Meditation has health benefits
Published on July 29, 2008 8:06 AM
For to see how meditation can improve a person’s attention and response to stress, a team of researchers from China and the University of Oregon have assigned college undergraduate students to 40 years old. All this students were divided in experimental and control groups. The experimental group received five days of meditation training. The control group got five days of relaxation training. Both groups took tests that assessed their attention and reaction to mental stress before and after their training.
The experimental group showed greater improvement than the control to dealing with stress. Stress was induced by mental arithmetic. Both groups initially showed elevated release of the stress hormone cortisol following the math task, but after training, the experimental group showed less cortisol release, indicating a greater ability to cope with stress.
Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone produced by the Zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex (in the adrenal gland). It is a vital hormone that is often referred to as the "stress hormone" as it is involved in the response to stress. It increases blood pressure, blood sugar levels and has an immunosuppressive action.
The experimental group also showed lower levels of anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue than the control group.
Meditation is usually recognized as a largely spiritual practice, it also has many health benefits. Numerous studies have shown that meditation has health benefits, generally related to the decrease in stress that occurs through meditation. Lower blood pressure, decreased risk for heart disease, and chronic pain relief are some of the health benefits of meditation.
Researchers showed in a study that meditation can also change the people’s brain. The brain waves of meditators show they are healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex, for example brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex.
This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, depression and anxiety. It can help to resolve the deepest of neuroses, fears and conflict which play their part in causing stress and ill health.