Have you tried meditation? Do you know how it could help you?
This article helps us get to the bottom of the benefits of meditation by researching visitors to the Shambhala Mountain Centre in Northern Colarado, who meditate in silence for up to 10 hours every day. I thought I would share some of the findings with you and see what you think…
In 2007, scientists undertook a study at the centre to try to give some scientific credibility to the reasons behind meditation. Now data from the project (called Shamatha project) is starting to be published. So far the research has shown something quite surprising – by protecting caps called telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes, meditation might help to delay the process of ageing.
One of the most studied practices of meditation is based on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, or being aware of your own thoughts and surroundings. Buddhists believe it alleviates suffering by making you less caught up in everyday stresses – helping you to appreciate the present, instead of continually worrying about the past or planning for the future.
The Shamatha project aims see what an intensive course of meditation might do for healthy people. The project was co-ordinated by neuroscientists at the Centre for Mind and Brain at the University of California. 30 participants attended in the spring of 2007, while the other half acted as a control group before heading off for their own retreat in the autumn.
Psychologist Elissa Epel, wanted to know what meditation was doing to the participants’ chromosomes, in particular their telomeres. Telomeres play a key role in the ageing of cells, acting like a clock that limits their lifespan. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get shorter, unless an enzyme called telomerase builds them back up. When telomeres get too short, a cell ultimately dies. People with shorter telomeres are at greater risk of diseases, and they die younger. They found that at the end of the retreat, meditators had significantly higher telomerase activity than the control group, suggesting that their telomeres were better protected. It is early days at the moment, but in theory, this might slow or even reverse ageing.
So how does meditation work in this way? It is thought that it could be due to our body’s reaction to stress. When the brain detects a threat in our environment, it sends signals to spur the body into action. One example is the “fight or flight” response of the nervous system. When you sense danger, your heart beats faster, you breathe more rapidly, and your pupils dilate, while fat and glucose are released into the bloodstream to fuel your next move. Another stress response pathway triggers a branch of the immune system known as the inflammatory response.
These responses might help us when there is an actual danger present, but they also damage body tissues. In the past, the trade-off for short bursts of stress would have been worthwhile. But in the modern world, we experience constant long-term threats – such as debt, work pressures, social status – which activate these same pathways. Such chronic stress negatively affects our telomeres.
So, meditation seems to be effective in changing the way that we respond to external events. After short courses of mindfulness meditation, people produce less of the stress hormone cortisol, and have a smaller inflammatory response to stress. Basically, with meditation, people may experience the world as less threatening so do not get as much of a stress reaction to things like money worries, or exams. For example, meditation might help people to distance themselves from negative or stressful thoughts.
The researchers concluded that the meditation affected telomerase activity by changing the participants’ psychological state, which they assessed using questionnaires. Three factors in particular predicted higher telomerase activity at the end of the retreat: increased sense of control (over circumstances or daily life); increased sense of purpose in life; and lower neuroticism (being tense, moody and anxious). The more these improved, the greater the effect on the meditators’ telomerase.
So what is the key message here? It seems to be reduce stress and protect your telomeres which, according to this research, could help to ward off ageing. Meditation seems to be a particularly effective route to reducing stress, but it’s not the only one. For example, exercise has been shown to have a similar effect. If you enjoy gardening, that may help protect you from stress and maybe even help you to live longer. In the same way, holidays may help you relax and protect you from stress.
The point, I suppose, is make sure you keep doing stuff that you love, and living your life to the full, focussing on what really matters. I am going to finish up by quoting the journalist from the Guardian as I feel this really sums it up:
“Researchers warn that in our modern, work-obsessed society we are increasingly living on autopilot, reacting blindly to tweets and emails instead of taking the time to think about what really matters. If we don’t give our minds a break from that treadmill, the physical effects can be scarily real.”
