Impact of Meditation on Mental Health: A Case Study with Two Meditation Practices using Heart Rate Variability
Kabita Devi, Siddeswars Bargur Linganna, Bhabesh Deka
Multidisciplinary Research Journal January 21, 2025 DOI: 10.63635/mrj.v1i1.13 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Subjects before and after practice of Chi meditation and Kundalini Yoga |
| Interventions | Chi meditation Kundalini Yoga |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | There is a characteristic variation in HRV features during meditation that indicates enhanced parasympathetic activity and reduced stress levels. |
Abstract
Heart rate variability (HRV) signals provide a non-invasive way of analyzing the functioning of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), providing important information on how mental states affect the body. This study focused on how HRV features change during meditation compared to pre-meditation states. In this work, we propose analysis of HRV signals using nonlinear features including the detrended fluctuation analysis, the Hurst exponent, the approximation entropy, the degree of distribution, and the multiscale permutation entropy. The analysis was performed on the publicly available databases [1] which consists of HRV signals of subjects before and after practice of Chi meditation and Kundalini Yoga. The proposed study shows that there is a characteristic variation in both meditation states, which indicates enhanced parasympathetic activity and reduced stress levels during meditation. These changes underscore the potential of HRV analysis to quantify the physiological benefits of meditative practices and their impact on mental health and well-being.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |