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Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study

Meditation involves psychophysical training which can result in a range of benefits including creating a calm mind and increasing self-awareness, relaxation, and tranquility. Increasing evidence, mostly based on short-term focused interventions, suggests that meditation-based activities may also hav...

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Autores principales: Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika, Sirisena, Nirmala Dushyanthi, Samaranayake, Nilakshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8931770/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35310206
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846085
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author Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika
Sirisena, Nirmala Dushyanthi
Samaranayake, Nilakshi
author_facet Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika
Sirisena, Nirmala Dushyanthi
Samaranayake, Nilakshi
author_sort Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika
collection PubMed
description Meditation involves psychophysical training which can result in a range of benefits including creating a calm mind and increasing self-awareness, relaxation, and tranquility. Increasing evidence, mostly based on short-term focused interventions, suggests that meditation-based activities may also have favorable effects on physical wellbeing including cellular aging. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate if continued practice of meditation benefited quality of life, state of mindfulness, and plasma telomerase level in healthy adults. 30 long-term and skilled meditators were recruited from meditation centers in different parts of the island following a two-tier screening process of 70 eligible participants and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy non-meditators were recruited from the community. Mindfulness level and the quality of life were measured using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and Quality of Life Questionnaire, respectively, while the levels of plasma telomerase enzyme were measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Skilled meditators had a better mindfulness level (p < 0.001) and quality of life (QOL; p < 0.001) than those in the comparison group. Similarly, higher plasma telomerase levels were observed in skilled meditators compared to non-meditators (p = 0.002). Trait mindfulness level and plasma telomerase level showed a significant relationship with the duration of meditation practice (p = 0.046 and p = 0.011, respectively). Regression analysis indicated that trait mindfulness level (p < 0.001) significantly predicts the plasma telomerase level. The findings of this comparative study add to the evidence on sustained benefits of meditation on wellbeing and healthy aging and supports incorporating meditation-based activities into lifestyle practices.
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spelling pubmed-89317702022-03-19 Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika Sirisena, Nirmala Dushyanthi Samaranayake, Nilakshi Front Psychol Psychology Meditation involves psychophysical training which can result in a range of benefits including creating a calm mind and increasing self-awareness, relaxation, and tranquility. Increasing evidence, mostly based on short-term focused interventions, suggests that meditation-based activities may also have favorable effects on physical wellbeing including cellular aging. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate if continued practice of meditation benefited quality of life, state of mindfulness, and plasma telomerase level in healthy adults. 30 long-term and skilled meditators were recruited from meditation centers in different parts of the island following a two-tier screening process of 70 eligible participants and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy non-meditators were recruited from the community. Mindfulness level and the quality of life were measured using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and Quality of Life Questionnaire, respectively, while the levels of plasma telomerase enzyme were measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Skilled meditators had a better mindfulness level (p < 0.001) and quality of life (QOL; p < 0.001) than those in the comparison group. Similarly, higher plasma telomerase levels were observed in skilled meditators compared to non-meditators (p = 0.002). Trait mindfulness level and plasma telomerase level showed a significant relationship with the duration of meditation practice (p = 0.046 and p = 0.011, respectively). Regression analysis indicated that trait mindfulness level (p < 0.001) significantly predicts the plasma telomerase level. The findings of this comparative study add to the evidence on sustained benefits of meditation on wellbeing and healthy aging and supports incorporating meditation-based activities into lifestyle practices. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-03-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8931770/ /pubmed/35310206 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846085 Text en Copyright © 2022 Dasanayaka, Sirisena and Samaranayake. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Dasanayaka, Nirodhi Namika
Sirisena, Nirmala Dushyanthi
Samaranayake, Nilakshi
Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title_full Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title_fullStr Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title_short Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study
title_sort impact of meditation-based lifestyle practices on mindfulness, wellbeing, and plasma telomerase levels: a case-control study
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8931770/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35310206
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846085
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