Meditation Changes Gene Expression, Say Psychologists
Some papers say that meditation can have beneficial health effects, and that makes sense, but a new paper claiming evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation is likely the first of its kind. The scholars investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation. read more