Meditation Reduces Stress, Increases Attention

Want to improve your mood and attention while simultaneously reducing your overall anxiety, fatigue and depression levels? A new study indicates that less than one week of meditation can provide these effects. The study was comprised of 40 Chinese undergraduates partaking in 20-minute meditation sessions during a period of 5 days. The meditation used was referred to as integrative body-mind meditation that, according to researchers, included body relaxation, breathing exercises, mental imagery and mindfulness training. After the 5-days of meditation, those participating in the meditation had significantly more improvement with attention and mood testing as compared with the control group - those undergoing no meditation. Moreover, those in the meditation group had a significant decrease in stress related cortisol levels as compared with their non-meditation counterparts. Perhaps the most interesting finding in this study was the fact that these results were attained in just 5 days of 20-minute meditation sessions.