Heartfulness Meditation: A Yogic and Neuroscientific Perspective

Impact of heartfulness meditation practice compared to the gratitude practices on wellbeing and work engagement among healthcare professionals: Randomized trial

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether Heartfulness meditation practice, compared to Gratitude practice, leads to measurable changes in mental wellbeing among healthcare providers across the US.

METHOD

Participants were randomly assigned to one of the following 6-week interventions: the trainer-guided virtual Heartfulness meditation program or the podcast-based self-guided gratitude practice group. The Professional Quality of Life Scale-5 (ProQOL-5) was used to determine Compassion Satisfaction (CS) and risk for Burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS). The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was used to assess vigor, dedication, and absorption at work. Outcomes were collected at baseline and the end of the study period. Qualitative questions regarding the experience of learning and practicing were also offered at the end of the six weeks.

RESULTS

The majority of participants were nurses (50%), followed by allied healthcare professionals (37%) and physicians (13%) (N = 83). There was a general trend towards increases in CS in the Heartfulness group compared to the gratitude group. However, this was not statistically significant. Strong evidence suggests there was a significant improvement in BO for the Heartfulness group between Week 0 and Week 6 (p = 0.002), as well as STS (p = 0.0004) and vigor (p = 0.0392). Qualitative data analysis revealed that the subjects in the Heartfulness arm reported improved sleep and decreased reactivity to stress. Subjects in the gratitude arm reported improved mood and favorable results using gratitude practices at home with family members.

CONCLUSION

In our study, Heartfulness meditation practice was associated with a significant improvement in burnout and vigor at work, with a trend towards compassion satisfaction after six weeks compared with gratitude practices. Qualitative analysis indicates the benefits of both Heartfulness and Gratitude practices. Further randomized trials with a larger sample size are needed to explore these science-based practices for the wellbeing of healthcare workers.

Effect of Heartfulness Meditation on Oxidative Stress and Mindfulness in Healthy Participants

BACKGROUND

Mental health issues are a major cause of poor life outcomes. Heartfulness (HFN) meditation is recommended for stress management and daily awareness. Although studies have shown that HFN can improve burnout and well-being, the biological mechanism underlying oxidative stress markers in a healthy human is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine whether HFN meditation benefits mindfulness responses and also to examine the impact of HFN meditation on oxidative stress in healthy individuals.

METHODS

This prospective study involved 60 healthy individuals aged 18-24, divided into experimental and control groups, and implemented an HFN meditation intervention over 12 weeks. Both groups' serum malondialdehyde and serum nitrate levels were examined before and after the intervention. Additionally, psychometric evaluations concerning mindfulness and experiential avoidance were conducted utilizing scales such as the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and Experiential Avoidance (EA).

RESULTS

Following a three-month intervention period, serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the experimental group did not show a significant increase, whereas in the control group, there was a significant increase (p < 0.000). Conversely, serum nitrate levels in the experimental group exhibited a significant increase (p < 0.05). Additionally, psychological stress decreased, as indicated by various questionnaire tools such as MAAS, FFMQ, SCS, and EA, with mindfulness showing an increase. However, a decrease in EA was seen.

CONCLUSION

Heartfulness meditation has a positive impact on both mindfulness and oxidative stress. This suggests that consistent, long-term participation in HFN meditation could enhance mental health and foster overall well-being.

Validation of the Awareness Atlas-a new measure of the manifestation of consciousness

