Objectives: In ancient yoga texts there are two meditative states described. One is dharana, which requires focusing, the second is dhyana, during which there is no focusing, but an expansive mental state is reached. While an earlier study did show improved performance in an attention task after dharana, the autonomic changes during these two states have not been studied. Methods: Autonomic and...
Mid-latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEPs) were assessed in 60 participants during 4 mental states described in traditional yoga texts. These 4 mental states are random thinking, nonmeditative-focused thinking, meditative focusing, and meditation. Assessments were made before (5 minutes), during (20 minutes), and after (5 minutes) each of the 4 states, on 4 separate days. There were...