Originally posted by OCEANOS:
[b]Mending
Mindfully
A recent study suggests that
practicing meditation can boost the immune system.
By Heidi Kotansky
Meditation is widely known to reduce stress and anxiety, but now
science has proven that it may even help prevent illness. In a
study at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, researchers found
that mindfulness meditation produced lasting positive changes in
both the brain and the immune system.
Mindfulness meditation is designed to teach people to be present
with full awareness in the moment, intentionally and
nonjudgmentally, explains Katherine Bonus, meditation instructor
and manager of mindfulness programs in the integrative medicine
program at the UW--Madison Hospital and Clinics.
Often recommended to ease the stress and pain of chronic disease,
it can help practitioners accept thoughts and feelings as they
occur and deepen awareness of positive emotions, such as
compassion.
The research team, led by Richard Davidson, professor of psychology
and psychiatry at UW--Madison, found that mindfulness meditation
produced biological effects that improved the subjects' resiliency.
The experimental group, composed of 25 participants, received
meditation training from Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed a
mindfulness-based stress-reduction program at the University of
Massachusetts Medical Center. They attended weekly meditation
classes as well as one seven-hour retreat during the study; they
also practiced at home for an hour a day, six days a week. Those in
the control group didn't meditate during the course of the
study.
The researchers then measured electrical activity in the front
parts of both groups' brains, the area that corresponds to emotion.
Previous research has shown that the left side of this area becomes
more active than the right side when a positive emotion is
experienced, a pattern also associated with optimism. The study
showed increased activity in the left side among meditators,
significantly more than was seen in the control group.
Those meditating also demonstrated stronger immune function than
those in the control group. All the participants received a flu
vaccine at the end of the eight-week study period. Then, at four
and eight weeks after the shot was given, their blood was tested to
measure the levels of antibodies they had produced against the
vaccine.
While everyone who participated in the study had an increased
number of antibodies, the meditators had a significantly greater
increase than the control group. "The changes were subtle, but
statistically it was significant," says Dan Muller, M.D., head of
the immunology core of UW--Madison's Mind-Body Center, which
conducted the study's blood analysis. "It was startling that such a
short intervention could produce a change." Plans for more research
on the impact of meditation are under way. Davidson and his team
are currently working with a group of people who have been
practicing meditation for more than 30 years; they are also
preparing to conduct a study on the impact of mindfulness
meditation on people with specific health conditions.
Something interesting i feel a need to
share with all of you... 
[/b]
very interesting indeed 
now i notice that scientist is covering more n more regarding the
spiritual side
