Types of controls in meditation research

Examining randomised controlled trials exploring meditation in my review, control methods were presumptively categorized according to their face-validity into low, moderate or high face validity categories. The low face-validity controls used strategies that were: • Passive and unstructured: Participants were involved in minimal or no activity relating to the trial…

Dr Ramesh Manocha: the three scientific conclusions for meditation

The observations of previous randomised controlled trials assessing meditation could lead to three possible conclusions: 1. Meditation is in fact no more effective than other approaches to rest and relaxation. Yet meditative traditions have existed for thousands of years and at least in India, are widely perceived to have specific…

Guidelines for prescribing meditating to avoid adverse affects

In view of the seriousness of some of the reactions described above it is questionable whether all forms of meditation can be viewed as “generally safe for general consumption”. Moreover, given that recent reviews of meditation have clearly demonstrated a lack of convincing evidence for a specific effect, the importance…

An overview of our research programme

Meditation and its underlying ideas are increasingly popular in Western society but the practice itself has been subjected to little high quality scientific scrutiny. This website describes the outcomes of the Meditation Research Programme, a serious scientific endeavour aimed at addressing this deficiency. Some of our key projects, and their…

Why has western meditation research failed to demonstrate a specific effect?

The failure of the proponents of meditation in the West to produce conclusive data on its specific efficacy in the health sphere (see Ospina’s definitive treatment of this issue), has been due to understandings having been largely confined to Westernised versions of the practice. Such understandings have meant that the…

Welcome

Welcome to the Meditation Research site. The aim of this site is to share with you the development of scientifically studied phenomena associated with the state of consciousness called thoughtless awareness.