명상도서관

명상도서관

Mindfulness meditation, well-being, and heart rate variability: A preliminary investigation into the impact of intensive Vipassana meditation 자세히보기
  • 자료유형학술지논문
  • 저자명Krygier, J. R.,Heathers, J. A.,Shahrestani, S.,Abbott, M.,Gross, J. J.,Kemp, A. H.
  • 학회/출판사/기관명Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.
  • 출판년도2013
  • 언어영어
  • 학술지명/학위논문주기INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
  • 발행사항Vol.89No.3[2013]_x000D_
  • ISBN/ISSN0167-8760
  • 소개/요약Mindfulness meditation has beneficial effects on brain and body, yet the impact of Vipassana, a type of mindfulness meditation, on heart rate variability (HRV) - a psychophysiological marker of mental and physical health - is unknown. We hypothesised increases in measures of well-being and HRV, and decreases in ill-being after training in Vipassana compared to before (time effects), during the meditation task compared to resting baseline (task effects), and a time by task interaction with more pronounced differences between tasks after Vipassana training. HRV (5-minute resting baseline vs. 5-minute meditation) was collected from 36 participants before and after they completed a 10-day intensive Vipassana retreat. Changes in three frequency-domain measures of HRV were analysed using 2 (Time; pre- vs. post- Vipassana) x 2 (Task; resting baseline vs. meditation) within subjects ANOVA . These measures were: normalised high-frequency power (HF n.u.), a widely used biomarker of parasympathetic activity; log-transformed high frequency power (ln HF), a measure of RSA and required to interpret normalised HF; and Traube-Hering-Mayer waves (THM), a component of the low frequency spectrum linked to baroreflex outflow. As expected, participants showed significantly increased well-being, and decreased ill-being. ln HF increased overall during meditation compared to resting baseline, while there was a time*task interaction for THM. Further testing revealed that pre-Vipassana only ln HF increased during meditation (vs. resting baseline), consistent with a change in respiration. Post-Vipassana, the meditation task increased HF n.u. and decreased THM compared to resting baseline, suggesting post-Vipassana task-related changes are characterised by a decrease in absolute LF power, not parasympathetic-mediated increases in HF power. Such baroreflex changes are classically associated with attentional load, and our results are interpreted in light of the concept of 'flow' - a state of positive and full immersion in an activity. These results are also consistent with changes in normalised HRV reported in other meditation studies.