Meditation and spiritual practices in mental health: A comprehensive literature review
International Journal of Applied Research January 1, 2026 DOI: 10.22271/allresearch.2026.v12.i3sa.13665 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMeditation and spiritual practices show meaningful benefits for stress, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and resilience across clinical and non-clinical populations, based on evidence from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, yoga, Transcendental Meditation, loving kindness practices, and mantra chanting. Neurobiological changes include alterations in cortical structure, default mode network activity, stress hormone regulation, inflammatory pathways, and markers of cellular aging. However, heterogeneity in study quality, publication bias, and inconsistent control conditions complicate interpretation. Overall, these practices are moderately effective for common mental health difficulties, comparable to other psychosocial approaches and non-inferior to first-line pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Clinical and non-clinical populations |
| Interventions | Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction yoga based interventions Transcendental Meditation loving kindness practices mantra chanting |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Transcendental meditation Mental health Psychological intervention Mantra |
| Key finding | Meditation and related spiritual practices are moderately effective interventions for common mental health difficulties, roughly comparable to other established psychosocial approaches and non-inferior to first-line pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders. |
Abstract
Meditation and spiritual practices have moved from the margins of medical interest into the center of contemporary mental health research, with a rapidly growing body of randomized trials, neuroimaging studies, and systematic reviews. Evidence from programs such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, yoga based interventions, Transcendental Meditation, loving kindness practices, and mantra chanting suggests meaningful benefits for stress, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and resilience across clinical and non clinical populations [1]. Neurobiological work links these outcomes to changes in cortical structure, default mode net- work activity, stress hormone regulation, inflammatory pathways, and in some cases markers of cellular aging [4]. At the same time, heterogeneity in study quality, the presence of publication bias, and inconsistent control conditions complicate interpretation. Overall, current open access evidence supports meditation and related spiritual practices as moderately effective interventions for common mental health difficulties, roughly comparable to other established psychosocial approaches, and in some cases non inferior to first line pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders [3].