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+--- Thread: Article Meditation is big business. The science isn’t so clear. (deep thought community) (/thread-14939.html)
Meditation is big business. The science isn’t so clear. (deep thought community) - C C - Nov 10, 2023
https://undark.org/2023/11/08/uncertain-meditation-science/
EXCERPTS: [...] For more than two decades, various studies have suggested that meditation and mindfulness — that is, being aware of the present moment — can help reduce and improve pain management, lending some credence to the notion that the brain can affect the body. Such results have helped the field grow into a multibillion-dollar industry, populated by meditation apps, guided workshops, and upscale retreats.
Yet the field has also faced sharp criticism from psychologists and researchers who say the health benefits are overstated and some of the research methodologically flawed. Meanwhile, claims that alternative approaches, including meditation can, by themselves, cure serious illness have been called dangerous by medical experts, who fear a true believer might forego a life-saving treatment.
As researchers investigate meditation’s effect on nearly everything from chronic pain to ADHD to brain function post-stroke to emotional regulation, the practice continues to be popular among converts and curious alike. And while no scientific findings suggest that meditation can go so far as to cure cancer, some researchers are interested in precisely how the brain affects the body’s immune system.
[...] A study recently published by the group described an association between meditation and enhanced resiliency against Covid-19.
Overall, there are still a lot of unknowns about how meditation can affect disease processes, wrote Emily Lindsay, a researcher who specializes in the biological effects of mindfulness meditation at the University of Pittsburgh, in an email to Undark. “We know it impacts stress and sometimes stress biology, and we know that it can impact certain disease processes, but there’s still a black box in between.”
[...] Joe Dispenza, who holds week-long meditation retreats that regularly attract thousands of people [...is...] a chiropractor who has written various self-help books, has said he believes the mind can heal the body. [...] Whether Dispenza’s collaboration with mainstream scientists will shed light into that black box is an open question, and many scientists are skeptical.
[...] Whether results from the other ongoing UCSD studies will show significant effects remains to be seen. And while research has found meditation can improve some health outcomes — such as decreasing blood pressure and biomarkers of stress — its effect on the biological mechanisms underlying human health is less clear. It’s known to do some good in some situations, but it’s still unclear which situations and how... (MORE - missing details)
RE: Meditation is big business. The science isn’t so clear. (deep thought community) - Magical Realist - Nov 11, 2023
I practice mindfulness as well as attend a class on it at the VA Hospital. As far as I can tell it really does lower ones blood pressure and eases an over fraught mind. I don't care if scientists approve it or not. They don't determine what I use in my life to better my mental health.
RE: Meditation is big business. The science isn’t so clear. (deep thought community) - Yazata - Nov 11, 2023
I think that meditation's positive effects are multiple and undisputed. I practice it myself, though not as regularly as I should. My HMO recommends it and offers classes.
It probably is valuable to be wary of exaggerated claims though. Cure cancer? Unlikely.
But it's clearly beneficial psychologically, reducing stress and anxiety and stuff like that. It may have some value for depression (which is hard to treat). It probably has some physiological value as well, such as in lowering blood pressure. It might even (speculatively) have value in improving immune system health.
There's also the original purpose of meditation in traditions like the Buddhist, which is more spiritual. That pretty clearly has value, even if it's hard value for science to identify and to quantify. Just look at traditional Japanese art for example. There's something happening there that's clearly of aesthetic value, in part because it appears to be an expression of a deeper psychological/spiritual value.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8083197/
RE: Meditation is big business. The science isn’t so clear. (deep thought community) - Zinjanthropos - Nov 11, 2023
(Nov 11, 2023 03:31 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: I practice mindfulness as well as attend a class on it at the VA Hospital. As far as I can tell it really does lower ones blood pressure and eases an over fraught mind. I don't care if scientists approve it or not. They don't determine what I use in my life to better my mental health.
Agreed.
Good place to meditate might be on a boat but by yourself. Toss in the anchor and just sit back. Walk on a beach and notice all those folks who are simply tanning or enjoying the warmth….I wonder what they’re thinking about? A place where you are generally free of disturbance or can close the mind to what’s around you. Are sensory deprivation chambers still around ? Are they useful for meditation purposes?