Meditation Can Cause Increased Tension in the Body

Researchers at the HSE Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces have studied how physiological parameters change in individuals who start practicing meditation. It turns out that when novices learn meditation, they do not experience relaxation but tend towards increased physical tension instead. This may be the reason why many beginners give up on practicing meditation. The study findings have been published in Scientific Reports.

Meditation is increasingly gaining popularity. It is believed that meditation not only helps us slow down and relax but also has a positive effect on physical health. Research suggests that regular practice of meditation improves attention, memory, concentration, creativity, and induces changes in brain activity in areas associated with these processes. Furthermore, meditation benefits the cardiovascular system, aids in reducing stress levels, and may slow down the aging process. The benefits of meditation proven by research encourage more and more people to engage in this practice; however, sometimes they encounter unexpected effects.

In a previous study, researchers at the Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces of the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience identified two distinct physiological strategies for meditation. In this context, questions arise, how long one must practice for objectively measurable changes to occur and whether it is possible to detect a predisposition to a particular strategy in the early stages of meditation training. To find this out, Anna Rusinova, Maria Volodina, and Alexei Ossadtchi, researchers at the HSE Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces, conducted an experiment.

The sample of 25 participants, aged 20 to 40, was divided into two groups. One group attended an instructor-led course in Taoist meditation for eight weeks, while the other group served as a control and listened to audiobooks instead of taking classes. Before and after the course, participants in both groups had their EEG recorded and their brain activity measured. Additionally, their heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and skin conductivity were monitored during meditation and at rest.

Taoist meditation, an umbrella term for various exercises aimed at attaining a state of harmony and being fully present in the moment, is a type of mindfulness meditation. During the experiment, Taoist meditation consisted of several successive stages, including relaxation, body scanning, visualisation, and instructed deep breathing.

Eight weeks of training (16 hours) were not sufficient to reliably induce changes in the physiological parameters during a meditation session. This may indicate that a distinct meditation strategy becomes typical only for experienced practitioners and manifests itself in later stages of training.

However, during rest, participants in the experimental group showed increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, indicating physiological arousal. At the same time, the brain, on the contrary, exhibited a state of relaxation: an increase in power in the theta and alpha wave ranges was recorded on the EEG.

This result was unexpected for us. It is generally believed that meditation promotes relaxation and activates the parasympathetic system. This is exactly the effect we expected to see in beginners. Perhaps, at the initial stages of learning, meditation, like any new activity, causes increased tension and even stress. This explains why meditation is challenging for many, leading them to give up the practice before achieving significant results.

Anna Rusinova
Author of the study, Research Assistant, HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience

The authors believe that significant changes during a meditation session may require more time and more intensive practice. The study findings underscore the importance of monitoring physiological parameters at rest, especially in the initial stages, to assess progress in meditation.

Our research opens up a discussion about the benefits of biofeedback devices, which are popular today, in the context of meditation training. They measure brain activity, heart rate, respiratory rate, and other physiological parameters during practice, supposedly helping individuals achieve their desired state faster and more effectively, according to the manufacturers. However, our experiment suggests that for beginners in meditation, they may not be as relevant or helpful. Perhaps if these devices were refocused on monitoring the resting state outside of meditation sessions, they would make more sense for novice practitioners.

Maria Volodina
Author of the study, Research Fellow, HSE Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces

IQ

July 15