Role of meditation on the essence of self in the psychological profile, quality of life and lifestyle - a comparative study.
Paula Ricci Arantes, Tatiana Caccese Perrotti, Susan Andrews, Ernesto Sasaki Imakuma, Rosana Aparecida de Oliveira Maurelli, Emmanuel A Burdmann
Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) January 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinsp.2025.100682 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractExperienced practitioners of a meditation technique called Meditation on the Essence of Self (Gurusakásha), which uses visualization and mantra from the Indian tantric tradition, show lower perceived stress, higher resilience, greater empathic concern, better quality of life, and a healthier lifestyle profile compared to non-meditators matched for age, gender, and education. The study compared 23 meditation experts with 29 controls and assessed stress, resilience, mood, empathy, quality of life, and lifestyle. The findings suggest that this form of meditation is associated with improved psychological well-being and quality of life.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 52 |
| Population | Experienced practitioners of Meditation on the Essence of Self and matched non-meditators |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Empathy Quality of life Resilience Mental health |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Experienced meditators had lower perceived stress, higher resilience, better empathic concern, and superior quality of life and lifestyle profiles compared to matched non-meditators. |
Abstract
Meditation has been shown to influence physical and psychological health and well-being, modulating stress response, resilience, emotional regulation, mood, empathy, compassion, and improving quality of life. The authors aim to characterize the psychosocial profile of experienced practitioners of Meditation on the Essence of Self, the Gurusakásha, whose technique is based on visualization and mantra from the Indian tantric tradition. Meditation experts (n = 23) were paired to an age-, gender- and educational level-matched control group (n = 29). Clinical data (presence of baseline diseases, use of medications, habits), stress level (PSS), resilience (CD-RISC), subjective mood states (VAMS), empathy (IRI), quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), and general lifestyle profile (PEVI) were compared between groups. Experienced meditators had lower levels of perceived stress, and better scores on resilience, empathic concern, quality of life, and lifestyle profile suggesting that Meditation on the Essence of Self improves health and well-being. These results suggest that experienced meditators on the Essence of Self have higher levels of psychological well-being and quality of life when compared to non-meditators.