The Effect Of Meditation On Reducing Stress And Improving Heart Health

Sule Celik White Ph. D


          Stress has always been  part of  human life since the beginning of  humanity and people have been looking for the solution to deal with it since then. Nowadays stress is being experienced more than before for two reasons. First, human beings are not fighting with the enemy physically, which can eliminate the fearful object.  Secondly, human beings are being exposed to stress more consistently than before, and they are not able to stop or control  it. The Media is announcing stress-creating news globally. We are informed instantly if there is epidemic disease, war, economic crisis, global warming, or if we are consuming  genetically modified organisms. Additionally, we have our own personal stressful incidents in our lives, such as, work stress, conflicts in relationships or  traffic we need to go through everyday. Research show that stress is related with cardiovascular diseases.  According to the journal of Health and Stress “an article in the May 2010 issue of the American Heart Journal that reviewed the medical records of 97,000 U.S. veterans reported  that when the researchers accounted for a number of other factors related to heart attack risk, people with anxiety disorders were anywhere from 25 percent to 43 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those with no anxiety disorders." (“Stress, Cholesterol, Fats and Heart Disease” par. 24).
When stress is the big part of daily life, to dealing with the stress is becoming a very important issue. Basic mindfulness meditation (relaxing the mind with focusing on breathing or on a mantra or on an object) is very helpful to reduce stress and accordingly heart diseases.

          Coppola and Spector indicated that  a simple meditation practiced by subjects 15 minutes twice a day showed that meditation reduces stress by providing the physiological state of deep rest. In their study, a group of 31 practitioners meditated for four weeks on a regular basis and  they showed significant reduction of their anxiety level measured by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Coppola & Spector, abstract).
Meditation is an ancient technique. It is simply concentration of the mind which involves being aware of thoughts and emotions without judging them. Although meditation has many types, in this paper the basic mindfulness meditation is usually going to be addressed.  In basic mindfulness meditation the aim is to be aware of the present moment and to rest the mind by focusing on  breathing or an object. Mipham says, “The untrained mind is like a wild horse. It runs away when we try to find it, shies when we try to approach it. There is potential for communication and rapport between horse and rider, between mind and self, but the horse needs to be trained to be a willing participant in that relationship” (Mipham 19). To have communication between mind and self, the meditator focuses on his breathing, or an object, or a mantra. This provides the meditator awareness of the present moment.  When people are aware of the present moment and stay in the very moment, they are no longer in the past or the future. People usually are either interested in the past or thinking about the future. Remembering about the negative experiences of the past or being concerned about the future usually cause stress. Mindfulness meditation helps people come to the now. In other words, meditation helps people stay away from the past failures and  not worry about the unknown future. When the mind focuses on something other than thoughts, the body and mind relax.
Another technique of meditation includes the body scan. In this technique once concentration and mental stability has been achieved, the meditator progressively scans different regions of the body. While focusing on each region, the meditator becomes aware of any pain, pressure, toughness or other sensation in that area. (LaMeaux par.1).
In meditation, the goal is not to change anything, but to observe any sensation in the body and allow it to change naturally. Typically, there is a natural progressive relaxation that occurs through this technique. The meditator does not try to stop, control or change the thoughts or emotions that arise. He simply watches their content and lightly notes what is happening. The practice is much like gently touching and releasing the thoughts, allowing them to continue moving and not holding them to stay in the mind. The same practice is done with any emotions experienced during meditation. Through regular practice,  the meditator learns to rest in the natural peaceful state of mind.
Meditation is not relaxation. It requires an alert, focused awareness. To do this, the meditator sits in a certain position. Although each of the meditation practices include different sitting positions, in sitting the body is straight, arms and hands are loose resting on the thighs, and the body is strong but not uncomfortable. Having a good sitting posture provides the meditator a comfortable foundation.
        According to mental health experts, there are four different types of stress. Acute stress and episodic acute stress are considered most common. Chronic and traumatic stress are the most serious of all, and often require professional help. Stress can cause physiological health problems such as, heart attack, anxiety, depression, migraines, gastrointestinal distress, stroke, and chronic aches and pain. (William, 24).
Stress sources are also different from each other. The first stress source is perceived stress. A person may feel like he is in physical, social or financial need.  If the person cannot reach to his needs  or  the needs are denied by the other people,  this prevention may cause stress. The person may experience stress, but the cause may not be real. Rational or not, this stress creates the fear of survival.
When survival needs are in real danger, the stress level increases and creates second type of stress source.  This kind of  fear creates fight, flight and freeze responses. Fear manipulates the instinctive response in all of us.
“These two sources of stress-treats and fear-trigger the amygdala alarm set off the mindless compulsive activities that are so often destructive.” (William, 24).  In this case basic mindfulness meditation can help a person understand what is happening in the very moment. Focusing the mind on an object helps her to relax mind and body.
Another stress source is cognitive dissonance. In this situation, a person  thinks  in a way but behaves in another way. For example, a person wants to save money, but she continues spending excessively.
Uncertainty is another source of stress. Not to be able to know and control the future causes a lot of stress.
When stress becomes constant, it can cause physiological and psychological problems.
Recently a lot of research confirm that mental health is related to physical health. Oz et al. suggested that “psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, hostility, and stress may affect the development and progression of coronary heart disease” (Oz 513-523).  Also, according to Bambling, “general life stress may cause physical diseases such as coronary heart disease”. (Bambling, abstract).
Although there are many techniques that can be used to reduce stress and accordingly improve heart health, meditation is starting to be used more frequently. Meditation is one of the oldest techniques has been used to reduce stress. Recently, scientists are examining and trying to understand why and how meditation is working to reduce stress. Oz and his colleagues`  study showed that the brief meditation-based stress management program can be successfully used as a supportive program for patients at risk or diagnosed with coronary heart disease.
The heart and brain connection has been known for a long time.  In order to show this connection Wager Tor D., et al. performed meta-analysis of recent neuroimaging studies on the relationship between heart rate variability and regional cerebral blood flow. They identified a number of regions, including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex,  in which significant associations across studies were found (Wagner et al. 747-756).
According to Lazar and her colleagues, meditation is a conscious mental process which enables a set of combined  physiological benefits that creates relaxation. In their study they found that the practice of meditation activates neural structures involved in attention and control of the autonomic nervous system (Lazar et al. abstract). “The autonomic nervous system  is of paramount importance for daily life and it regulates action on respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, and many other systems is controlled by a number of structures in the central nervous system.” ( Beissnar et al. 10503-10511).
Ancient practice from eastern part of world, meditation have  demonstrated positive effects on both body and mind. Awareness of these benefits got the attention of western practitioners and scientists. Emerging investigations into psychological and medical sciences have been able to provide proof of the positive effects of meditation in reducing stress, improving relaxation and heart health, which are measurable physical gains of meditation practitioners.
The establishment of the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn was a pioneering development in legitimizing the benefits of meditation for stress reduction and improved heart health. Since its beginning, over 20,000 people have attended their Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. This has taught them to draw on their personal resources and capabilities to manage their own health, stress and pain. (Stress Reduction Program par. 8-9).
Because of the benefits of meditation,  mindfulness has recently become part of popular cultural awareness. The growing number of practitioners provides more data on best practices of meditation and a deeper pool of subjects to better detail the specific health benefits.
It starts with awareness of the breath and finding some time each day and calmly and non-judgmentally paying attention to our bodies and minds.
Breath in. Breath out. May all find joy, peace and happiness.




