In some ways the fact that specific effects appear to be associated with the mental silence experience poses a challenge to the philosophical underpinnings of Western culture by not only describing a state of non-thought, but also demonstrating that this state is accessible and of practical importance to the general population.

The cogito ergo sum argument essentially states that “I am thinking therefore I exist”. To some extent Western culture’s difficulty in apprehending the idea of non-thought is the result of its Cartesian underpinnings — the idea that one cannot exist if one is not thinking. The metaphysical implications of Descartes’ phrase, which equate thinking activity with self identity contrast sharply with the Eastern metaphysical idea that existential reality can be perceived only when one is not thinking, which might be stated in Latin as sum cogito ergo (I am, therefore I think)!

The ancient Eastern perspective on meditation, the mind, consciousness and health has here been demonstrated to have an important potential role to play in the health and wellbeing of people both in the East and West.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

Of great interest is that the yoga tradition does not just describe philosophical, moral, metaphysical associations between mind, behaviour and health but actually describes the mechanism by which they are interconnected. This is the system of chakras (energy plexuses) and nadis (energy channels). Described since ancient times, the physical body is said to be energized via a complex network of 72,000 nadis and their associated chakras, not unlike the ancient Western understandings of the four “humors”—blood, bile, phlegm and pneuma. Yogic exercises and disciplines are directed at manipulating the subtle energetic system in order to bring about shifts in energy flux which not only impact on physical function, but also on cognitive style, mood and consciousness.

States of enlightened consciousness, whether they be described as self-realization, moksha or sahaja can be characterized by the awakening of an energy called kundalini. This energy is said to lie dormant at or near the base of the spine. At the time of awakening it rises through the spine to enter the brain and then exit via the crown of the head. The kundalini has been described variously and has been compared to many other psycho-cultural and archetypal symbols. For a useful diagramme, see Subbarayappa, 1997.

The ancient subtle-energetic mechanics of the chakra system may offer important clues in the quest to comprehensively describe and integrate the otherwise rather disparate psycho-physiological pathways that are coming to be recognized in modern science.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

The popularity of meditation in the West has grown in parallel with the mainstreaming of alternative health and the New Age movement and is now fuelled by a potent combination of traditional anecdote, selective misreadings of the scientific database and marketing hyperbole. Popularity with consumers may well be encouraged by apparent acceptance amongst health professionals.

The scientific evidence clearly shows that prevalent definitions of meditation do not have much of an effect beyond that of simple rest. This is primarily because the original understandings of meditation and its relationship to mental silence have not been successfully translated into the West.

The current lack of clarity about definition is used by the New Age industry and entrepreneurs to perpetuate a misunderstanding of a form of meditation that is basically no more effective than sitting quietly, listening to music or walking in the park. In contrast the traditional understanding of meditation as mental silence does appear to generate scientifically verifiable effects and is therefore likely to be if considerable value to health professional and indeed modern consumers. Sahaja Yoga meditation is an example of such an approach to meditation.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

In light of the number of studies reporting adverse effects from meditation broad based surveys need to be conducted, and given that studies such as Kaldor’s (2002) suggest that up to 10% of the population may have tried meditation at some time, a direct-to-public cross sectional survey may be sufficiently effective in quantifying adverse effect rates. Also important are controlled observational studies with a specific focus on detecting, characterising and quantifying adverse reactions. Moreover, meditation should not be the only modality assessed but instead, the opportunity should be taken to assess the effects of all related quasi therapeutic practices including hypnosis, faith healing and Qigong, Reiki and other new age practices. Combining the outcomes from these different data gathering strategies on a wide variety of contemplative and new age practices will not only help us understand adverse effects associated with meditation but also provide a perspective with regard to related practices. Such information will hopefully help to explain why a practice traditionally described as beneficial seems to be associated with a consistent reporting rate of adverse events.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

In a letter to the American Heart Journal, Kothari et al. (1973) described a remarkable feat in which an ECG was attached to a yogi before he entered an eight day meditative trance. Remarkably, on the second day of the yogi’s trance, the ECG recorded minimal heart activity indicating that the meditative trance had slowed the yogi’s heart dramatically. The authors of the study ruled out mechanical disturbance or failure, and concluded that a likely cause was that the meditative trance allowed the yogi great control of his heart rate, however conceded that feat could have been a cleverly disguised trick.

The study can be found here.

Tristan Boyd, Dr Ramesh Manocha.

