How Much Does Meditation Actually Change Stress?
For years and years, we have heard the benefits of meditation from people, doctors and scientists, but there has never been a study to measure the visible changes of stress in relation to meditation until now.
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Scientists from the University of North Texas have collaborated to find out how much meditation helps manage stress. They found that meditation, more specifically yoga, is very effective at reducing stress, as well as how long-term meditation over time can lead to permanent physiological changes. Their article states that “meditation constitutes a coupling of the functionalities of the heart and brain. We are only now beginning to understand how to take advantage of the coupling of the two to measure stress reduction.”
The U.S. Army hopes to use this information to help soldiers who struggle with PTSD. Bruce West, Ph.D., senior researcher for the Army, says the potential for this to succeed has been dramatically increased with the new ability to quantify the degree of effectiveness in stress reduction using different meditation techniques.
To find these results, the team developed a new data processing technique that uses heart rate variability as a sensor to monitor the state of the brain. This technique allowed researchers to examine the sympathetic nervous system during meditation to see the changes in the brain.
The research team compared two types of meditation: yoga, and chi. They found that yoga makes more of a difference in reducing stress than chi.
The article states that stress modulates the autonomic nervous system signals, which in turn disrupts normal HRV, and therefore the stress level can be detected by processing the heart rate variability time series.
“Heart rate variability provides a window through which we can observe the heart’s ability to respond to external disturbances, such as stress,” says West.
If you’re on the fence about meditation, what more proof do you need? Taking just five or ten minutes out of your day to do some quick yoga stretches or breathing at your desk could have an impact on not just your day, but your life.
Savannah Patton
Savannah Patton is the ICF Communications Assistant and a freelance writer for Kentucky Sports Radio. She graduated in May 2016 from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in Integrated Strategic Communications with a focus in Public Relations.
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Great informative article, Thank you for sharing useful content.