Meditation can be one of the most important components of any health plan. Its unique ability to elicit physical ease and mental stability provides a foundation for healing, and directly influences one’s ability to meet the challenges resulting from illness and chronic disease.

Found in cultures, spiritual traditions, and disciplines throughout the world, meditation is a mind-body practice with many methods and variations—all of which are grounded in the silence and stillness of present moment awareness. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, “Meditation is simplicity itself. It’s about stopping and being present. That is all.”¹ Father Thomas Keating adds that “Meditation is for everyone, not just for monks.”²

In meditation, one’s attention is directed toward a word, sound, image, prayer, or the breath, allowing the mind to settle into the present moment, thereby becoming still and receptive. An analogy can be made with a radio dial. The static represents the countless daily thoughts and sensations that preoccupy the mind. Meditation is the tool that fine-tunes the dial (the mind) so that one may become receptive and experience balance and harmony in the midst of the ever-changing conditions of the present moment.

Evidence of the benefit from meditation has been widely documented. Several studies demonstrate that meditation training reduces anxiety and increases positive affect,^3-6 while others show mindfulness meditation prevents recurrence of depression.^7,8 In a 1985 study conducted by Kabat-Zinn, patients with chronic

pain showed a statistically significant reduction in various measures of pain symptoms when trained in mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR).⁹ Meditation practices have also shown beneficial effects in the treatment of tension headaches,¹⁰ psoriasis,¹¹ blood pressure,^12-14 serum cholesterol,¹⁴ smoking cessation,¹⁵ carotid atherosclerosis,¹⁶ coronary artery disease,^17,18 longevity and cognitive function in the elderly,¹⁹ psychiatric disorders,^{3-8, 20} use of medical care,²¹ and medical costs in treating chronic pain.²² A 2004 meta-analysis found MBSR training useful for a broad range of chronic disorders such as depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, mixed cancer diagnoses, coronary artery disease, chronic pain, obesity, and eating disorders.²³

Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests a positive correlation between meditation practice and left-sided prefrontal cortex activity, which is associated with positive affective mental states. In this study, meditation was associated with increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine suggesting correlation among meditation, positive emotional states, localized brain activity, and improved immune function.²⁴ Corroborating research demonstrates a direct link between immune function and mood, with positive affective states resulting in stronger immune function and decreased incidence of illness.^25-27 Further, Tibetan Buddhist monks show greatly increased left-sided prefrontal cortex gamma wave activity compared to novice meditator controls both at rest and during meditation, suggesting that attention and affective processes are flexible skills that can be learned.²⁸ One can infer from these studies that meditation training influences the neuroplasticity of learned happiness and concentration in a dose dependent manner.

Meditation practice not only offers improvement and prevention of biological disease but primarily leads to deeper spiritual connection. While research aims to elucidate the tangible biological correlates of meditation and its significance to health, millions of people from all cultures and walks of life continue to explore the subtle inner dimensions of meditative experience everyday. To the persevering seeker and diligent practitioner of meditation these subjective and transcendent experiences are real, reproducible, healing, and useful for most situations and conditions.

Please see the accompanying patient handout for specific suggestions on how
to meditate.