Abstract
Forty nonmeditators and 12 experienced transcendental meditators were randomly assigned to four experimental cells devised to control for order and expectation effects. All 52 (female) subjects were continuously monitored on seven physiological measures during both meditation and rest. Each subject was her own control in an abab experimental paradigm comparing meditation to rest. Analyses of variance on change scores calculated from both initial and running (intertrial) baselines revealed small but significant conditions effects for all variables except diastolic BP. The same subjects (both experienced meditators and those meditating for the first time) showed lower psychophysiological arousal during the meditation than during the rest condition for systolic BP, HR, SCL, digital BV, digital ST, and frontalis EMG. The experienced meditators showed only marginally more conditions effects than the novices practicing “noncultic” meditation. For the nonmeditators, deliberately fostering positive expectations of meditations was associated with lower physiological arousal in terms of diastolic BP, HR, and SCL. These findings suggest that both cultic and noncultic meditation are associated with lower physiological activation than eyes-closed rest. The meditators, however, tended to become more relaxed over meditation trials, whereas the nonmeditators showed the opposite trend.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bahrke, M., & Morgan, W. (1978). Anxiety reduction following exercise and meditation.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2 323–333.
Bali, L. R. (1979). Long-term effects of relaxation on blood pressure and anxiety levels of essential hypertensive males: A controlled study.Psychosomatic Medicine, 41 637–646.
Barcroft, H., & Swan, H. J. (1953).Sympathetic control of human blood vessels. London: Arnold.
Benjamin, L. S. (1963). Statistical treatment of the law of initial values (I.IV) in autonomic research: A review and recommendation.Psychosomatic Medicine, 25 556–566.
Benson, H., Beary, J. F., & Carol, M. P. (1974). The relaxation response.Psychiatry, 37 115–120.
Benson, H., Greenwood, M., & Klemchuk, M. (1975). The relaxation response; psychophysiologic aspects and clinical implications.International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 6 87–98.
Benson, H., Marzetta, B., & Rosner, B. (1974). Decreased blood pressure associated with the regular elicitation of the relaxation response: A study of hypertensive subjects. In R. S. Eliot (Ed.),Contemporary problems in cardiology Vol. 1, Stress and the Heart (pp. 293–309). New York: Futura.
Benson, H., Rosner, B., Marzetta, B., & Klemchuk, H. (1974a). Decreased blood pressure in borderline hypertensive subjects who practiced meditation.Journal of Chronic Disease, 27 163–169.
Benson, H., Rosner, B., Marzetta, B., & Klemchuk, H. (1974b). Decreased blood pressure in pharmacologically treated hypertensive patients who regularly elicited the relaxation response.Lancet, 1 289–291.
Benson, H., & Wallace, R. (1972). Decreased blood pressure in hypertensive subjects who practice meditation.Circulation, 46, (Suppl. 2).
Blackwell, B., Haneson, I., Bloomfield, S., Megenheim, H., Gartside, P., Nidich, S., Robinson, A., & Zigler, R. (1976). Transcendental meditation in hypertension: Individual response patterns.Lancet, 1 223–226.
Boswell, P., & Murray, E. (1979). Effects of meditation in psychological measures of anxiety.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47 606–607.
Bridger, W., & Reisner, M. (1959). Psychophysiologic studies of the neonate: An approach toward the methodological and technical problems involved.Psychosomatic Medicine, 21 265–275.
Burchfield, S. R. (1979). The stress response: A new perspective.Psychosomatic Medicine, 41 661–672.
Cauthen, N., & Prymak, C. (1977). Meditation versus relaxation: An examination of the physiological effects of relaxation training and of different levels of experience with transcendental meditation.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45 496–497.
Christy, M. J., & McBrearty, E. M. (1979). Stress response and recovery. In C. MacKay & T. Cox (Eds.),Response to stress: Occupational aspects. London: International.
Curtis, W., & Wessberg, H. W. (1976). A comparison of heart rate, respiration and galvanic skin response among meditators, relaxes and controls.Journal of Altered States of Consciousness, 2 319–324.
