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. 2023 Jun 5:14:1158760.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1158760. eCollection 2023.

Impact of Heartfulness meditation practice on anxiety, perceived stress, well-being, and telomere length

Mansee Thakur  1 , Yogesh Patil  1 , Sanjana T Philip  1 , Tahreem Hamdule  1 , Jayaram Thimmapuram  2 , Nishant Vyas  3 , Kapil Thakur  4
Affiliations

Impact of Heartfulness meditation practice on anxiety, perceived stress, well-being, and telomere length

Mansee Thakur et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: Exhaustion, stress, and burnout have all been found to be reduced using techniques like yoga and meditation. This study was carried out to check the effectiveness of Heartfulness practice (a form of meditation) on certain psychological and genetic variables.

Methods: A total of 100 healthy individuals (aged 18-24) were recruited and randomized into two groups-Heartfulness intervention and control group. The intervention was carried out for 03 months. Participants from both groups were analysed for their cortisol levels and telomere length before and after the intervention. Psychometric measures of anxiety, perceived stress, well-being and mindfulness were carried out using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), WHO-Well-being Index (WHO-WBI) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).

Results: The cortisol levels in the meditators group significantly decreased (p < 0.001) after the intervention as compared to the non-meditators group, whereas, the telomere length increased in the mediators group. This increase was not significant (p > 0.05). Anxiety and perceived stress also decreased post intervention, and well-being as well as mindfulness increased, as assessed by the questionnaire tools, although the decrease in perceived stress was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). A negative correlation was observed between telomere length and cortisol (stress biomarker), whereas a positive correlation was found between telomere length and well-being.

Conclusion: Our data provide evidence that Heartfulness meditation practice can improve our mental health. Additionally, telomere length is shown to be affected by cortisol levels, and this meditation practice can also help to increase telomere length, and thereby slow down cellular aging. However, future studies with larger sample size are required to confirm our observations.

Keywords: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ); Heartfulness meditation; RT-PCR; anxiety; cortisol; stress; telomere.

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Conflict of interest statement

NV is employed by Logical Life Science, Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Telomere length in meditators and non-meditators at pre and post-intervention of Heartfulness meditation practice. A significant increase in telomere length was observed in meditators after the intervention period. *p<0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Concentration (ng/mL) of cortisol in meditators and non-meditators at pre and post-intervention of Heartfulness meditation practice. A significant decrease in cortisol was observed in meditators post-intervention. ****p<0.0001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation between psychological variables, telomere length, and cortisol levels. (A) correlation between telomere length and stress; (B) correlation between telomere length and anxiety; (C) correlation between cortisol and stress; (D) correlation between cortisol and anxiety; (E) correlation between telomere length and cortisol levels.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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