Live in the Moment; Study Finds Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Stress

New research has found that meditating for just 25 minutes a day for three consecutive days can reduce psychological stress.

The study, conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, shows that practicing meditation is an effective way of reducing stress.

Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on  breathing and developing increased awareness of the present. Previous research has shown that people who follow mindfulness meditation have changes in brain regions associated with memory, thinking and learning.

"More and more people report using meditation practices for stress reduction, but we know very little about how much you need to do for stress reduction and health benefits," said lead author J. David Creswell, associate professor of psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, according to news release.

Sixty six people participated in the study. Participants were between ages 18 and 30 years and were divided into two groups. One set of people was trained in mindfulness meditation for about 25 minutes for three days. The other group was given a three-day cognitive training program, in which participants had to critically analyze poetry.

Later, all participants were asked to complete a speech and math test. Participants provided saliva samples after the tests. The samples were taken to measure levels of a stress hormone called cortisol.

Researchers found that people who underwent meditation program reported lower psychological stress level than the control group. However, meditation group had higher levels of cortisol.

"When you initially learn mindfulness mediation practices, you have to cognitively work at it - especially during a stressful task," said Creswell. "And, these active cognitive efforts may result in the task feeling less stressful, but they may also have physiological costs with higher cortisol production."

Researchers say that long-term meditation training might reduce the cortisol levels in saliva.

The study is published in the journal "Psychoneuroendocrinology."