Vitality: Meditation

Showing posts with label Meditation. Show all posts

Friday, June 23, 2017

Yoga and meditation reduce the risk of cancer by changing our DNA

Yoga and meditation reduce our risk of cancer by changing our DNA, new research reveals.

People who practice so-called mind-body interventions (MBI), such as yoga, meditation and Tai Chi, produce significantly lower amounts of molecules that activate inflammation-causing genes, a study review found.

Inflammation has been linked to cancer, accelerated aging and poor mental health.

Lead investigator Ivana Buric from the University of Coventry, said: 'Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of MBIs like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realise is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business.

'Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing.'

Researchers from the universities of Coventry and Radboud analysed 18 studies with 846 participants conducted over 11 years.

Studies were included in the analysis if they measured gene expression after a MBI.

Results revealed people who practice MBIs produce significantly lower amounts of molecules that activate inflammation-causing genes.

These molecules are released after a stressful event due to the 'fight or flight' response.

Inflammation has been linked to cancer, accelerated ageing and poor mental health.

Ms Buric said: 'Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realise is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business.

'These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed.

'Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing.'

The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

The researchers believe the inflammation-causing fight-or-flight response, which is involved in wound healing, would have played an important role when we were hunter-gatherers due to there being a higher risk of infection from wounds.

Today, however, when stress is often long term and more internal than injury-related, inflammation-causing gene expression can be persistent and cause medical problems.

Ms Buric said: 'More needs to be done to understand these effects in greater depth, for example how they compare with other healthy interventions like exercise or nutrition.

'But this is an important foundation to build on to help future researchers explore the benefits of increasingly popular mind-body activities.'

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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Just 10 minutes of meditation does wonders for your brain

Sitting down to clear your mind for just 10 minutes is enough to overcome stress and anxiety, a study claims.

New research revealed that a short stint of meditation will help block out the internal thoughts of restless people and allow them to concentrate.

The report from the University of Waterloo in Canada is the latest to demonstrate the benefits of meditation. Past studies have found self-reflection and deep thinking can even slow aging and help to fight off disease.

According to Mengran Xu, a researcher and PhD candidate at the university, taking a few minutes a day to meditate will allow for more concentration.

He said: 'Mind wandering accounts for nearly half of any person's daily stream of consciousness. For people with anxiety, repetitive off-task thoughts can negatively affect their ability to learn, to complete tasks, or even function safely.'

The study asked 82 people who describe themselves as anxious to perform a task on a computer with random interruptions throughout the assignment.

Those who had a short meditation beforehand outperformed the other half who didn't.

Xu added: 'We also found that meditation practice appears to help anxious people to shift their attention from their own internal worries to the present-moment external world, which enables better focus on a task at hand.'

Meditation has been linked with beneficiary health results in the past, including fighting off diseases, and reducing stress and depression.

The popular exercise instructs people to focus on their present emotions and current sensations.

Women experienced significant improvements in their emotional state, compared to men who had much lower results.

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Saturday, October 8, 2016

You can control your DNA with mindfulness meditation

A study published in Cancer suggests that our minds have a great influence on our bodies — more specifically on our DNA. Lead investigator Dr. Linda E. Carlson and her colleagues found that support group involvement and mindfulness meditation are associated with preserved telomere length in breast cancer patients.

Telomeres are the protective structures at the end of chromosomes. While their disease-controlling properties are not fully understood, we know that shortened telomeres are associated with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high stress levels, and cell-aging, whereas longer telomeres are thought to prevent disease. In other words, we want our telomeres to maintain their length and strength. Deterioration is not ideal.

Apparently, meditation and support groups work against that deterioration.

"We already know that psychosocial interventions like mindfulness meditation will help you feel better mentally, but now for the first time we have evidence that they can also influence key aspects of your biology," said Carlson, in a press release.

For the study, 88 emotionally-distressed breast cancer survivors were divided into three groups. The first group was randomly assigned to an 8-week, Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery group; the second to a 12-week Supportive Expressive Therapy group in which they were encouraged to share their feelings; and the third was a control group in which they only received a 6-hour stress management course. The researchers analyzed the women's blood for telomere length before and after the sessions had been completed.

They found that telomere length was maintained in both treatment groups but shortened in the control group. However, they don't know how lasting the effects are. Carlson said that there is a need for further research is to see if the psychosocial interventions have a positive impact beyond the three-month study period.

"The meaning of the maintenance of telomere length in this study is unknown. However, I think that processing difficult emotions is important for both emotional and physical health, and this can be done both through group support with emotional expression, and through mindfulness meditation practice," Carlson told Scientific American.

One of the study's participants, Allison McPherson, who underwent a full year of chemotherapy and numerous surgeries, agrees with Carlson. She was placed in the mindfulness group. "I was skeptical at first and thought it was a bunch of hocus-pocus," she said, "But I now practice mindfulness throughout the day, and it's reminded me to become less reactive and kinder toward myself and others."

The therapeutic possibilities of the mind-body connection are now common knowledge. People use meditation to treat pain, sleep problems, and headaches, among countless other conditions. This study is groundbreaking because it brings our DNA into the picture. It supports the idea that while we can't control the genes we inherit, we can protect them — and possibly extend our lives — by altering our lifestyles.

[mindbodygreen]

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