Researching Meditation » mental health http://www.researchingmeditation.org Sun, 23 May 2010 22:44:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The literature on meditation http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/the-literature-on-meditation.html http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/the-literature-on-meditation.html#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:58:05 +0000 Dr Ramesh Manocha http://www.researchingmeditation.org/?p=773 An extensive search of the scientific literature identified 3,500 peer-reviewed publications that featured “meditation” as a key word. Yet, of these, only 135 (approximately 4%) fulfilled the very basic requirements of experimental evaluation, i.e. they were prospective trials using control groups and random allocation. Importantly, even within this subset of more rigorous studies, there is no convincing evidence that meditation has a specific effect. In fact within this set of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), there appeared to be an inverse relationship between methodological rigour and likelihood of an outcome that is favourable to meditation.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

]]> http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/the-literature-on-meditation.html/feed 0 Dr Ramesh Manocha: Meditation as understood in the East http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-meditation-as-understood-in-the-east.html http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-meditation-as-understood-in-the-east.html#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:31:07 +0000 Dr Ramesh Manocha http://www.researchingmeditation.org/?p=687 Despite the scientific establishment’s equivocal conclusions about the efficacy of meditation, positive perceptions are evident among the Western lay population because of the increasing popularity of the philosophy, metaphysics and folklore associated with the ancient and traditional Indian ideas of meditation. So it is important to develop an understanding of meditation, in the words of Taylor (2005) in the context of its:

“…particular spiritual tradition, situated in a specific historical time period, or codified in a specific text according to the philosophy of some particular individual.”

While the biomedical Cartesian worldview that developed in the West from the mid-19th century weakened the connection between health and spirituality, this did not occur in India. There strong associations between health and spirituality were made and utilised to promote better physical wellbeing and quality of life. Typical of this health philosophy was the practice of yoga, which combined spiritual teachings with more mundane health factors such as lifestyle, diet, physical exercise and positive psychology in order to achieve its ultimate aim, the development of consciousness (this will be explained at greater length below). Similarly, the ancient and still widely used Ayurveda health epistemology was used to cure illness and enhance wellbeing by combining spiritual practices such as meditation, mantras and prayer with lifestyle measures such as exercise, diet and massage. Proponents of this epistemology also advocated the use of an extensive herbal pharmacopoeia, while its diagnostic system was based on psychological predisposition and personality type (Chopra Et al., 2002). In fact the followers of Ayurveda proposed a perspective of the human corpus in which the mind was not contained within the confines of the brain, as in Western perceptions. Instead, it was seen to be closely intertwined with the physical body, thus forming a body-mind whole in which physical health status was seen to be a direct reflection of consciousness and vice versa.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

]]> http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-meditation-as-understood-in-the-east.html/feed 0 Dr Ramesh Manocha: The implications of my research http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-the-implications-of-my-research.html http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-the-implications-of-my-research.html#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:07:08 +0000 Dr Ramesh Manocha http://www.researchingmeditation.org/?p=667 The fact that the mental silence construct, more than any other factor my research, correlated positively with a wide range of health measures raises interesting implications in several areas of study. The findings emanating from my research imply that the notion of mental silence and its associated yogic philosophy, may be important in the ongoing development of our understanding of meditation and the various definitions and taxonomies that relate to it. It also provides some new clues for scholars interested in the “essential factors” of religiosity and the question as to why some forms of religiosity are beneficial and others not. Furthermore, it provides empirical data that may help to progress the ongoing debate about the theoretical differences between “religiousness” and “spirituality”. Perhaps most important of all they provide empirical evidence of a positive relationship between a well-defined state of consciousness and health and wellbeing. That, it is asserted, constitutes a significant contribution to the nascent field of consciousness research as well as our understandings of health. It implies a nexus between religiosity, consciousness and health that is accessible to measurement. The practical ramifications are that meditation may have a valuable role to play in the promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental illness primarily as a result of the beneficial impact of the mental silence experience.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

]]> http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/dr-ramesh-manocha-the-implications-of-my-research.html/feed 0 Graph: the health scores of mental silence meditators vs. other groups http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/graph-the-health-scores-of-mental-silence-meditators-vs-other-groups.html http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/graph-the-health-scores-of-mental-silence-meditators-vs-other-groups.html#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:23:25 +0000 Dr Ramesh Manocha http://www.researchingmeditation.org/?p=649 health of meditators vs general population and clergy

This graph shows a comparison of the health of a group of experienced mental silence (Sahaja Yoga) meditators and three other groups including a group of Presbyterian clergy from America, a group of non-mental silence meditators, and the general Australian population. Health was measured using the Short Form 36 survey. The mental silence meditators’ health profile is generally better then the other groups. These results demonstrate an association between the mental silence experience and positive health.

From Manocha R and German E. Meditation, Health and Quality of Life: A Census of a Meditating Population.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

]]> http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/graph-the-health-scores-of-mental-silence-meditators-vs-other-groups.html/feed 0 Graph: the relationship between mental silence and mental health http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/graph-the-relationship-between-mental-silence-and-mental-health.html http://www.researchingmeditation.org/blog/graph-the-relationship-between-mental-silence-and-mental-health.html#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:24:06 +0000 Dr Ramesh Manocha http://www.researchingmeditation.org/?p=584 relationship between mental silence and health

This graph shows the mental health of people sorted by how frequently they meditate with the mental silence based Sahaja Yoga. The graph depicts a correlation between the frequency of meditation for people who meditate and their mental health score. Mental health was measured by the mental health subscale of the Short Form 36 questionnaire.

The correlation was analysed and found to have a correlation coefficient of +0.36 with p<0.001.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

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