20,000 Scientific Studies on The Effects of Meditation, by Thousands of People

[amitpamin]

Hey guys,

As you know, lots of research has been done on meditation these past few decades.

Before I restarted my own meditation practice, I wanted to know what I should expect: what kinds of benefits would I see? how long until I started seeing them? how large?

So I took a look at three meditation meta-analyses. A meta-analysis combines the results of different studies so that one doesn't have to read through thousands of papers on their own. Specifically, I looked at:

Meditation Practices for Health: State of the Research, a meta-analysis of 813 studies: http://archive.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/meditation/medit.pdf

Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-Being, a meta-analysis of 18,753 studies, by The Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center: http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ehc/products/375/1830/Meditation-report-140110.pdf

The Psychological Effects of Meditation, a meta-analysis of 595 studies: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/138/6/1139?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20apa-journals-bul%20(Psychological%20Bulletin

Figuring that others would find it helpful, I wrote up a summary of what I learned from these meta-analys.

Mod edit: please read forum links regarding linking to blogs. Link removed.
What do you guys think? Do you agree/disagree with the research? Agree/disagree with my summary?

[Dharmic Tui]

Can you offer a summary without external links?

[Matthew]

Can you offer a summary without external links?

And without copying and pasting your blog ...?

PS DT - you'll find his blog and the things he is selling by googling his username, exactly the reason we have this attitude to blog linking: over the years there is too often something being sold and links placed here are marketing devices.

PPS .... And to prove the above point, this is one of the first things googling him will find: "In general, my writing is more enthusiastic than the evidence would call for, but alas I must excite my readers and get the pageviews." - Amitpamin

[TomThumb]

I think that Willoughby Britton, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University Medical School, and meditation researcher, puts the current state of scientific research on this topic nicely into context:

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/meditation-nation

TT