Meditation

DEFINITION: Techniques involving controlled breathing, visualization, and/or repeated words or phrases that are used to achieve relaxation, lower heart rate, and reduce muscle tension, which may have health benefits

ANATOMY OR SYSTEM AFFECTED: All

Indications and Procedures

Meditation is a form of complementary medicine that connects the mind and body to produce a state of relaxation. One of the most popular techniques used in meditation is concentration, in which one focuses attention on a single object, such as the function of breathing, a candle flame, or a visualized image. When attention wanders, the practitioner brings it gently back to the original focus. Sometimes a mantra, a chosen word or phrase given by a teacher or chosen by the practitioner (such as the om mantra of Tibetan Buddhism), is repeated silently or aloud.

Guided meditation, also known as visualization or guided imagery, utilizes listening to a voice, recorded or live, that guides the practitioner to visualize a beautiful and peaceful place where one feels calm and secure. Walking meditation, tai chi, and qi gong focus on movement, breathing, and ritual, and the practice of yoga incorporates breathing and movement or physical postures to help relax the body and mind. Soothing music may also be used with any of these techniques. Prayer and silent reading of and reflection on inspirational texts are other common forms of meditation. Teachers recommend starting slowly with five-minute sessions, working up to twenty minutes once or twice a day.

Transcendental meditation (TM) and mindfulness are popular techniques combining various elements to promote relaxation and peacefulness. Mindfulness focuses on the experience of the present and becoming extra aware, or mindful, of the state of being and consciously accepting it. Transcendental meditation typically involves using a mantra to promote relaxation.

Uses and Complications

Meditation techniques, which are thousands of years old, are promoted as a benefit to health and well-being, primarily in stress-related conditions, by promoting stress reduction. Most people can learn the techniques and reap the health benefits of this age-old practice. Physical limitations and preexisting mental health concerns should be taken into consideration before undertaking specific meditative practices, and practitioners should make their instructors aware of these conditions.

High levels of stress are known to cause various health conditions, and managing stress can lead to better overall health. Numerous studies confirm that prolonged or interpersonal stress can produce such conditions as constriction of blood vessels, pain and swelling in joints, suppression of the immune system, decreases in white blood cells and changes in their function, and high cholesterol levels. Chemicals such as adrenaline, produced when the body is under stress, can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate, and cause other harmful physiological responses when stress is persistent or sustained. Stress is also linked to many diseases and conditions, including heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, allergies, and skin disorders.

Meditation, in helping the patient to relax, reduces muscle tension and decreases the release of these harmful chemicals. A number of stress-related conditions have been shown by at least one study to benefit from meditation, including arthritis, anxiety, infertility, psoriasis, respiratory conditions, such as asthma and emphysema, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and symptoms of menopause, tension headaches, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcers, insomnia, and fibromyalgia. Studies also suggest that meditation can be effective against psychological conditions, such as depression and in improving the quality of life of those suffering from symptoms of cancer and the negative side effects of cancer treatment. Evidence has been mixed regarding meditation's use in other areas, such as treating chronic pain and as an aid in smoking cessation.

As with many alternative and complementary medicines, meditation is not without its detractors. Some of the studies that have shown positive results for the previously listed conditions have been criticized for questionable methodology or small sample sizes. In 2018, fifteen researchers published an article in Perspectives on Psychological Science broadly criticizing past studies on meditation and the wide-ranging claims that have been made based on them and suggested improved methodologies for future research. Still, for some of the conditions for which meditation has been more thoroughly studied, evidence for the helpfulness of the practice is generally considered strong. For example, a 2016 meta-analysis, published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, of thirty studies involving meditation found significant evidence that it improves depressive symptoms in those with chronic pain (though its effect on pain itself was found to be small). Two 2015 meta-analyses in Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Psychosomatic Medicine showed some effectiveness in managing eating disorders.

Research conducted during the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 provided new opportunities to explore the ways in which meditation can have positive physical and mental benefits. A 2022 study published in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity—Health examined how meditation and mindfulness practices interacted with the increased rates of depression and anxiety resulting from pandemic quarantines and lockdowns and found that the regular practice of meditation, mindfulness, and yoga led to a reduction of stress hormones and an improvement in anxiety and depression among college students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the study found that the stress-reducing benefits of meditation resulted in positive improvements to the immune system—which has been shown to be negatively affected by the stress that results from chronic anxiety and depression.

Despite the increasing amount of evidence supporting meditation's health benefits and ease with which most people can undertake practicing some form of meditation, it is advisable to check with a health professional before beginning a meditation regime in an effort to treat a disease or disorder. Meditation should never be used in place of standard medical evaluation and treatment, though it will often be recommended as a complementary practice. Neglecting traditional medical care in favor of meditation can be dangerous and cause conditions to worsen. And while it is generally safe, in some cases, certain types of meditation itself may even exacerbate existing physical or mental disorders. Some scientists also remain skeptical about the real efficiency of meditation as a health practice. For many disorders, there is not enough evidence to prove that meditation specifically is a helpful treatment, despite the claims of some companies and organizations.

Religious and Spiritual Meditation

Meditation traditionally has been and is used in a religious sense to deepen one's understanding and involvement with the spiritual, mystical, and sacred aspects of life. It is also used as an exercise in self-discovery and revelation, helping the practitioner turn inward, temporarily shutting out worldly cares and strife to find inner peace and calm. Many common meditation techniques originated from religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism.

