Meditation

New research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology has found that long-term meditation practitioners have a faster cortisol recovery from stress. The findings suggest the practicing meditation can improve the psychophysiological response to stress by reducing self-conscious emotions. "Stress is responsible for a...

Meditation shows promise as a treatment for chronic insomnia, according to a new study that appears in the journal Mindfulness. "We have been studying the effects of mindfulness meditation on sleep and our previous research has found evidence that it...

A variety of meditation-based programs have been developed in recent years to reduce stress and medical symptoms and to promote wellness. One lingering question is to what extent these programs are similar or different. In a study published in the...

Mindful self-awareness is associated with decreased activation of brain regions associated with rumination, according to research published in the journal Biological Psychology. Using fMRI brain scans, the researchers compared 21 experienced mindfulness meditators with 19 people who were meditating for the...

Long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with increased gray matter in the brain, according to a study published this March in PLOS ONE. The findings revealed that long-term practice resulted in growth in brain regions associated with sustained...

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the University of California, San Francisco, and Harvard Medical School used a rigorous study design to assess the biological impact of meditation compared to vacation. They examined the effect of...

Self-centeredness is common problem in modern society. A person’s belief that they hold a special place in the minds of others is an unfortunate consequence of our first-person perspective. We are literally at the center of our own individual worlds,...

Mindfulness meditation reduces stress by increasing brain connectivity between top-down executive control regions, according to a recent study published this July in Biological Psychiatry. Mindfulness meditation is a form of meditation designed to develop the skill of paying attention to...

Inner peace and a flexible body may not be the most valuable benefits that yoga and meditation have to offer, suggests new research by a UCLA-led team of neuroscientists. The team found that a three-month course of yoga and meditation...

Racially prejudiced behavior can be significantly reduced by a brief mindful meditation practice, according to a February 2016 study published by the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice.  Extensive research has shown that even people who value equality...

New psychology research suggests that meditation training can improve a person's ability to detect errors while reading by preventing the reader from becoming distracted by off-topic thoughts. Meditation techniques developed within the tradition of Buddhism require practitioners to focus their attention solely...

Researchers Alexander Stell and Tom Farsides were interested in how the practice of Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) may reduce racial prejudice; results of their study are published in the journal Motivation and Emotion. Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) is a Buddhist concept...

Wisdom is often linked with age, but not all elders are wise. So, what makes a person wise? A new study, "The Relationship between Mental and Somatic Practices and Wisdom," published Feb. 18, 2016, in PLOS ONE, confirms the age-old...

Meditation and aerobic exercise done together helps reduce depression, according to a new Rutgers study. The study, published in Translational Psychiatry this month, found that this mind and body combination - done twice a week for only two months -...

Mindfulness meditation is associated with all sorts of benefits to mental and physical well-being, but a new study suggests that it may also come with a particular downside for memory. The findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the...