How long does the Dalai Lama meditate for?

Did you know that according to research published in the American Journal of Hypertension meditation can modestly lower blood pressure? I wasn’t totally surprised by these findings to be honest – after all I think that – logically – any practice that triggers a relaxation response through the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system is deemed to offer some benefits.

Another study by Bashin et al. looked at the molecular mechanisms by which the relaxation response lowers blood pressure, so basically they asked themselves how does this happen?

They found that there are over 1,500 genes regulated by the relaxation response. These are associated with all kind of processes in the body, but particularly they noticed that immune regulatory pathways and metabolism were down-regulated and glucose metabolism, cardiovascular system development and circadian rhythm were up-regulated. Interesting, right?

I am not sure about my daily meditation practice has been affecting my blood pressure, however I can certainly say that since I have started to meditate daily, I

• sleep much better
• am aware of my own thoughts and mood changes
• worry less
• have better attention and focus
• am able to put things into perspective more easily

There is certainly a lot more to find out and many things we still don’t understand about the body’s response to stress and relaxation, and how meditation may help. The good news for those of us who wanted some proof is that there is plenty! So, what are you waiting for? Any plans to take up meditation yet?

As per the Dalai Lama, I hear he meditates about 5 hours a day so I bet his heart is very healthy 😊

Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash