Meditation in The News

"Meditation trains the brain to be more present-focused and therefore to spend less time anticipating future negative events. This may be why meditation is effective at reducing the recurrence of depression, which makes chronic pain considerably worse."

Researchers at the University of Manchester, England have found in a recent experiment, that people who regularly practice meditation may be better able to deal with pain because their brains are less focused on anticipating pain. The group’s findings will be reported in the journal Pain. Their results are good news for the thousands of people who are unable to (or don’t want to) manage their pain, and associated depression, with conventional medicines.

The finding do say that only the long-term meditators taking part in the research had an advantage, with respect to pain management, over non-meditating individuals. From my personal experience, dealing with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, I don’t completely go along with that; I had only just started meditating when I was struck down very suddenly with RA. I am quite sure that my new meditation practice helped me overcome the depression I felt when I was diagnosed and that helped me heal. I’m happy to say that I am 100% fine now – the odd wonky finger and weakened joint but I returned to a normal, active life.

The author of the study, Dr. Christopher Brown from the University of Manchester's School of Translational Medicine, went onto say that "Meditation is becoming increasingly popular as a way to treat chronic illness such as the pain caused by arthritis." I’ll second that!

New book reveals Americans are dangerously rest-deprived – and more sleep isn’t the answer...

In his new book, body clock expert Dr Matthew Edlund, M.D., M.O.H. explains why we need not just physical rest to keep our minds clear and our bodies healthy but also 'Mental Rest, Social Rest and Spiritual Rest'. Dr. Edlund has identified an ongoing health crisis. After years of clinical research and consultations with hundreds of patients, he discovered that many people aren't just sleep-deprived, they're rest-deprived. The result? Our hearts, minds, and central nervous systems are overloaded, our health is suffering, and we've forgotten what it feels like to be truly refreshed. Dr. Edlund provides exercises involving meditation, prayer and contemplation that bring renewal and a sense of well-being. The Power of Rest: A 30-Day Plan to Reset your Body by Dr. Matthew Edlund is published June 8, 2010

Benefits of meditation recorded after only 4 days of training...

If you feel, like many meditation novices do, that it's going to take too long to reap the benefits of meditation, read on the news  is surprising and good.

A research team (lead by Dr. Fadel Zeidan a post-doctoral researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and a former doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte) have found that...

"After four sessions of either meditation training or listening to a recorded book (Tolkein's The Hobbit), participants with no prior meditation experience were assessed with measures of mood, verbal fluency, visual coding, and working memory. Both interventions were effective at improving mood but only brief meditation training reduced fatigue, anxiety, and increased mindfulness. Moreover, brief mindfulness training significantly improved visuo-spatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning. Our findings suggest that 4 days of meditation training can enhance the ability to sustain attention; benefits that have previously been reported with long-term meditators."

“In the behavioral test results, what we are seeing is something that is somewhat comparable to results that have been documented after far more extensive training,” said Dr. Fadel Zeidan in a press release.

The study was published in the April 2 issue of 'Consciousness and Cognition'.

Can meditation help soldiers perform at a higher level and return from combat in better mental shape?  

Before departing for Iraq, 48 U.S. Marines were divided into two groups; one group participated in an eight-week mindfulness training program, the other did not participate in meditation exercises and acted as a control. The study (partly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense) on the effect of mindfulness meditation on U.S. Marines preparing for deployment in Iraq has shown that… 

“The more time participants spent engaging in daily mindfulness exercises the better their mood and working memory, the cognitive term for complex thought, problem solving and cognitive control of emotions. The study also suggests that sufficient [mindfulness training] practice may protect against functional impairments associated with high-stress challenges that require a tremendous amount of cognitive control, self-awareness, situational awareness and emotional regulation.” (Ref: Scope Blog – Stanford University Medical Blog)

Adam Yauch, also known as the great MCA of the Beastie Boys band, was diagnosed with cancer last July. This week (April 24) he told in an e-mail to his friends that he is meditating, along with a group of friends, twice a day for about one and a half hour every day. He said in his email:  "Wanted to send this out to you guys in case you were into it, or wanted to give it to anyone who you think might be," he wrote. "A few friends and I are meditating at the same time twice a day. 9:30AM and 6:30PM Eastern Standard Time, for about an hour and half. We are picturing smashing apart all of the cancer cells in the world."

Adam underwent surgery and completely altered his lifestyle after being diagnosed. He believes (along with many others) that meditation can help kill cancer.  

Transcendental Meditation may reduce the symptoms of depression

April 9, 2010: A recent study on the effect of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on depression show promising signs that TM can significantly help sufferers. Researchers compared the effects of daily Transcendental Meditation with a daily health education session. The study was conducted with two groups: 59 African Americans and 53 Hawaiians. In both studies the meditating groups (irrelevant of their gender) showed a decrease in depression symptoms. The researchers speculate that meditation may change the body's chemistry and how it 'deals' with chemicals such as serotonin, that are associated with depression.  The results of the study are to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle, on April 9, 2010. 

Can Meditation Reverse Memory Loss? 

Study Shows Improvement on Memory Tests After Practicing Meditation for 8 Weeks WebMD (March 3, 2010)

Meditation can increase blood flow in the brain and improve memory, according to researchers who tested a specific kind of meditation and found the improvement after just eight weeks.

The 15 participants, ages 52 to 77, all had memory problems at the start, says Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD, one of the researchers and the medical director of the Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson, Ariz. "It only takes 12 minutes [a day,] it's easy to learn, it doesn't cost anything, and it has no side effects," Khalsa tells WebMD. The technique, he says, "reverses memory loss in people with memory problems."

- Why does it seem to help? "I use the analogy of going to the gym and lifting weights for eight weeks," Khalsa says. "You're definitely stronger. I think we see this in the brain. It's like training the brain. You are somehow improving the chemical milieu of the brain. Blood flow improves the anatomy of the brain and it functions better," he says. 

Meditation and Pain Relief

Scientists recently published the results of a study where they performed a controlled experiment to determine the the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training on ratings of painful electrical stimulation. They found that a brief 3-day mindfulness meditation training was effective at reducing pain ratings and anxiety scores. In other words the meditation helped to reduce the level of pain.  From the March 2010 issue of the Journal of Pain.

Meditation - "a potent anti aging practice that can take years off your physiological age" (NaturalNews 2/14/10) 

Rewire Your Brain For Love
Three reasons why mindfulness meditation helps relationships by Marsha Lucas, Ph. d. (Psychology Today Blog 27.1.10) 

"Shake off dark moods at work by practicing such happiness-inducing techniques as meditation or expressing gratitude. Happiness coaching is seeping into the workplace. A growing number of employers, including UBS, American Express, KPMG and the law firm Goodwin Procter, have hired trainers who draw on psychological research, ancient religious traditions or both to inspire workers to take a more positive attitude-or at least a neutral one. Happiness-at-work coaching is the theme of a crop of new business books and a growing number of MBA-school courses." Wall Street Journal - Careers: Jan 27, 2010 Read more here...

The Mayo Clinic launches its own iPhone app: a tool to teach and perform meditation. It's among the first iPhone apps launched by a hospital system. MedCity News Jan 5, 2010. Read more here.

"Stress may contribute to childhood depression, anxiety, phobias, learning disabilities, ADHD and physical illness,"says stress management specialist David M. Goldsmith. (Jan 25, 2010 The Ridgefield Press) “Meditation has been shown to reduce stress in kids,” he said. “By learning a number of basic techniques, they can reduce many of the harmful symptoms.” Read more here

Meditation on prescription: charity urges new remedy for depression: 'Mindfulness' courses should be available on NHS, says Mental Health Foundation. Sarah Boseley, health editor The Guardian, Tuesday 5 January 2010. Read more here

 Transcendental Meditation Helped Heart Disease Patients Lower Cardiac Disease Risks by 50 Percent ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2009)

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to non-meditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009 Read more here

The Fourth Annual David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation took place at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa (Nov 12, 2009. The David Lynch Foundation was established in 2005 and, according to its website, has provided millions of dollars to fund and implement the teaching of Transcendental Meditation techniques to students worldwide. The DLF credits the techniques with “reducing ADHD and other learning disorders, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, calling them stress reducing programs that improve creativity, brain functioning, and academic performance.” Read more here

Meditation helps patients put mind over cancer
AMBy: Ivanhoe Broadcast News 10/21/2009

The ancient practice of meditation may help those struggling with a cancer diagnosis. Read more here.

'Mindfulness' meditation being used in hospitals and schools, USA Today Read more here

Meditation increases concentration: CBCS study (from a ‘Times of India’ story)

In a study published by Prof Narayanan Srinivasan, head of the ‘Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (CBCS)’ of Allahabad University, India and his student, Shruti Baijal, it was found that the magnitude of attention of participants in their study was clearly enhance in post-(meditation) practice sessions. “It clearly indicates that the complicated processes working in the human brain, associated with concentration get stimulated following the meditation practices, irrespective of method of meditation that is followed.”

Prof. Srinivasan believes that the results of these practices show that if the children are asked to practice these kriyas (yogic meditation) on a regular basis, the results shown in preliminary experiments would surely enhance the concentrative power in such children. Read more here.

Cancer patients who have trouble getting sleep at night are being sought for a new pilot study exploring the potential of meditation techniques as sleep aids. Reports Lisa Rosetta of the Salt Lake Tribune….Read more here

Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds

By Marc Kaufman, Washington Post Staff Writer
Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence for something that Tibetan Buddhist practitioners of meditation have maintained for centuries: Mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness. Read more here

Transcendental meditation helps breast cancer patients from the Times of India 10/14/09
The Transcendental Meditation technique can help reduces stress and improves mental health and emotional well-being among women with breast cancer. Read more here.

Alternative medicine is becoming mainstream. By Tammy Worth, Los Angeles Times Nov 7, 2009. Read more here

You'll find some Amazon recommendations, specific to Meditation, in the link below: