Meditation, an ancient Asian practice of focused concentration dating back to 5000 BCE has now become a mainstream wellness practice recognized for its scientifically-proven health benefits (Jamil et al., 2023)(Seaward, 2024).  The practice is contemplative in nature, involves focusing attention, and utilizes breathwork and awareness to achieve a state of calm and mental clarity. There are hundreds of different meditation practices spanning a variety of techniques across traditions that can be narrowed down to broad types such as: guided meditation, mantra meditation, transcendental meditation (TM), mindfulness, focused meditation and chakra meditation. Pictured left, The Oxford Handbook of Meditation organizes the techniques chronologically in a tree with the lefthand side of the tree representing the Western traditions and the right side the Eastern traditions (The Oxford Handbook of Meditation, 2021).  In recent years, meditation has demonstrated its positive effects on both mental and physical health (Rose et al., 2019). A 2023 systematic review of medical applications of meditation revealed that various meditation interventions showed positive health outcomes (Kim et al., 2022). Specifically:

1. Yoga interventions were effective for improving depressive mood

2. Mindfulness-based meditation was beneficial for sleep issues

3. Transcendental Meditation (TM) demonstrated benefits in randomized controlled trials targeting sleep and fatigue

In addition to mental health benefits, meditation has also been shown to have physiological effects. A 2023 study found that regular mindfulness meditation practice was associated with:

1. Reduced blood pressure

2. Improved anti-inflammatory response

3. Healthy aging through appropriate telomerase regulation (Jamil et al., 2023)

These findings highlight the diverse range of health benefits associated with different forms of meditation, spanning both mental and physical well-being. 

References:

Kim, D.-Y., Hong, S.-H., Jang, S.-H., Park, S.-H., Noh, J.-H., Seok, J.-M., Jo, H.-J., Son, C.-G., & Lee, E.-J. (2022). Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1244. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031244

Jamil, A., Gutlapalli, S. D., Ali, M., Oble, M. J. P., Sonia, S. N., George, S., Shahi, S. R., Ali, Z., Abaza, A., & Mohammed, L. (2023). Meditation and Its Mental and Physical Health Benefits in 2023. Cureus, 15(6). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40650

Rose, S., Zell, E., & Strickhouser, J. E. (2019). The Effect of Meditation on Health: a Metasynthesis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Mindfulness, 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01277-6

Seaward, B. L. (2024). Managing stress : principles and strategies for health and well-being (10th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

‌The Oxford Handbook of Meditation. (2021). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books? hl=en&lr=&id=X2tEEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA41&dq=history+of+meditatio n&ots=1sUq4DvmOR&sig=mv63Q7eLP Csa8 _DrDCLFrDg1X6I#v=onepage&q&f=true