15 Apr Meditation to Lower Cortisol
A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that mindfulness meditation could be the elixir to the ailments of modern life. The latest study finds that focusing on the present – or being mindful – can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
“This is the first study to show a direct relation between resting cortisol and scores on any type of mindfulness scale,” said Tonya Jacobs, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis Center for Mind and Brain. Findings were published this week online in the journal Health Psychology.
The new study is the latest to come from the Shamatha Project, a comprehensive controlled study of the effects of meditation training on mind and body. The project has drawn the attention of both scientists and Buddhist scholars including the Dalai Lama, who has endorsed the project.