Darrow, C. W. (1929). Electrical and circulatory responses to brief sensory and ideational stimuli.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12 267–300.
Davidson, R. J., & Schwartz, G. E. (1976). The psychobiology of relaxation and related states: A multiprocess theory. In D. I. Mostofsky (Ed.),Behaviour control and modification of physiological activity (pp. 399–442), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Davis, R. C., Buchwald, A. M., & Frankmann, R. W. (1955). Autonomic and muscular responses and their relation to simple stimuli.Psychological Monographs, 69 1–71.
Delmonte, M., (1979). Pilot study of conditioned relaxation during simulated meditation.Psychological Reports, 45 169–170.
Delmonte, M. M. (1980). Personality characteristics and regularity of meditation.Psychological Reports, 46 703–712.
Delmonte, M. M. (1981a). Expectation and meditation.Psychological Reports, 49 699–709.
Delmonte, M. M. (1981b). Suggestability and meditation.Psychological Reports, 48 727–737.
Delmonte, M. M. (1984). Factors influencing the regularity of meditation practice in a clinical population.British Journal of Medical Psychology, in press.
Delmonte, M. M., & Braidwood, M. (1980). Treatment of retarded ejaculation with psychotherapy and meditative relaxation: A case report.Psychological Reports, 47 8–10.
Delmonte, M. M., & Ryan, G. (1983). The cognitives-somatic anxiety questionnaire: An evaluation and factor analysis.British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22 209–212.
Dhanaraj, H., & Singh, M. (1973).Effects of yoga relaxation and transcendental meditation on metabolic rate. Paper presented to the First Canadian Congress for Multi-Disciplinary Study of Sport and Physical Activity, Montreal.
Edelberg, R. (1967). Electrical properties of the skin. In C. Brown (Ed.),Methods in psychology. Baltimore: William and Wilkins.
Evans, S., & Anastasio,E. Misuse of analysis of covariance when treatment effect and covariate are confounded.Psychological Bulletin, 69, 225–234.
Fee, R., & Girdano, D. (1978). The relative effectiveness of three techniques to induce the trophotropic response.Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 3 145–157.
Gellhorn, E., & Kiely, W. (1972). Mystical states of consciousness: Neurological and clinical aspects.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 154 399–405.
Goleman, D. J., & Schwartz, G. E. (1976). Meditation as an intervention in stress reactivity.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44 456–466.
Herd, J., Kelleher, R., Morse, W., & Grose, S. (1974). Sympathetic and parasympathetic activity during behavioral hypertension in the squirrel monkey. In P. A. Obrist, A. Black, J. Brenar, & L. DiCara (Eds.),Cardiovascular psychophysiology: Current issues in response mechanisms, biofeedback and methodology. (pp. 211–225). Chicago: Aldine.
Hess, W. R. (1957).Functional organization of the diencephelon. New York: Grune and Stratton.
Jennings, J. R., Jahmoush, A., & Redmond, D. (1980). Non-invasive measurement of peripheral vascular activity. In I. Martin & P. Venables (Eds.),Techniques in psychophysiology (pp. 70–137). Chichester: Wiley.
Kimmel, H., & Hill, F. (1961). A comparison of two electrodermal measures of response to stress.Journal of Physiological Psychology, 54 395–397.
Kirk, R. E. (1968).Experimental design: Procedures for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.
Kirsch, F., & Henry, D. (1979). Self-desensitization and meditation in the reduction of public speaking anxiety.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47 536–541.
Kubose, S. K. (1976). An experimental investigation of psychological aspects of meditation.Psychologia, 19 1–10.
Lacey, J. I. (1967). Somatic response patterning and stress: Some provisions of activation theory. In M. H. Appley & R. Trumball (Eds.),Psychological Stress: Issues in research, (pp. 14–37). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Lacey, B., & Lacey, J. (1980). Sensorimotor behaviour and cardiac activity. In I. Martin & P. Venables (Eds.),Techniques in psychophysiology, (pp. 170–179). Chichester: Wiley.
