have to believe that it works, nor does it involve magic or luck.
Now we will talk about meditation and the most outstanding benefits that researchers have found in recent years. The research continues, so the benefits that we will show you below are probably just the beginning.
Meditation makes you more creative – what science says about meditation
An interesting benefit of meditation is that it encourages, and increases, creativity. A study from 2012 at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, and another, at the same university in 2014, found that certain techniques promote creative thinking.
These studies looked at a meditation called “open monitoring”. In this, the participants are receptive to all thoughts and feelings without focusing on a specific concept or object. They performed better in tasks involving creative thinking, and they generated more new ideas than before.
These findings support the belief that meditation can have a lasting impact on human understanding. This includes how we develop new ideas and experience events. This is not only for those who are experienced in meditating, but beginners can also benefit from meditation.
Meditation reduces stress and anxiety
The advantage that stands out most about meditation is that it helps reduce and prevent stress. A study published in January 2017, conducted by the University of Georgetown, USA, found that meditation training reduced inflammatory hormonal responses to stress, especially after practicing mindfulness. This rigorously designed clinical study found objective physiological evidence that conscious meditation combats anxiety.
The researchers found that patients with anxiety disorders drastically reduced their stress hormone response and inflammation in stressful situations after taking courses. Patients who took a stress management course without meditation had a poorer response.
Another study published in May 2017 by researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada, found that just 10 minutes of meditation helps anxious people to have better focus. The study evaluated the effect of meditation on 82 participants who experienced anxiety. It found that evolving awareness of the present reduced repeated thoughts that are not relevant, a hallmark of anxiety.
Researchers explain that a wandering mind represents almost half of the daily flow of consciousness for any person. For people with anxiety, repetitive thoughts that leak into the tasks they have can negatively affect the ability to learn, complete tasks or function safely.
Meditation improves mental and physical health and resistance to stress
Many people report positive health effects from practicing yoga and meditation, and experiencing mental and physical benefits. However, we still have a lot to learn about how these practices affect the body’s health.
A new research article, published in August 2017, examined the effects of yoga and meditation on humans by observing physiological and immunological markers of stress and inflammation. The researchers studied the participants in an intensive three-month retreat. They discovered that the practices positively affected physiological and immunological markers of stress and inflammation. They also improved subjective well-being.
This article, published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience , examines the effects of yoga and meditation on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), hypothalamic effects of the adrenal glands (HPA), and inflammatory markers. This time, the researchers studied the participants in an intensive 3-month yoga and meditation retreat. They discovered that these practices had a positive effect on BDNF signaling, the response to the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and immunological markers.
Participants reported a decrease in anxiety and depression, as well as increased attention. The research team observed an increase in plasma BDNF levels. This is a neuromodulator that plays an important role in learning, memory and regulation of complex processes such as inflammation, immunity, mood regulation, response to stress and metabolism.
They also observed increases in the cortisol awakening response (CAR), which is part of the hypogalamic axis of the pituitary gland (HPA). This suggests better resistance to stress.
Meditation changes brain structure and gene expression
A 2011 study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, published in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging , showed that meditation, especially mindfulness, can cause measurable changes in brain groups associated with memory, feelings of self-confidence, empathy and stress. This study first documented the changes produced by meditation over time in the gray matter of the brain.
Analysis of the MRI images found a greater density of gray matter in the hippocampus. This is important for learning and memory. They found it in structures associated with self-awareness and introspection as well. The reductions in stress are also correlated with the decrease density of gray matter in the amygdala. This is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress.
Another study, conducted in 2013 by researchers from Wisconsin, Spain and France, was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology . Deb reported on specific molecular changes that occurred in the body after a period of conscious meditation.
The study examined the effect of a day of practicing intense mindfulness on a group of experienced meditators. It compared this to a group of untrained controls who participated in calm and non-meditative activities. After eight hours of practicing mindfulness , the “meditators” showed a variety of genetic and molecular differences. This included altered levels of gene regulation machinery, and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes. This is related to faster physical recovery in a stressful situation. These are the same targets that manufacturers have for anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications.
Compensation for DNA reactions that cause stress
A recent study, from June 2017, conducted by the University of Coventry in the UK, found that body interventions (MBI), as well as meditation, yoga and Tai Chi do not just make us relax. They can “reverse” or compensate for certain parts of our DNA that may be risk factors.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology , considers more than a decade of study. These studies analyze how different MBIs affect how our genes behave. The 18 studies had 846 participants over 11 years. When examined together, they show a pattern of molecular changes that occur in the body as a result of MBI. They also show that these changes provide benefits to the patient’s mental and physical health.
Researchers focus on how gene expression is affected. That is, they focus on how genes are activated to produce proteins that affect the biological composition of the body, brain and immune system.
Millions of people around the world have already benefited from the health benefits of bodily interventions, such as yoga or meditation. However, these benefits begin at the molecular level and may change the shape of our genetic code. The researchers called this a “molecular signature”, which reverses the effects of stress or anxiety on our body.
Meditation relieves pain
Pain relief is another reason why there is research on meditation. A study published in June 2017 by the University of Leeds Beckett, in the UK, found that meditation could be a cheaper alternative to traditional painkillers.
According to the study, just ten minutes of mindfulness can be used as an alternative to painkillers. The results suggest that a single ten-minute mindfulness session can improve pain tolerance, pain threshold and reduce anxiety about pain.
Other previous studies had explored the possibility of relieving pain without opioids through meditation. This is the case of a US study in March 2016. It was produced by Wake Forest Baptist Health and published in the Journal of Neuroscience . According to this study, after a short period of meditation training, pain is reduced.
These results are especially important for those who have developed a tolerance to opiate-based medications. These people are looking for a non-addictive way to reduce pain. Meditation can be used in conjunction with other traditional therapies or medications to relieve pain without side effects.
An earlier 2015 study, produced by the same center, found that conscious meditation reduces pain better than a placebo. The study used a two-way approach. They used pain scores and brain size to determine if mindfulness is a placebo or has a true effect.
This study showed that participants who practiced mindfulness reported greater pain relief than those who used placebo. Brain scans showed that brain activity was different from those who had taken placebo.
Research on the effect of meditation continues
Here we just talked about some of the studies that addressed the effect of meditation. Undoubtedly , there is interest because we see benefits that go beyond myths and beliefs, and the placebo effect.
We do not need proof that if you want to verify if meditation works, you must try it yourself. You should have an open mind and not judge. There are no side effects and when you do, you will see results.
Source list
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810016303142?via%3Dihub
http://www.newswise.com/articles/mindfulness-meditation-training-lowers-biomarkers-of-stress-response-in-anxiety-disorder
https://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927(10)00288-X/fulltext
