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See Also:

Alternative therapy;

Attention;

Consciousness;

Mindfulness;

Relaxation;

Wellness.

Psychology & Behavioral Health

Meditation

by Susan E. Beers

Type of Psychology: Biological bases of human behavior; Health

Meditation, a practice of focusing and calming the mind, has been found to be beneficial in reducing stress and anxiety. Research has begun to determine the neurological correlates of meditation practice. A number of psychological therapies make use of meditation, and it is being applied in educational settings.

Key Concepts:

  • Mindfulness

  • Transcendental Meditation

  • Meditative health benefits

  • Spirituality and meditation.

Introduction

The term “meditation” sometimes is used synonymously with thinking or reflection, as in Descartes' philosophical meditations, but often meditation is used to describe mental exercises performed as spiritual practices. These generally involve focusing attention on the breath, particular phrases, or images. Spiritually based meditation includes (but is not limited to) Centering prayer in Christianity, Meditative Kabbalah in Judaism, and Sufi Meditation in Islam. Buddhist meditation techniques developed as spiritual practices, but in the West they have come to have applications separate from spirituality. These include the alleviation of stress, fostering of physical and mental health, and self-awareness and personal development.

Some of the earliest scientific research on health benefits of meditation was conducted in the 1960s on Transcendental Meditation (TM). This form of meditation, associated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, uses a mantra (word or sound) as the focus of meditation. Some of the research on TM was conducted at Harvard University by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson. In 1975, Dr. Benson and Miriam Klipper published the book, The Relaxation Response, describing a secular version of meditation designed to reduce stress.

Research continued, and in 1979 psychologist Jon Kabbat-Zinn founded the Stress Reduction Clinic, and later the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. There he worked with patients using Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a combination of a variety of meditation techniques, to reduce stress and pain. His work was described in the 1990 book Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness. In recent years research into the effects of meditation has grown dramatically and applications of meditation to therapy and education have become common.

Practicing Meditation

Meditation involves the practice of focusing and calming the mind. The most common technique that may be used to this end is awareness of breath. The meditator assumes an attentive but relaxed posture, and then focuses on the sensation of the breath, either at the nostrils or in the abdomen. As thoughts arise, and this may happen soon and often, one gently brings one's attention back to the breath. Psychologist Jack Kornfield in his book, A Path with Heart, describes the process as analogous to training a puppy. One may tell the puppy to “stay,” but at first he cannot stay long without wandering. One keeps gently placing the puppy where one wants, and over a period of gentle urging, the puppy masters this ability.

Although the breath is the most common focus of concentration in meditation practices, some practices use a mantra, a word or phrase that is internally repeated or vocally chanted. A visualization or an external visual object like a candle or flower may also be used to focus attention. Also used are “body scans,” walking meditations and yoga that emphasize focused attention to sensations within the body. Whichever object is used, the process of returning the mind to the object of concentration when it wanders remains the same.

The concentrative forms of meditation as described above generally are used to introduce one to meditative practices. Other forms may be taught concurrently, or subsequently, to concentration. Mindfulness, or Insight Meditation, generally begins with a focus on the breath, but it also has a strong emphasis on non-judgment and acceptance. Mindfulness Meditation forms the foundation for the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction practices and a family of other mindfulness practices used in a variety of settings, including hospitals, psychological therapy settings, and schools.

Lovingkindness (Metta) meditation is a practice in which one mentally recites phrases of good will, e.g., “be happy”, “be healthy” for oneself, and then for others in a widening circle of humanity. Its intention is to increase compassion, both for oneself and for others. One may find variations of compassion or loving kindness meditation in a variety of secular, as well as religious, settings.

Meditation can be challenging for the novice meditator. There are many books and audio recordings available to help one begin on one's own, but learning meditation can be greatly facilitated by finding a class or teacher to support and instruct one's practice. Fortunately, classes in meditation are widely available in places of worship, gyms, continuing study programs and independent study groups.

Scientific Research on Meditation

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Photo: iStock

Meditation has its origins in spirituality, but is now of particular interest to those wishing to improve psychological and physical health. Decades of research have left little doubt that meditation can be of benefit in the alleviation of stress and anxiety. Other firm conclusions concerning the possible benefits of meditation are difficult to draw, as various forms of meditation are examined in different studies, with a variety of practitioners and a variety of outcome variables.

A number of researchers have examined the physiological effects of meditation. Foremost among these is Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin. Davidson has emphasized the ability of the mind to change itself as the result of experience. For example, he has found that meditators with more than 10,000 hours of practice experience sustained attention, but show less activation in attention related areas in the brain than novice meditators. They seem to be able to sustain attention with less effort than novices. They also seem to be both more mindful and less reactive to sensory stimuli, as indicated by imaging of the amygdala and insular cortex, two areas of the brain associated with arousal. In other research, after an eight-week training program in mindfulness, participants experienced an enhanced positive response to an influenza vaccine, in comparison with participants who did not have meditation training.

