Meditation a Quick Fix for Stress

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Meditation a Quick Fix for Stress

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/news/?id=hd-608922

Meditating for just 20 minutes a day for five days helped to

increase energy and decrease anxiety and stress, as measured by

levels of stress hormones, a small study found.

Using the so-called integrative body-mind training method, which

comes from traditional Chinese medicine, the study participants

reported better attention and control of stress than those relying

on relaxation training, which is popular in the West.

Although derived from Chinese medicine, integrative body-mind

training uses aspects of other meditation and mindfulness training,

the study authors said.

" A meditation method developed in China showed remarkably better

performance among those who went through the training compared with

those who used relaxation training, " said lead researcher

Posner, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon's

Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences.

In the study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers assigned 40

undergraduate students from China to either integrative meditation

or relaxation therapy.

Posner's group found the students who used integrative meditation

for 20 minutes a day for just five days showed greater improvement

in conflict scores on a test of stress levels, lower anxiety,

depression and anger. Conversely, they displayed more energy, less

fatigue, a significant drop in levels of the stress hormone

cortisol, and an increase in immunoreactivity, compared with

students receiving the relaxation therapy.

Integrative body-mind training was developed in the 1990s, and has

been studied in China since 1995. Based on the results from hundreds

of adults and children ranging from 4 to 90 years old in China, the

practice appears to improve emotional and cognitive performance and

social behavior, the study authors said.

Because the study was done in China, Posner said he's not sure if

the same meditation method would work in the United States.

" This is a kind of scientific demonstration about the possible

advantage of meditation, at least for the Chinese undergraduates, "

Posner said. " It could be culturally specific. "

Posner does think, however, that the study shows it's possible to

change the levels of stress hormones with training.

More information

To learn more about meditation, visit the U.S. National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine.