THE SCIENCE OF MEDITATION

"How can meditation be this beneficial?  The answer lies in our physiology.  Meditation is something the body knows how to do and does willingly, if you set up the right conditions to allow it.  The body knows how to enter a profound healing state.  All you have to do is pay attention."
Dr Lorin Roche, Author 
Exploring, researching and teaching meditation since 1968

“Probably the single most reported physiological benefit of meditation – indeed, of systematic relaxation techniques generally – is the drop in blood pressure. Even the National Institutes of Health have recommended meditation. 
Dr Daniel Goleman 
The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditation Experience.

University of Wisconsin Study Reports Sustained Changes In Brain and Immune Function After Meditation. Employees who meditated regularly at the bio-technical company Promega were found to show an increase in the left-side of the frontal region of the brain which is associated with lower anxiety, a more positive emotional state and optimistic behaviour. The research team also tested the immune system of the meditation group who had developed an increase in their antibodies.
Dr Jon Kabat –Zinn
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program
University of Massachusetts February 2003

“We all meditate on something or other. Most of the time, unfortunately, we meditate on anger, stress, worry, depression and the like. The effect of this indiscriminate, unconscious, habitual and harmful form of ‘meditation’ is a testament to the power of attention.”
Dr Craig Hassed
‘Meditation as a Tool for Happiness’
Monash University, Department of General Practice

"We are at a time when companies lose $200 billion in absenteeism, low performance, tardiness, and workers' compensation claims related to stress ... if business were clever, what they would do is simply put time aside and have a quiet room for people to carry out a meditative behaviour of their choice."
Dr Herbert Benson
Mind Body Medical Institute - Harvard Medical School. Business Week - August 2004

“ … for people that have difficulty with the process of keeping their mind on what you want it to be on in a sustained fashion, meditation enhances that function considerably. Attention deficit disorder and even ageing, can slow down through the mind training of meditation …”
Dr Amishi P. Jha
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
University of Pennsylvania
ABC Radio National

People who meditate grow bigger brains than those who don’t. Researchers at Harvard, Yale and, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted brain scans and revealed that meditators boasted increased thickness in parts of the brain that deal with attention and processing sensory input. Many said, “it reduced their stress, increased clarity of thought and their tolerance for staying focused in difficult situations.”
Harvard University
Psychology Today - February 2008

 "Meditation can modify the effects of strenuous exercise on the immune system. Athletes who meditated found that their T-Cells, a type of white blood cell increased immunity."
British Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol 29 - 2007

“Meditation can help people pay more attention to their present emotions, thoughts and sensations without reacting strongly … the meditation subjects experienced greater activation in the right ventrolateral pre-frontal cortex and greater calming effect in the amygdala, suggesting, for the first time, an underlying reason why meditation programs improve mood and health.”
Psychologist Dr David Creswell
University of California, Los Angeles – June 2007

"Meditators out paced non-meditators on the attention test, and they became significantly better at handling stress. Salvia samples revealed lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol ... the mind training practice helps the brain to regulate awareness and attention.
Neuroscientist Dr Michael Posner - University of Oregon June 2008

 "Meditation may help squash anxiety. The practice brings about dramatic affects in as little as a 10 -minute session."
The Science of Meditation
Psychology Today – June 2001

 “Over 10 million Americans now say they practice some kind of meditation regularly. Not only do studies show that meditation is boosting their immune system, but brain scans suggest that it may be rewiring their brains to reduce stress …”
The Science of Meditation - TIME Magazine 2003 (cover story)

Chronic patients reduce their physician visits by 36%
The Clinical Journal of Pain, Vol 2, pages 305-310, 1991

80% of hypertensive patients have lowered blood pressure and decreased medication. 16% are able to discontinue all medication. These results lasted at least 3 years.
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Vol 9, pages 316-324, 1989

Infertile women have a 42% conception rate, a 38% take home baby rate and, decreased levels of depression, anxiety and anger.
Journal of American Medical Women’s Association, Vol 54, pages 196-8, 1998

100% of insomnia patients reported improve sleep and 91% either eliminated or reduced sleeping medication use.
The American Journal of Medicine, Vol 100, pages 212-216, 1996

Women with severe PMS have a 57% reduction in physical and psychological symptoms.
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol 75, pages 649-655, April 1990