Meditation has long been shown to offer multiple health benefits. What is not well understood, however, is what differences there are between long-term meditators and short-term ones with regards to these benefits. To help answer this question, Indian researchers from S. Nijalingappa Medical College in Karnataka, India recently conducted a study looking at the short term benefits of meditation and pranayama (breathing).
Recruits were fifty in all (24 males, 26 females) aged 20-60 years old. They were offered two hours of yoga (meditation and pranayama) practice per day for 15 days. Cardiovascular functions were measured both before and after the interventions and included recording the pulse rate and blood pressure.
The researchers noted significant reductions in resting pulse rate, blood pressure in all age groups after 15 days. This shows that the beneficial effects from meditation and pranayama happen irrespective of age, weight, and overall health.