Effect of buddhist meditation on serum cortisol and total protein levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, lung volume and reaction time

Serum cortisol and total protein levels, blood pressure, heart rate, lung volume, and reaction time were studied in 52 males 20-25 years of age practicing Dhammakaya Buddhist meditation, and in 30 males of the same age group not practicing meditation. It was found that after meditation, serum cortisol levels were significantly reduced, serum total protein level significantly increased, and systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and pulse rate significantly reduced. Vital capacity, tidal volume and maximal voluntary ventilation were significantly lower after meditation than before. There were also significant decreases in reaction time after mediation practice. The percentage decrease in reaction time during meditation was 22%, while in subjects untrained in meditation, the percentage decrease was only 7%. Results from these studies indicate that practising Dhammakaya Buddhist meditation produces biochemical and physiological changes and reduces the reaction time.

[1]  D. Hebb.  Drives and the C.N.S. (conceptual nervous system). , 1955, Psychological review.

[2]  B. Anand,et al.  Some aspects of electroencephalographic studies in Yogis , 1961 .

[3]  H. Kreisman,et al.  Effect of transcendental meditation on breathing and respiratory control. , 1984, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[4]  R. K. Wallace,et al.  Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation , 1970, Science.

[5]  C. P. Dalvi,et al.  "Shavasan": a Yogic Exercise in the Management of Hypertension , 1969, Angiology.

[6]  Herbert Benson,et al.  The physiology of meditation. , 1972 .

[7]  R. Gramiak,et al.  Echocardiographic Assessment of the Effects of Surgery and Propranolol on the Dynamics of Outflow Obstruction in Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis , 2005 .

[8]  K. R. Pelletier,et al.  Consciousness : East and West , 1976 .

[9]  C. Feldman,et al.  DECREASED PREMATURE VENTRICULAR CONTRACTIONS THROUGH USE OF THE RELAXATION RESPONSE IN PATIENTS WITH STABLE ISCHÆMIC HEART-DISEASE , 1975, The Lancet.

[10]  R. Chalmers,et al.  Long‐term endocrinologic changes in subjects practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM‐Sidhi program. , 1986, Psychosomatic medicine.

[11]  R. Hafner.  Psychological treatment of essential hypertension: A controlled comparison of meditation and meditation plus biofeedback , 1982, Biofeedback and Self-Regulation.

[12]  P. Mills,et al.  Systolic Blood Pressure and Long‐Term Practice of the Transcendental Meditation® and TM‐Sidhi Program: Effects of TM on Systolic Blood Pressure , 1983, Psychosomatic medicine.

[13]  J. D. Rice.  Automatic simultaneous determination of total serum protein and serum albumin. , 1966, American journal of clinical pathology.

[14]  John T. Farrow,et al.  Breath Suspension During the Transcendental Meditation Technique , 1982, Psychosomatic medicine.

[15]  Y. Sugi,et al.  STUDIES ON RESPIRATION AND ENERGY-METABOLISM DURING SITTIING IN ZAZEN , 1968 .

[16]  V. Sitprija,et al.  Low protein diet and chronic renal failure in Buddhist monks. , 1983, British medical journal.

[17]  R F Goldman,et al.  Three case reports of the metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques. , 1990, Behavioral medicine.