Mindfulness Meditation may Lower Anxiety, Depression: Study

Living in the present can alleviate many problems. A latest review of researches conducted on mindfulness-meditation has found that the art of focusing on the present can indeed lead to small yet significant reduction in anxiety, pain and depression levels in some people.

Mindful meditation is derived from Buddhist teachings. In this form of meditation, the person is taught to concentrate on breathing and focus attention on the present. Previously, a study had found that those who practise this technique have changes in brain structures associated with learning, memory and emotions.

Transcendental meditation or TM is based on Hindu traditions and is based on chanting mantras to shift focus from distracting thoughts.

The research was conducted by Madhav Goyal, M.D. at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues. For the review, researchers looked at data from 47 randomized clinical trials that involved 3,515 participants. The team found that participants who practised mindfulness-meditation for 2 to 6 months had a small reduction in depression and anxiety levels.

The meditation technique, however, was not more effective than cognitive therapy or exercise, Livescience reported. At least nine studies had tried to find whether or not meditation did any harm to the body. None of them found any health risk associated with the technique.

 "Clinicians should be prepared to talk with their patients about the role that a meditation program could have in addressing psychological stress. Stronger study designs are needed to determine the effects of meditation programs in improving the positive dimensions of mental health and stress-related behavior," the study concluded.

The study is published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Previous research has shown that mindfulness-based meditation can help old people cope with chronic lower back pain.  Other Researchers have also found meditation helpful in cancer therapy. It can also improve cancer-related cognitive dysfunction.

"A lot of people have this idea that meditation means sitting down and doing nothing," Goyal said in statement, according to Medical Daily. "But that's not true. Meditation is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways.

Meditation programs are quite popular in the U.S., with an estimated 20 million people practicing the technique.