Research involving the Shamatha project, a longitudinal study involving experienced meditators centered at the University of California, Davis, has found evidence for lowered cortisol, a stress hormone, in meditators as opposed to control participants. Research with participants in this project, has found increased telomerase activity, which is a measure of cell viability.

Much research has suggested that there are psychological benefits of meditation, but the specific nature and potency of these benefits has not been clear. Neither has the “active ingredient” that accounts for these benefits, as the experience of meditation is confounded with specific methods, teachers, and participant characteristics. Meta-analyses, which statistically combine the results of many individual studies are helpful in overcoming some of the difficulties of assessing individual studies, but they too are dependent upon the particular subset of studies included in the meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of the results of studies using kindness based meditation (including loving kindness meditation and compassion meditation) found that meditators reported less depression and more compassion, self-compassion, and positive emotions than control groups of participants. Other meta-analyses examining a variety of meditative techniques in non-clinical populations found widespread positive effects on emotional variables such as lowered anxiety, increased positive emotions, and decreased neuroticism.

In summary, there is evidence that meditation can produce positive outcomes in terms of stress reduction. Relatively short-term meditators can experience relaxation and increased compassion from meditation, and long-term meditators may experience stronger health benefits mediated by brain changes that occur with practice.

Psychotherapeutic Uses of Meditation

A number of popular meditation teachers are also mental health professionals, and meditation has become a tool therapists use to relieve their own stress and enhance their compassion and understanding of clients. A number of therapeutic techniques that use meditation taught to clients have also been developed. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was one of the earliest forms of therapy that made meditation a major component of the therapeutic process.

Other therapies include Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), developed by Jon Teasdale, Zindal Segal and Mark Williams, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), developed by Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson and Kirk Strohasl, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), developed by Marcia Linehan. Each of these combines mindfulness practice with techniques from cognitive and behavioral therapy. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is based on the MBSR techniques, but is designed specifically to help people who experience repeated episodes of depression to recognize the emotional and cognitive components that lead to depression and develop a sense of distance from those self-defeating emotions and thoughts as they stay in the present moment. Research confirms that patients with three or more instances of depression relapse can benefit from Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a combination of behavioral and cognitive therapies with mindfulness principles. The goal is to help the client examine his or her language for describing experience, while staying actively present in the current moment. The increase in flexibility that can result from this practice has helped treat a variety of psychological difficulties, including depression, anxiety and addiction.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially developed to help clients with actively self-harming behaviors. The therapy is based on mindfulness, in which the client is affirmed and accepted while also learning that specific behaviors are harmful and cannot be allowed. Mindfulness practice, development of coping skills, and group and individual therapy sessions form the body of DBT.

Mindfulness based meditation has been integrated into a variety of mental health treatments. In some it serves as the primary treatment, and in others it serves as an adjunct to behavioral and cognitive therapeutic methods.

Meditation in the Schools

Mindfulness meditation has been applied to education at all levels. A number of studies have demonstrated that it increases empathy and reduces stress in nursing and medical students, and general graduate and undergraduate populations.

Mindfulness interventions have also been instituted for teachers and students in the primary and secondary schools. Individual studies have found that such interventions may be particularly helpful for anxiety, and may reduce stress and aggressive responses in children. Mark Greenberg, the Founding Director of The Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at the University of Pennsylvania, has conducted and reviewed much of this literature. Although he finds the results encouraging, much more research needs to be done.

Bibliography

1 

The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue With The Dalai Lama On The Healing Power of Meditation. (2012). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. A presentation of the thirteenth Mind And Life Institute's Conference with the Dalai Lama, with a variety of scientific presentations on research on meditation.

2 

Davidson, R., & Begley, S. (2012). The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect The Way You Think, Feel, and Live--and How You Can Change Them. New York: Hudson Street Press. Neuroscientist Richard Davidson describes six emotional styles, and how mental practices can help change them.

3 

Rechtschaffen, D. (2014). The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being In Teachers and Students. New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Co. How school teachers may use mindfulness practice for themselves and to help their students.

4 

Salzberg, S. (2011). Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-day Program. New York: Workman Pub. Salzberg provides a thorough introduction to meditative techniques, including the practice of lovingkindness.

5 

Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using The Wisdom of Your Body and Mind To Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press. Describes the basis of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Beers, Susan E. "Meditation." Psychology & Behavioral Health, edited by Paul Moglia, Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=PBH_0389.
APA 7th
Beers, S. E. (2015). Meditation. In P. Moglia (Ed.), Psychology & Behavioral Health. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Beers, Susan E. "Meditation." Edited by Paul Moglia. Psychology & Behavioral Health. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2015. Accessed September 17, 2025. online.salempress.com.