Immediate Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on the Voice.
Diana Rose Becker, Sandeep Shelly, Dio Kavalieratos, Carissa Maira, Amanda I Gillespie
Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation May 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.10.022 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Prospective experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | 19 vocally healthy individuals and 26 individuals with common voice disorders (benign lesions and hyperfunctional muscle tension) deemed stimulable for voice therapy; participants with prior training or regular meditation practice were excluded |
| Intervention | Mindfulness meditation |
| Duration | Single 11.5-minute session, with measures taken before and after |
| Measures | Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10), Dyspnea Index (DI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Cognitive and Mindfulness Scale - Revised (CAMS-R), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), mean sound pressure level (SPL), phonatory airflow, state anxiety |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Muscle tension dysphonia Voice therapy |
| Key findings | After one 11.5-minute mindfulness meditation session, both groups reported improved voice, emotional, and physical states and reduced state anxiety, but objective voice and speech changes were limited and mixed. Vocally healthy participants showed decreased CPP on all-voiced sentences and lower mean SPL on sustained vowels, while the voice-disorder group showed increased phonatory airflow; the authors conclude a single brief session may benefit some but is not sufficient to override habitual voice and speech patterns. |
Abstract
The benefits of mindfulness meditation are well documented. This study evaluated the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) on the voice and voice user. Prospective experimental study. Participants: 19 vocally healthy (VH) individuals, and 26 individuals with common voice disorders (CVD; benign lesions and hyperfunctional muscle tension) deemed stimulable for voice therapy. Exclusionary criteria: prior training or regular meditation practice. Participants recorded speech samples before and after a 11.5-minute prerecorded session of MM. phonatory aerodynamics and participants' self-reported experience of voice. self-reported anxiety, vocal acoustics, speech breathing patterns, and auditory-perceptual outcomes. Baseline self-reported measures of voice (Voice Handicap Index-10 - VHI-10), breathing (Dyspnea Index - DI), stress (Perceived Stress Scale - PSS), and trait mindfulness (Cognitive and Mindfulness Scale - Revised, CAMS-R, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire - FFMQ) were compared between groups. At baseline, CVD had significantly higher VHI-10 (P< 0.001) and DI (P= 0.0014), and lower trait mindfulness (CAMS-R, P= 0.02). No difference between groups for PSS or FFMQ. Changes postMM: decreased CPP for all-voiced sentences for VH (P= 0.003), decreased mean SPL (P= 0.012) on sustained vowel for VH, increased mean phonatory airflow during sustained vowel for CVD (P = 0.012). VH demonstrated a decrease in CPP on the all-voice sentence, and CVD demonstrated an increase, resulting in a significant between group difference (P= 0.013). Participants reported improvements in voice, emotional and physical states. State anxiety decreased for both groups (= < 0.001). No other objective outcomes reached significance. After a brief MM, participants experienced improvement in physical, emotional, and cognitive states, and in their perceptions of their voice. Results indicate that a brief, single session of MM may be beneficial for some, but not sufficient to override habitual voice and speech patterns. Given the benefits of MM, future work should evaluate MM in a standard voice therapy protocol.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Effects of an 8-Week Mindfulness Course in People With Voice Disorders. Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation March 1, 2026
- An Exploratory Study of Meditation With and Without Immersive Virtual Reality: Effects on Anxiety and Voice-Related Outcomes. Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation April 27, 2026
- Mindfulness – wykorzystanie praktyki uważności w terapii dorosłych osób z giełkotem i jąkaniem Logopaedica Lodziensia December 17, 2024
Cites 17
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- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- Meditation-Based Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Pain Medicine September 30, 2022
- Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health January 22, 2022
and 12 more in the library