In 2000 Pirrotta et al. published the results of a widely publicised survey of family physicians in Australia. Remarkably it reported that almost 80% of respondents had recommended meditation to patients at some time in the course of their practice, yet less than 35% had any formal training or education in the field. This reflects, on the one hand, the growing legitimacy of what was once regarded as a fringe concept and on the other, a lack of quality education on the topic. The medical community’s manifest interest in meditation is often construed by consumers as tacit endorsement of the practice.

Meditation arose from an ancient spiritual tradition centred in India. It has achieved substantial popularity in Western societies as a therapeutic tool as well as a method of self development. In both the East and West it is widely perceived to have potent, specific effects on both the body and mind. In Australia, a survey of a randomly selected but representative sample drawn from the state of Western Australia (n = 1,033) found that 11% of respondents had practiced meditation at least once. This reflects trends in other countries. In the United States for instance, a survey administered to 31,000 representative adults, conducted in 2002 as part of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), showed that 8% of respondents had practiced meditation at some time.

Dr Ramesh Manocha.

Probably the most thorough and up to date review of meditation research was published in 2007 by a team led by Ospina, specifically contracted by the US Department of Health and Human Services to assess the evidence base. They included both randomised and non-randomised trials. In their assessment of more than 800 studies they concluded:

“Many uncertainties surround the practice of meditation. Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterised by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence.”

Ospina’s review represented a massive effort by a large team of researchers. Its thorough and comprehensive nature ensures that its contribution to the field of meditation research will be of great value. There are a number of features in the review’s design however that would seem to prevent important questions about specific effects and related issues from being clearly answered, such as:

1. The inclusion of a wide variety of comparative studies, not just randomised controlled trials.
2. Techniques that may not be widely accepted as meditation, such as Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong. These practices include meditation as a component of their practice but also include many other practices such as physical exercise, dietary modification and other lifestyle choices whose confounding and non-specific effects are difficult to separate from any effects of meditation.
3. Effect size calculations did not seem to take into account the heterogeneity of control groups and their widely varying ability to confound outcomes since the control methods themselves elicit both non-specific and, in some cases, specific effects.

Dr Ramesh Manocha

Dr Ramesh Manocha carried out a randomised controlled trial to assess the impact Sahaja Yoga meditation (SYM) has on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms.

The results of this trial program indicate that SYM has potential as an adjunctive therapy for children with ADHD when offered via a family treatment approach and in combination with existing medical treatment. Although results were limited by the small number of children for whom complete data was available, the consistency of the findings, which drew on different measures of child outcomes, different groups of children and both parent and child respondents, along with the significance of the results, points to the positive potential of this approach.

Core symptoms of ADHD were improved. Parent ratings on the Connors Parent-Teacher Questionnaire, which assesses attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, were significantly reduced over the course of the program. Children also reported that they felt calmer, less panicky, and more relaxed. Parents reported that the children’s approach to school and homework had improved during the SYM program, while the children themselves said that they were more able to concentrate at school. Improved sleep was another positive outcome reported by parents and children.

Evidence for the effectiveness of the SYM intervention, over other possible contributors was provided by the group of “wait-list” children whose baseline ADHD scores remained the same over two pre-treatment assessment points. It consequently dropped significantly over the 6-week SYM program.

Two cases are described in a report by Xu (1994). The first involved a 22 year-old man who sought treatment for lumbago and experienced the onset of adverse effects while undertaking self-teaching of the Wu Qin Xi form of Qigong. He experienced anxiety, physical pain, psychosis and suicidal thoughts. Some relief was experienced as a result of treatment by a Qigong master, but symptoms recurred. These included hearing the “voices of evil spirits”, uncontrollable behaviour and attempted suicide. Some months later he developed similar symptoms when his family would not allow him to do his Qigong exercises. He attempted suicide and was admitted to a psychiatric institution. After ECT treatment he was discharged and was subsequently stable. The second case involved a 44 year old male who developed delusional psychosis after practicing He Xiang Zhuang (a form of Qigong) for a cervical disorder.

I propose that one of the main reasons for the paucity of convincing evidence with regard to meditation is because Western scientists have failed to apprehend the key idea that underlies the meditation tradition: meditation is traditionally defined in Eastern cultures as the experience of mental silence. Modern Western understandings of meditation vary, but probably the most common understanding is that it is a method for eliciting reduction in physiological arousal. The notion that meditation involves a state of consciousness “beyond thought” seems all but absent from modern Western scientific literature on meditation.

Dr Ramesh Manocha.