“Meditation: Fact or Fiction?” Unrevealing the Science behind Meditation

There are various definitions of meditation, Microsoft Encarta 2006 defines meditation as the emptying of the mind of thoughts, or the concentration of the mind on one thing, in order to aid mental or spiritual development, contemplation, or relaxation; pondering about something; or serious studying of a subject. Another meaning of meditation is the art and science of quieting and centering the mind and coordinating breathing for the purpose of relaxation and clarity of thinking (Navarra, 2004). Some may associate meditation with religion and prayer e.g. Islam uses words like ‘Inshallah’; Hindus use ‘Om’ and Christians say ‘our father who art in heaven’. In today’s ever changing fast lifestyle it is becoming a constant challenge to stop and think about every moment and make time for ourselves to unwind and this is one of the reasons why conditions such as hypertension, chronic illness and stress are so prevalent. If it were a few 100 years earlier, meditation would merely be a part of your daily activities but this is different today. Until recently, meditation has merely been significant in religion and spirituality but since a large amount of scientific research has been conducted around meditation especially those associated with healing, meditation has become a common practice between both conventional and natural practitioners. Many of the ancient practices of meditation such as tai chi, transcendental meditation, mindfulness and yoga are commonly practiced today to assist with conditions such as stress; hypertension; and even pain too name a few (Kaszubski, 2004). This article explores the facts concerning the science that proves the value and significance of meditation and its beneficial effects on health and healing.

Although many people are still skeptical about whether meditation is just a thing that weird spirited people do and that it’s not a legitimate method of healing, there is now scientific evidence to prove them wrong. As research progresses it opens up the doors to the significant benefits of meditation not just spiritually but on a wide range of physiological levels too. One method of meditation called mindfulness showed fascinating results in a study conducted in individuals on an 8 week clinical training program. This type of meditation originates from ancient Buddhist practice which centers around philosophy and meditation in which one ‘lives in the moment’, in other words, one becomes more aware and concentrates on being actively involved in everything you do and pay attention to each detail e.g. eating a fruit- tasting and enjoying the fruit and not have wandering thoughts (Kaszubski, 2004). This study showed significant results in how meditation can alter your brain activity and even immune function. The outcome of this clinical trial showed that there was an increase in the left-sided anterior activation associated with a decrease in anxiety, as well as increase in influenza antibody titers in individuals undertaking the mindfulness meditation training compared to non-meditators.

Research carried out at Austin-Repatriation Medical Centre, Heidelberg, Melbourne in conjunction with La Trobe University on the relationship between meditation (mainly yoga and transcendental meditation) and melatonin showed that there was a definite increase in plasma melatonin levels after a period of mediation. The conclusion was that it is either related to specific placebo effect of meditation or direct physiological mechanism such as an increase in the release by the pineal gland or decrease hepatic metabolism of melatonin. Whatever the reason may be, the outcome is especially interesting since melatonin plays an important role in regulating stress levels, its antioxidant effects protects against cellular damage and it also acts as a powerful free radical scavenger, anticancer, anti-aging and immunoaugmentation (Gregory A. Tooley, 1999).

Meditation also seemed to have beneficial effects in patients with anxiety disorders by decreasing symptoms of anxiety according to studies conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, Pochon CHA University College of Medicine (Sang Hyuk Leea, 2006). In today’s life, stress is the main contributing factor to many diseases of lifestyle especially in psychological, cardiovascular and endocrine related disorders (Monk-Turner, 2003). Effectiveness of meditation on the central and autonomic nervous system have been documented showing positive results in the regulation of these systems related to heart rate, respiratory system physiology, as well as skin conductance response (Yi-Yuan Tanga, 2009). This concludes scientific proof of the mind-body interaction which has been the foundation of alternative medicine and healing. It’s ironic how people are now turning back to ancient healing techniques offered by natural medicine after years of conventional medicine and the realization of the beneficial effects as opposed to the harmful effects that come with conventional medicine.

Meditation is but only a small portion of the positive impact of natural medicine and the power of the mind. People underestimate the power of the mind, as the saying goes “mind-over-matter”, we can overcome anything with tuning our mind the right way and if we achieve that, our quality of life will become much better. It’s amazing how meditation seems to enhance your body’s functions and this makes one think of how much potential we have within us if we tap into our mind and learn to unlock it.

References

Gregory A. Tooley, S. M. (1999). Acute increases in night-time plasma melatonin. Elsevier, Biological psychology , 69, 70, 71, 76.

Kaszubski, F. &. (2004). Absolute beginner's guide to alternative medicine. Indianapolis: Sam's Pubishing.

Monk-Turner, E. (2003). The benefits of meditation: experimental findings. The social science journal , 465-467.

Navarra. (2004). Encyclopedia to alternating & complementary medicine. New York: Facts on File, Inc.

Sang Hyuk Leea, S. C. (2006). Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress management program as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy in patients with anxiety disorder. Journal of psychosomatic research , 189-190.

Yi-Yuan Tanga, b. Y. (2009). Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation. PNAS , 8865–8870.