The Evidence - Health & Wellbeing

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."

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:

Relaxation & Stress Reduction

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

Recent research has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to increase grey matter, improve the immune system, reduce stress and promote a sense of wellbeing. New York Times May 8 2007

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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.

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.

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Lowering high blood pressure/Improved Cardiovascular Health

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

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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.

Not only do studies show that meditation is boosting their immune system, but brain scans suggest that it may be rewiring their brains to reduce stress… Ten million American adults now say they practice some form of meditation regularly. The Science of Meditation, TIME magazine (cover story).

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.

Recent research has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to increase grey matter, improve the immune system, reduce stress and promote a sense of wellbeing. New York Times May 8 2007

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Help with Pain Management

TIME magazine - front cover

Meditation is being recommended by more and more physicians as a way to prevent, slow or at least control the pain of chronic diseases like heart conditions, AIDS, cancer and infertility.

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).

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Aiding Sleep

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

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Help with Weight Control

Meditators secrete more of the youth-related hormone DHEA as they age than non-meditators and increased DHEA helps control weight, as well as decrease stress.

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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.

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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.

New York Times, 8 May 2007

Recent research has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to increase grey matter, improve the immune system, reduce stress and promote a sense of well being. However, according to a study published today in the online edition of the journal PloS Biology, meditation can also affect attention. The study's lead author, Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry, University of Wisconsin said this was the first study to examine how meditation affects attention, which shows that attention is a flexible, trainable skill which can change with practice

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Improved self-confidence, family and work relationships

Improved self-confidence, reduced anxiety, improved family life, improved relationships at home and at work, increased tolerance, improved job performance, increased job satisfaction - David Orme-Johnson, Ph.D. Dean of Research Maharishi International University

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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 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

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Reduced hospitalisation and healthcare costs

A study of health insurance statistics on over 2,000 people practicing meditation over a five-year period found that meditators consistently had less than half the hospitalization than did other groups with comparable age, gender, profession, and insurance terms. The difference between the meditation and non-meditation groups increased in older-age brackets. In addition, the meditators had fewer incidents of illness in seventeen medical treatment categories, including 87% less hospitalization for heart disease and 55% less for cancer. The meditators consistently had more than 50% fewer doctor visits than did other groups. Psychosomatic Medicine 1987.

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