Simple Meditation Helps Reduce Perception of Pain

Meditation is a mental practice undertaken to achieve a certain state of mind, increasing one's mindfulness and concentration. By bringing focus to the mind, it is believed the physical body is allowed to heal itself. Although meditation makes up a large part of yoga and Tai Chi, it can also be practiced alone for psychological and physical well being, or as part of a pain management program.

A recent study published in the American Pain Society’s publication The Journal of Pain suggests that the relaxed state of mind created during meditation produces analgesic benefits that can alter an individual’s perception of pain. The study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, was conducted at the University of North Carolina; subjects were students interested in learning techniques for mindfulness meditation. Following three days of meditation training, the students were exposed to varying levels of experimental pain stimuli.

Researchers found that the state of relaxation produced by brief meditation reduced reported pain ratings from those recorded prior to learning meditation. Participants reported feeling less pain when exposed to both low and high-level pain stimuli, and also reported significant reductions in anxiety related to pain. These results led researchers to conclude that sustaining mental focus and reducing associated anxiety can significantly decrease an individual’s reaction to pain.

There are a wide variety of meditation practices: some are complex and involve imagery and mantras, while others are simpler and focus on stillness and breathing. There is no right or wrong way to meditate, and it is believed that any sort of practice can be beneficial. Due to the ease and adaptability of techniques and the potential for immediate results, meditation has become a popular method for natural pain relief.