Review Article Meditation, its Techniques and its science
Meditation, its Techniques and its science
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15713/ins.bhj.82Keywords:
Meditation, relaxation, stress reductionAbstract
Background
For thousands of years, people have been meditating. Meditation is one of the greatest gifts to humanity from ancient sages. It was created to aid in the comprehension of life's sacred and mystical powers and to connect to the higher consciousness. Meditation is widely utilized these days for relaxation and stress reduction and a way to get relief from physical illness and mental agonies as well as to achieve peace and Happiness.
References
Sharma H. Meditation: Process and effects. Ayu. 2015;36(3):233-237.
Aurobindo S. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram; 1972. The Upanishads: Texts, Translations and Commentaries.
Gambhirananda S. Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama; 1972. Translator. Brahma-Sutra-Bhasya of Sri Sankaracharya.
Wadhwa A, Wadhwa D. Haridwar, India: Akhand Param Dham; 2013. The Direct Realization of Brahman: Brahman Sakshatkar.
Saraswati SM. Munger, India: Bihar School of Yoga; 1993. Commentator. Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Elder C, Nidich S, Moriarty F, Nidich R. Effect of Transcendental Meditation on employee stress, depression, and burnout: A randomized controlled study. Perm J. 2014; 18:19–23.
Schneider RH, Grim CE, Rainforth MV, Kotchen T, Nidich SI, Gaylord-King C, et al. Stress reduction in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Randomized, controlled trial of Transcendental Meditation and health education in blacks. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2012; 5:750–8.
Lavretsky H, Epel ES, Siddarth P, Nazarian N, St Cyr N, Khalsa DS, et al. A pilot study of yogic meditation for family dementia caregivers with depressive symptoms: Effects on mental health, cognition, and telomerase activity. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013; 28:57–65.
Grant JA, Courtemanche J, Duerden EG, Duncan GH, Rainville P. Cortical thickness and pain sensitivity in zen meditators. Emotion. 2010; 10:43–53.
Khalsa DS. Stress, meditation, and Alzheimer's disease prevention: Where the evidence stands. J Alzheimers Dis. 2015; 48:1–12.
Deepeshwar S, Vinchurkar SA, Visweswaraiah NK, Nagendra HR. Hemodynamic responses on prefrontal cortex related to meditation and attentional task. Front Syst Neurosci. 2015; 8:252.
Elliott JC, Wallace BA, Giesbrecht B. A week-long meditation retreat decouples behavioral measures of the alerting and executive attention networks. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014; 8:69.
Brook RD, Appel LJ, Rubenfire M, Ogedegbe G, Bisognano JD, Elliott WJ, et al. Beyond medications and diet: Alternative approaches to lowering blood pressure: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2013; 61:1360–83.
Telles S, Raghavendra BR, Naveen KV, Manjunath NK, Kumar S, Subramanya P. Changes in autonomic variables following two meditative states described in yoga texts. J Altern Complement Med. 2013; 19:35–42.
Solberg EE, Ingjer F, Holen A, Sundgot-Borgen J, Nilsson S, Holme I. Stress reactivity to and recovery from a standardised exercise bout: A study of 31 runners practising relaxation techniques. Br J Sports Med. 2000; 34:268–72.
Lau WK, Leung MK, Chan CC, Wong SS, Lee TM. Can the neural-cortisol association be moderated by experience-induced changes in awareness? Sci Rep. 2015; 5:16620. doi: 10.1038/srep16620.
Infante JR, Torres-Avisbal M, Pinel P, Vallejo JA, Peran F, Gonzalez F, et al. Catecholamine levels in practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Physiol Behav. 2001; 72:141–6.
Jevning R, Wallace RK, Beidebach M. The physiology of meditation: A review. A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1992; 16:415–24.
Travis F. Transcendental experiences during meditation practice. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014; 1307:1–8.
Wilson AF, Jevning R, Guich S. Marked reduction of forearm carbon dioxide production during states of decreased metabolism. Physiol Behav. 1987; 41:347–52.
