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Scientific research in recent times has shown that the physiological, psychological and biochemical effects of yoga and meditation are of an anti-stress nature. Streeter et al suggested that yoga-based practices i) correct under activity of the parasympathetic nervous system and GABA systems in part through stimulation of the vagus nerves, the main peripheral pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system, and ii) reduce allostatic load. Other RCTs have suggested that these practices act on hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) axis to reduce cortisol levels, and reduce sympathetic tone while increasing vagal activity. This suggest great therapeutic potential as an add-on adjunct to conventional therapies in prevention, management and rehabilitation of psychosomatic conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, bronchial asthma, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, anxiety, cancer and de-addiction programmes and post-traumatic stress disorders. According to a recent mini-review by Innes & Selfe (Frontiers in Psychiatry2014): Meditation reduces perceived stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, enhances quality of life, decreases sleep disturbance, improves several domains of cognition, reduces sympathetic activation and enhances cardio-vagal tone, both acutely and long term in clinical as well as non-clinical populations. Meditation promotes beneficial changes in CNS dopaminergic and other neurochemical systems, increases blood flow, O2 delivery, and glucose utilization in specific regions of the brain associated with mood elevation, memory, and attentional processing, including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate gyrus. Long-term meditation practice is associated with cortical thickening & increased gray matter volume in brain regions involved in attentional performance, sensory processing & intero-ception apparently offsetting typical age-related cortical thinning and gray matter loss. Meditation programs can enhance immune response and clinical outcomes, reduce BP, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, oxidative stress, inflammation and other related risk indices. References: Innes KE and Selfe TK (2014) Meditation as a therapeutic intervention for adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease – potential benefits and underlying mechanisms. Front. Psychiatry 5:40. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00040 Streeter CC, Gerbarg PL, Saper RB, Ciraulo DA, Brown RP (2012) Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Med Hypotheses 78 (5) : 571-9.
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THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF MEDITATION
Yogacharya
Dr ANANDA BALAYOGI BHAVANANIDeputy Director- CYTER, MGMCRI
• Dhyana / meditation -union with our Supreme Nature.
• Fixing the mind on the Higher Self with devotion and discipline.
• Seventh step in Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali.
• Dharana -one pointed concentration helps us flow into meditation and Samadhi
~ Samyama.
Maharishi Patanjali says,
• “desha bandhah chittasya dharana” -concentration is the process of binding the consciousness to a point, place, region or object (a duality between SEER -SEEN).
• “ tatra pratyaya ekatanata dhyanam” -meditation is a STATE where there is a steady & continuous flow of attention and concentration on a point, place, region or object (cessation of duality between SEER and the SEEN).
Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines meditation as:
“An intentional and self-regulated focusing of attention, whose
purpose is to relax and calm the mind and body.”
Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders (2012). 2147 p.
According to a recent mini-review by Innes & Selfe(Frontiers in Psychiatry2014): Meditation
• reduces perceived stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms,
• enhances quality of life,
• decreases sleep disturbance,
• improves several domains of cognition,
• reduces sympathetic activation and
• enhances cardio-vagal tone,
both acutely and long term in clinical as well as non-clinical populations.
Meditation promotes :
• beneficial changes in CNS dopaminergic and other neurochemical (GABA) systems,
• increases blood flow, O2 delivery, and glucose utilization in specific regions of the brain associated with
• mood elevation, memory, and attentionalprocessing,
• including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate gyrus.
Long-term meditation practice is associated with
• cortical thickening & increased gray matter volume in brain regions involved in attentionalperformance, sensory processing & intero-ception apparently offsetting typical age-related cortical thinning and gray matter loss.
Meditation programs can enhance
• immune response and clinical outcomes,
• reduce BP, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, oxidative stress, inflammation and other related risk indices.
Potential Underlying Mechanisms
Innes KE and Selfe TK (2014) Meditation as a therapeutic intervention for adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease –potential benefits and underlying mechanisms. Front. Psychiatry 5:40. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00040
Potential uses
• All stress related conditions
• Anxiety disorders, panic attacks and depression
• Asthma and other respiratory conditions
• Cancer and terminal conditions
• Arthritis including fibromyalgia
• Atherosclerosis, hypertension and CAD
• Stroke, dementia and other neurological conditions
• Chronic pain and sleeping disorders
Advantages as therapeutic intervention:• Simple, economical, non-invasive, and can be
practiced even by very elderly, ill, or disabled.
• Requires no special equipment.
• Relatively easy to maintain at no cost.
• Brings immediate positive benefits- feelings ofrelaxation & tranquility, improvement inmood, sleep, and reduction in distressfulsymptoms- encourages continued practice.
• May also reduce health care costs in bothclinical and non-clinical populations.
