Just one week of meditation helps

Researchers in the U.S. have found that in order to benefit from meditation, months of practice are not essential and benefits can be achieved in just one week.

Recent research has implied that months or years of intensive meditation is needed to improve concentration and lower stress.

But according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Oregon after only five 20 minute sessions over a 5 day period, of 'integrative meditation' the concentration of 40 undergraduates improved and their stress levels dropped.

An improvement in mood, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue, were also reported when compared with students in a control group who participated only in relaxation training.

During the meditation sessions the pupils were taught a number of body and mind techniques.

Study leader Dr. Yi-Yuan Tang and colleagues say that integrative meditation incorporates several key components and uses body and mind techniques such as body relaxation, breathing adjustment, mental imagery, and mindfulness training, which have shown broad positive effects in attention, emotions, and social behaviors in previous studies.

Dr. Tang says this combination possibly amplifies the training effect over the use of only one of these components.

The team say their findings highlight the potential value of integrative meditation for stress management, body-mind health, and improvement in cognitive performance and self-regulation.

The research is published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences