Meditation is a powerful life changing force

Meditating has changed not only my life but many others as well. The benefits are numerous and new discoveries regarding meditations health benefits are happening everyday.

Richard J. Davidson, PhD,findings demonstrate that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. These findings suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.

Another study provided by the Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester found the following results from 22 study participants who were screened with a structured clinical interview and found to meet the DSM- III-R criteria for generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia
RESULTS: Repeated measures analyses of variance documented significant reductions in anxiety and depression scores after treatment for 20 of the subjects--changes that were maintained at follow-up. The number of subjects experiencing panic symptoms was also substantially reduced. A comparison of the study subjects with a group of non study participants in the program who met the initial screening criteria for entry into the study showed that both groups achieved similar reductions in anxiety scores on the SCL-90- R and on the Medical Symptom Checklist, suggesting generalizability of the study findings.

CONCLUSIONS: A group mindfulness meditation training program can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic and can help maintain these reductions in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or panic disorder with agoraphobia.