Lazarus, R. S., Speisman, J., & Mordkoff, A. M. (1963). The relationship between autonomic indicators of psychological stress: Heart rate and skin conductance.Psychosomatic Medicine, 25 19–30.
Lehrer, P., Schoicket, S., Carrington, P., & Woolfolk, R. (1980). Psychophysiological and cognitive responses to stressful stimuli in subjects practicing progressive relaxation and clinically standardized meditation.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 18 293–303.
Lintel, A. G. (1980). Physiological anxiety responses in transcendental meditators.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 50 295–300.
Malec, J., & Sipprelle, C. (1977). Physiological and subjective effects of Zen meditation and demand characteristics.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45 339–340.
Morse, D. R., Martin, J., Furst, M., & Dubin, L. (1977). A physiological and subjective evaluation of meditation hypnosis and relaxation.Psychosomatic Medicine, 39 304–324.
Orme-Johnson, D. W. (1973). Autonomic stability and transcendental meditation.Psychosomatic Medicine, 35 341–349.
Parker, J., Gilbert, G., Thoreson, R. (1978). Reduction of autonomic arousal in alcoholics: A comparison of relaxation and meditation techniques.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46 879–886.
Peters, R., Benson, H., Peters, J. (1977). Daily relaxation response breaks in a working population: II effects on blood pressure.American Journal of Public Health, 67(10), 954–959.
Pollack, A., Weber, M., Case, D., & Laragh, J. (1977). Limitations of transcendental meditation in the treatment of essential hypertension.Lancet, 1 71–73.
Puente, A., & Beiman, I. (1980). The effects of behaviour therapy, self-relaxation and transcendental meditation on cardiovascular stress response.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36 291–295.
Rushmer, R. F. (1976).Structure and function of cardiovascular system. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Seer, P., & Raeburn, J. M. (1980). Meditation training and essential hypertension: A methodological study.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 3 59–71.
Steptoe, A. (1977). Blood pressure control with pulse wave wave velocity feedback, methods of analysis and training. In J. Beatty & H. Legwie (Eds.),Biofeedback and behavior, (pp. 365–368). New York: Plenum.
Sternback, R. A. (1960). A comparative analysis of autonomic responses to startle.Psychosomatic Medicine, 22 204–210.
Stone, R. A., & DeLo, J. (1976). Psychotherapeutic control of hypertension.New England Journal of Medicine, 294 80–84.
Stoyva, J. (1976). Self-regulation and the stress-related disorders: A perspective on biofeedback. In D. I. Mostofsky (Ed.),Behaviour control and modification of physiological activity, (pp. 366–398). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Surwit, R., Shapiro, D., & Good, M. (1978). Comparison of cardiovascular biofeedback, neuromuscular biofeedback and meditation in the treatment of borderline essential hypertension.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46 252–263.
Travis, T., Kondo, C., & Knott, J. (1975). Heart rate, muscle tension and alpha production of transcendental meditators and controls.Proceedings of the Biofeedback Research Society, Sixth Annual Meeting.
Vassiliadis, A. (1973).Longitudinal physiological changes of TM practice. Paper presented at the APA convention, Montreal.
Wallace, R. K., Benson, H., & Wilson, A. (1971). A wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state.American Journal of Physiology, 221 795–799.
Walrath, L., & Hamilton, D. (1975). Autonomic correlates of meditation and hypnosis.American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 17 190–197.
Warrenburg, S., Pagano, R., Woods, M., & Hlastala, M. (1980). A comparison of somatic relaxation and EEG activity in classical progressive relaxation and transcendental meditation.Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 3 73–93.
West, M. (1979). Physiological effects of meditation: A longitudinal study.British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology, 18 219–226.
Wilder, J. (1962). Basimetric approach (law of initial value) to biological rhythms.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 98 1211–1220.
Zaichkowski, V., & Kamen, R. (1978). Biofeedback and meditation: Effects on muscle tension and locus of control.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 46, 955–958.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Delmonte, M.M. Physiological responses during meditation and rest. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation 9, 181–200 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00998833
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00998833