Effect of Meditation on Cardiovascular and Respiratory functions.

Stress and anxiety being the major contributors of morbidity, leads to many chronic diseases and is known to invariably decrease the quality of life and even life span. Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), a part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the visceral system, functioning largely under the level of consciousness, capable of being influenced by the psychological factors and influences the physiological processes happening in the body. Meditation practices mainly change functions through autonomous nervous systems, which links brain and body. Meditation is a technique of yoga practiced in India over thousands of years. Long term yogic practices have shown improvement in cardiovascular functions. Meditation is a concentrative type of meditation involving focusing of attention on breath. This was a cross sectional, comparative study. 50 subjects between 18-45 years were included for the study. 50 meditators and 50 non-meditators (control group). The meditators used to practice meditation every morning for at least 30 minutes, for 1 or more years. There was decrease in Heart rate,SBP and DBP, MAP, RR in meditation group. This difference between 2 groups is satistically highly significant(p<0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]