After a 3-month meditation retreat with about 6 hours of daily practice, retreat participants showed greater telomerase activity—an indicator of cellular longevity—compared to a matched wait-list control group. Retreat participants also reported increased Perceived Control, Mindfulness, and Purpose in Life, and decreased Neuroticism. Statistical mediation analyses suggested that the retreat's effect on telomerase activity was explained by increases in Perceived Control and decreases in Neuroticism. These changes in perceived control and neuroticism were themselves partially explained by increased Mindfulness and Purpose in Life. Purpose in Life also directly mediated the group difference in telomerase activity, whereas Mindfulness did not. The findings suggest that meditation may influence cellular health through psychological changes.
Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) may buffer the shortening of telomeres, the protective caps of chromosomes, while mindfulness meditation (MM) does not show the same protective effect. In a randomized trial with 142 midlife adults, telomere length decreased significantly in both the MM group and a waitlist control group over the study period, but not in the LKM group. The LKM group also experienced significantly less telomere attrition than the control group. The MM group's telomere changes fell between those of the LKM and control groups and were not significantly different from either. Self-reported emotions and practice duration or frequency did not explain the group differences. This work is the first to separate the effects of LKM and MM on telomere length.
Intensive meditation during a one-month residential Insight retreat was associated with an apparent increase in telomere length compared to a control group of experienced meditators not on retreat. Personality traits moderated this effect: retreat participants highest in neuroticism and lowest in agreeableness showed the greatest telomere length increases. Changes in telomere-related gene expression suggested improved telomere maintenance, including increases in Gar1 and HnRNPA1. No group-level changes in telomerase activity were observed, but retreat participants' telomerase activity at post-assessment was inversely related to retreat engagement and prior meditation experience. Neuroticism also predicted variation in telomerase activity across the retreat.