| Abstract:
This report presents the changes in various autonomic and respiratory
variables during the practice of Brahmakumaris Raja yoga meditation. This
practice requires considerable commitment and involves concentrated
thinking. 18 males in the age range of 20 to 52 years (mean 34.1 ± 8.1),
with 5-25 years experience in meditation (mean 10.1± 6.2), participated in
the study. Each subject was assessed in three test sessions which included a
period of meditation, and also in three control (non-meditation) sessions,
which included a period of random thinking. Group analysis showed that the
heart rate during the meditation period was increased compared to the
preceding baseline period, as well as compared to the value during the
non-meditation period of control sessions. In contrast to the change in the
heart rate, there was no significant change during meditation, for the group
as a whole, in palmar GSR, finger plethysmogram amplitude, and respiratory
rate. On an individual basis, changes which met the following criteria were
noted: (1) changes which were greater during meditation (compared to its
preceding baseline) than changes during post meditation or non- meditation
periods (also compared to their preceding baseline); (2) Changes which
occurred consistently during the three repeat sessions of a subject and (3)
changes which exceeded arbitrarilychosen cut- off points (described at
length below). This individual level analysis revealed that changes in
autonomic variables suggestive of both activation and relaxation occurred
simultaneously in different subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system in
a subject. Apart from this, there were differences in patterns of change
among the subjects who practised the same meditation. Hence, a single model
of sympathetic activation or overall relaxation may be inadequate to
describe the physiological effects of a meditation technique. | | Key words:
Autonomic change; Meditation; Heart rate; Skin resistance; Finger
plethysmogram, Respiratory rate.
| |
| INTRODUCTION
Most of the reports on physiological effects of meditation have dealt with
Transcendental Meditation (TM), Zen and Tantric Yoga. TM was adapted from
the Indian Yogic tradition by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Practising TM, subjects
sit in a comfortable posture and silently repeat a given mantram, returning
their attention to it whenever attention wanders. Zen meditation forms an
integral part of Zen Buddhism. Subjects sit in the lotus position, keep
their eyes open and their attention focussed (initially on their breathing,
and later on, on a "Koan" or riddle). Tantric Yoga involves intense
concentration of attention, with the ultimate aim of channelling all of ones
energies into the spiritual energy of union with the object of devotion.
The practice of TM was reported to cause reductions in heart rate,
respiratory rate, and oxygen consumption, and to increase the level or
stability of the electrodermal response (Wallace, 1970; Wallace et al.,
1971). A later report (Heide, 1986), noted a difference in the heart-rate
response but not in the electrodermal response evoked by 80 dB tones, when
TM practitioners and non-meditators were compared.
Contradictory results were observed in Zen and Tantric meditations. One set
of studies reported changes suggestive of autonomic activation (Hirai, 1974;
Corby et al., 1978), whereas another set of studies reported changes
suggestive of autonomic relaxation (Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1966; Sugi and
Akutsu, 1968; Elson et al., 1977)
With the background of
contradictory reports on the effects of meditation techniques, the present
study was carried out to determine whether a given meditation technique
would bring about the same effects in all the subjects practising it.
Practitioners with 5 or more years of experience in Brahmakumaris Raja yoga
meditation were chosen. This technique requires considerable commitment and
involves concentrated thinking. |