In Buddhism, meditation is an important practice for Buddhists to reach enlightenment and nirvana. Specifically, many schools of the religion utilize breath meditation and recollections. Taoist meditation, influenced by Buddhist meditation, also uses techniques including concentration, insight, and visualization of solar and lunar essences. The goal of meditation in Taoism is to enlarge and relax the mind to achieve qi cultivation. In Hinduism, practitioners use yoga to help meditate, control breathing, and help self-realization to reach a state of moksha, similar to nirvana in Buddhism.

Meditation in the Workplace

Alongside its use in complementary and alternative medicine, meditation has been promoted in various other sectors for its potential benefits. For example, it has been practiced and studied in the workplace as a means of boosting worker productivity. Essentially, meditation and other forms of mindfulness are credited with improving focus and self-awareness and reducing distraction, characteristics that have obvious benefits in a working environment. Many psychologists and business experts suggest that allowing employees to spend even a few minutes per day meditating can reduce stress, especially in office settings, and, therefore, aid decision-making and other efforts. Similarly, some athletes and performers find that meditation helps their performance in a variety of ways, such as promoting calm, positivity, and concentration.

However, as with other meditation studies, there is often a lack of hard data directly supporting workplace meditation. Much literature on the subject tends toward popular culture psychology rather than actual scientific research. Some studies even suggested that mindfulness practices have little positive impact on worker motivation and can possibly have a negative effect. The negative effect most likely came from the loss of productivity during meditation breaks. Still, the general principle that a more relaxed workforce will be happier and more productive is widely accepted, and, therefore, some companies have allowed for or even actively encouraged meditation during the workday.

The focus on the potential benefits of meditation in the workplace was renewed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many employers sought ways to counteract the challenges and anxieties of working through the pandemic. A 2021 study published in Business Horizons examined the ways in which the pressures of work were compounded by the stress and complications of the pandemic and found that mindfulness and mediation were successful in managing screen fatigue, trouble focusing, the inability to unplug after work, and other issues that resulted from the abrupt switch to working from home. A 2023 meta-analysis of 327 empirical studies of loving-kindness and compassion meditations (LKCM) in the workplace found that LKCM decreased employee burnout and stress, and facilitated employees' mindfulness, self-compassion, personal mental health, job attitudes, interpersonal relationships, and psychological resources.

Bibliography

Benson, Herbert, and Miriam Z. Klipper. The Relaxation Response. 25th anniversary ed. Avon, 2000.

Chow, Susan. "Meditation Spirituality and Religion." News Medical Life Sciences, AZoNetwork, 13 Apr. 2021, www.news-medical.net/health/Meditation-Spirituality-and-Religion.aspx. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Dalpati, Nibedita, et al. “Yoga and Meditation, an Essential Tool to Alleviate Stress and Enhance Immunity to Emerging Infections: A Perspective on the Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Students.” Brain, Behavior, & Immunity–Health, vol. 20, 2022, 100420, doi:10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100420. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Davis, Matt. "Does Workplace Meditation Actually Work?" Big Think, 30 Sept. 2018, bigthink.com/personal-growth/does-workplace-meditation-work. Accessed 3 July 2024.

"8 Things to Know about Meditation for Health." National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, 3 July 2024, www.nccih.nih.gov/health/tips/8-things-to-know-about-meditation-and-mindfulness. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Harmon, Robert, and Mary Ann Myers. "Prayer and Meditation as Medical Therapies." Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America 10, no. 3 (1999): 651–662.

Hilton, Lara. "Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis." Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 51, no. 2, 2016, pp. 199–213.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. 10th anniversary ed. Hyperion, 2005.

Lieberman, Bruce. "Mindfulness Meditation Is Huge, but Science Isn't Sure How, or Whether, It Works." The Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2018, washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/mindfulness-meditation-is-huge-but-science-isnt-sure-how-or-whether-it-works/2018/03/23/2fa510a6-1e4e-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829‗story.html. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Manciagli, Dana. "Benefits of Meditation in the Workplace." Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, 29 Nov. 2017, thunderbird.asu.edu/knowledge-network/benefits-meditation-workplace. Accessed 3 July 2024.

"Meditation: A Simple, Fast Way to Reduce Stress." Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 14 Dec. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858. Accessed 3 July 2024.

"Meditation and Mindfulness: What You Need to Know." National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, June 2022, www.nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation-and-mindfulness-what-you-need-to-know. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Toniolo-Barrios, Mariana, and Leyland Pitt. “Mindfulness and the Challenges of Working from Home in Times of Crisis.” Business Horizons, vol. 64, no. 2, 2021, doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2020.09.004. Accessed 3 July 2024.

Trivieri, Larry, Jr., and John W. Anderson, eds. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. 2d ed. Ten Speed, 2002.

Van Dam, N. T., et al. "Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation." Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 13, no. 1, 2018, pp. 36–61.

Wang, Rong, Xiaodan Gu, et al. "Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditations in the Workplace: A Meta-Analysis and Future Prospects." Stress and Health, 23 May 2023, do:10.1002/smi.3273. Accessed 3 July 2024.