Harinath K, Malhotra AS, Pal K, Prasad R, Kumar R, Kain TC, et al. Effects of Hatha yoga and Omkar meditation on cardiorespiratory performance, psychologic profile, and melatonin secretion. J Altern Complement Med. 2004; 10:261–8.
Walton KG, Pugh ND, Gelderloos P, Macrae P. Stress reduction and preventing hypertension: Preliminary support for a psychoneuroendocrine mechanism. J Altern Complement Med. 1995; 1:263–83.
Travis F, Arenander A. Cross-sectional and longitudinal study of effects of Transcendental Meditation practice on interhemispheric frontal asymmetry and frontal coherence. Int J Neurosci. 2006; 116:1519–38.
Chan D, Woollacott M. Effects of level of meditation experience on attentional focus: Is the efficiency of executive or orientation networks improved? J Altern Complement Med. 2007; 13:651–7.
Fox KC, Nijeboer S, Dixon ML, Floman JL, Ellamil M, Rumak SP, et al. Is meditation associated with altered brain structure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphometric neuroimaging in meditation practitioners. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014; 43:48–73.
Carim-Todd L, Mitchell SH, Oken BS. Mind-body practices: An alternative, drug-free treatment for smoking cessation? A systematic review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013; 132:399–410.
Zamarra JW, Schneider RH, Besseghini I, Robinson DK, Salerno JW. Usefulness of the Transcendental Meditation program in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. Am J Cardiol. 1996; 77:867–70.
Schneider RH, Grim CE, Rainforth MV, Kotchen T, Nidich SI, Gaylord-King C, et al. Stress reduction in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Randomized, controlled trial of Transcendental Meditation and health education in blacks. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2012; 5:750–8.
Ornish D, Magbanua MJ, Weidner G, Weinberg V, Kemp C, Green C, et al. Changes in prostate gene expression in men undergoing an intensive nutrition and lifestyle intervention. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105:8369–74.
Black DS, Cole SW, Irwin MR, Breen E, St Cyr NM, Nazarian N, et al. Yogic meditation reverses NF-κB and IRF-related transcriptome dynamics in leukocytes of family dementia caregivers in a randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013; 38:348–55.
Zhang J, Rane G, Dai X, Shanmugam MK, Arfuso F, Samy RP, et al. Ageing and the telomere connection: An intimate relationship with inflammation. Ageing Res Rev. 2016; 25:55–69.
Ornish D, Lin J, Chan JM, Epel E, Kemp C, Weidner G, et al. Effect of comprehensive lifestyle changes on telomerase activity and telomere length in men with biopsy-proven low-risk prostate cancer: 5-year follow-up of a descriptive pilot study. Lancet Oncol. 2013; 14:1112–20.
Wallace RK, Dillbeck M, Jacobe E, Harrington B. The effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on the aging process. Int J Neurosci. 1982; 16:53–8.
Herron RE. Changes in physician costs among high-cost Transcendental Meditation practitioners compared with high-cost nonpractitioners over 5 years. Am J Health Promot. 2011; 26:56–60.
Cahn BR, Polich J. Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies. Psychol Bull. 2006;132(2):180-211.
Fell J, Axmacher N, Haupt S. From alpha to gamma: electrophysiological correlates of meditation-related states of consciousness: Med Hypotheses. 2010;75(2):218-24.
Lutz A, Greischar LL, Rawlings NB, Ricard M, Davidson RJ. Long term meditators self-induce high amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2004, 101 (46) 16369-16373.
Newberg AB, Alavi A, Baime MJ, Pourdehnad M, Santanna J, d'Aquili E. The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation: a preliminary SPECT study in ELSEVIER: psychiatry research. Neuroimaging section 2001; 106 (2001)113-122.
Mohandas E. Neurobiology of spirituality. Mens Sana Monogr. 2008;6(1):63-80.
Newberg AB, Iversen J. The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations. Med Hypotheses. 2003;61(2):282-91.
Wang DJ, Rao H, Korczykowski M, Wintering N, Pluta J, Khalsa DS, Newberg AB. Cerebral blood flow changes associated with different meditation practices and perceived depth of meditation. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jan 30;191(1):60-7.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Bombay Hospital Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.