| Over the last three decades, meditation has been | | | | types of meditation to migraine sufferers. As has |
| proven to help with everything from high blood | | | | been demonstrated in prior studies, all four groups |
| pressure to pain management to immune function | | | | experienced a decrease in their headache |
| and more. Meditation is now taught in hospitals, at | | | | frequency and severity. An interesting aspect of |
| company retreats, in churches, at school, and of | | | | this study is that it was designed to compare |
| course in yoga and martial arts studios | | | | spiritual vs. secular meditation, and the spiritual |
| everywhere. | | | | meditation was more effective - a finding I will |
| Just in case you haven't yet been convinced to | | | | probably cover in more detail in a future post. |
| give it a try, the following is a list of the latest | | | | You Are HIV Positive - A study conducted on |
| meditation research. All of the studies listed have | | | | HIV+ patients at UCLA suggests that meditation |
| been published within just the last year. You can | | | | helps buffer the decline of the lymphocytes most |
| find abstracts of these studies on PubMed, the | | | | associated with HIV progression. |
| National Institutes of Health database. In many of | | | | You'd Like to Feel a Greater Sense of Well-Being |
| these abstracts, meditation is referred to as | | | | - Separate studies at Santa Clara University and |
| MBSR - Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. | | | | the University of Massachusetts found that |
| Although this term covers a variety of meditation | | | | meditation cultivates mindfulness, which in turn |
| techniques, the most common are deep breathing | | | | produces a greater overall self-reported sense of |
| and the repetition of a soothing word or phrase. | | | | well-being. |
| So, without further ado, you should meditate, IF: | | | | You Suffer From Anxiety - A research review |
| You Need Help Managing Your Stress - Meditation | | | | conducted at the Psychology Research |
| has repeatedly been proven to elicit the 'relaxation | | | | Laboratory in Verbania, Italy looked at 10 years |
| response' - the physiological opposite of the | | | | worth of research on the effectiveness of |
| 'stress response'. In a recent research review | | | | meditation for dealing with chronic anxiety, and |
| conducted by John Hopkins Medical Center to | | | | found that it was statistically effective. |
| develop a guide for Nurse Practitioners, meditation | | | | You Have Trouble Sleeping - A study at Stanford |
| was found to be effective for reducing stress in | | | | University combined meditation with cognitive |
| virtually every patient population. Futhermore, | | | | approaches for the treatment of insomnia, and |
| another study by the University of New Mexico | | | | found the overall program effective. |
| suggestes that meditation is better than other | | | | You Are ADHD - A feasability study at UCLA on |
| cognitive-based approaches to stress | | | | adults and adolescents with ADHD found that |
| management on several counts. | | | | meditation increased their attention and cognitive |
| You Suffer From Chronic Lower Back Pain - | | | | abilities, and decreased feelings of anxiety and |
| Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh | | | | depression. |
| conducted a study on older adults suffering from | | | | You Suffer From Bipolar Disorder - A preliminary |
| chronic lower back pain and found that meditation | | | | study at the University of Oxford found that |
| helped reduce their pain, improve their sleep, and | | | | meditation helped reduce anxiety and depressive |
| increase their quality of life. | | | | symptoms in bipolar patients. |
| You'd Like Your Mind to Be More Controlled and | | | | You'd Like to Increase Your Compassion For |
| Efficient - If you suffer from excessive | | | | Others - A study at the University of Wisconsin |
| 'spontaneous mentation' (medical-speak for 'a | | | | found that individuals engaged in regular |
| busy mind'), meditation is for you. Researchers at | | | | 'compassion meditation' experienced long-term |
| Emory University found that practitioners of Zen | | | | changes in their neural functions making them |
| meditation were able to perform certain tasks | | | | more responsive to others emotions, and more |
| with less neural activity, and better able to | | | | empathetic overall. |
| regulate their mental response to stimuli. | | | | You Have High Blood Pressure - Many studies |
| You'd Like to Improve Your Immune Function - | | | | have linked meditation to reduced blood pressure. |
| Researchers at Loyola University taught | | | | One of the latest at the University of Kentucky |
| meditation to women diagnosed with early stage | | | | found that one type of meditation, |
| breast cancer - obviously a source of great | | | | Transcendental Meditation, helps reduce both |
| stress. They found that compared to a control | | | | systolic and diabolic pressure. Another study using |
| group, the meditator's immune functions stabilized | | | | other meditation and relaxation techniques |
| and rebounded much faster after surgery. | | | | produced similar results. |
| You Suffer From Headaches, Particularly Migraines | | | | You Have Diabetes - A study in Thailand suggests |
| - In a study conducted at the University of | | | | meditation helps manage both glycemic levels and |
| Massachusetts, researchers taught four different | | | | blood pressure in Type-2 Diabetes patients. |