Works Cited

Beissner, Florian., Meissner, Karin., Bar, Karl-Jurgen.,Napadow, Vitaly.
“The Autonomic Brain: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis for Central Processing of Autonomic Function” The Journal of Neuroscience, 19 June 2013,33(25):10503-10511;

Bento, William. "Living With Stress As The New Norm Of The Post Modern World Its Consequences And Challenges." Lilipoh 17.66 (2012): 21-27. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 4 July 2013.

Coppola, Fabrizio and David Spector. “Natural stress Relief Meditation As A Tool For Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Self-Actualization. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal37.3 (2009): 307-311. Academic Search Complete. Wwb. 3 July 2013.

LaMeaux, E. C. “About Body Scan Meditation What to Know to Unite Your Body Together for Physical Health and Mental Well-being” Gaiam Life Your Guide to Better Living . 

Lazar, Sara W., Bush, George Gollub., Randy L., Fricchione, Gregory L., Khalsa,     Gurucharan., Benson, Herbert “Autonomic Nervous System Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation” Neuroreport: 15 May 2000-Volume 11-Issue 7-p 1581-1585

Mehmet C. Oz, et al. "Feasibility And Effectiveness Of A Brief Meditation-Based Stress Management Intervention For Patients Diagnosed With Or At Risk For Coronary Heart Disease: A Pilot Study." Psychology, Health & Medicine 14.5 (2009): 513-523. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 4 July 2013.

Piver, Susan, ed. Quiet Mind A Beginner`s Guide Meditation.2008, p.19

"Stress, Cholesterol, Fats & Heart Disease." Health & Stress 9 (2010): 1-13. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 4 July 201
Stress Reduction Program University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness


Wager Tor D., et al. "Review: A Meta-Analysis Of Heart Rate Variability And Neuroimaging Studies: Implications For Heart Rate Variability As A Marker Of Stress And Health." Neuroscience And Biobehavioral Reviews 36.(n.d.): 747-756. ScienceDirect. Web. 9 July 2013.