Consciousness has intrigued philosophers and scholars for millennia and has been the topic of considerable scientific investigation in recent decades. Despite its importance, there is no unifying definition of the term, nor are there widely accepted measures of consciousness. Indeed, it is likely that consciousness-by its very nature-eludes measurement. It is, however, possible to measure how consciousness manifests as a lived experience. Yet here, too, holistic measures are lacking. This investigation describes the development and validation of the Awareness Atlas, a measure of the manifestation of consciousness. The scale was informed by heart-based contemplative practices and the resulting lived experience with a focus on the impacts of manifestation of consciousness on daily life. Four hundred forty-nine individuals from the USA, Canada, India, and Europe participated in psychometric testing of the scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used for validation, demonstrating excellent validity in measuring manifestation of consciousness. The final model fit exceeded all required thresholds, indicating an excellent fitted model with a single dimensionality to measure the manifestation of consciousness comprised of four subscales: Relationship to Others; Listening to the Heart; Connection with Higher Self; and Acceptance and Letting Go. Number of years meditating and practicing Heartfulness meditation were positively related to the total and subscale scores. Test-retest reliability was excellent for the total scale, and good to excellent for the four subscales. Findings demonstrate that the Awareness Atlas is a well-constructed tool that will be useful in examining changes in manifestation of consciousness with various experiences (e.g., meditation, life-altering conditions).

Impact of Heartfulness meditation practice on anxiety, perceived stress, well-being, and telomere length

Objective

Exhaustion, stress, and burnout have all been found to be reduced using techniques like yoga and meditation. This study was carried out to check the effectiveness of Heartfulness practice (a form of meditation) on certain psychological and genetic variables.

Methods

A total of 100 healthy individuals (aged 18-24) were recruited and randomized into two groups-Heartfulness intervention and control group. The intervention was carried out for 03 months. Participants from both groups were analysed for their cortisol levels and telomere length before and after the intervention. Psychometric measures of anxiety, perceived stress, well-being and mindfulness were carried out using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), WHO-Well-being Index (WHO-WBI) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).

Results

The cortisol levels in the meditators group significantly decreased (p < 0.001) after the intervention as compared to the non-meditators group, whereas, the telomere length increased in the mediators group. This increase was not significant (p > 0.05). Anxiety and perceived stress also decreased post intervention, and well-being as well as mindfulness increased, as assessed by the questionnaire tools, although the decrease in perceived stress was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). A negative correlation was observed between telomere length and cortisol (stress biomarker), whereas a positive correlation was found between telomere length and well-being.

Conclusion

Our data provide evidence that Heartfulness meditation practice can improve our mental health. Additionally, telomere length is shown to be affected by cortisol levels, and this meditation practice can also help to increase telomere length, and thereby slow down cellular aging. However, future studies with larger sample size are required to confirm our observations.

Heart-brain Rhythmic Synchronization during Meditation: A Nonlinear Signal Analysis

Background

Heart-brain synchronization is the integration of mind, body, and spirit. It occurs when the electrical activity of the heart and brain is synchronized. In recent years, there has been mounting curiosity to investigate the effects of meditation on heart-brain synchronization with respect to mental and emotional health and well-being. The current investigation aims to explore the rhythmic synchronicity between the brain and the heart during heartfulness meditation (HM) practice.

Materials and Methods

The study was performed on 45 healthy volunteers who were categorized into three equal groups: long-term meditators (LTMs), short-term meditators (STMs), and nonmeditators (NMs). The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded to measure the prefrontal activity, and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were recorded to measure the cardiac activity. The data were recorded in four states: baseline, meditation, transmission, and posttransmission. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) method was used for the analysis of EEG and ECG signals.

Results

The result indicates that DFA values of EEG and ECG declined during meditation and transmission states as compared to pre- and postmeditation states. Significant results were obtained for the LTM group in all the states. A positive correlation was also observed between DFA of the heart and brain for the LTM group and no significant correlations were observed for the STM and NM groups.

Conclusion

The shreds of evidence suggest that heart-brain synchronization facilitates mental and emotional stability. HM practice has the potential to regulate the fluctuation of the mind. Regular meditation practice may result in physiological synchrony between cardiac and neural behavior, which can be considered a quality index for meditation practice.

Relation of Mindfulness, Heartfulness and Well-Being in Students during the Coronavirus-Pandemic

The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected the lives of almost everyone. The study’s primary goal is to analyze how mindfulness and heartfulness (gratitude and self-compassion) predict well-being and flourishing during the pandemic. Participants were 216 students completing questionnaires about well-being, flourishing, mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude, physical activity, Coronavirus stress and strain, and demographic information. Participants’ physical activity, strain, stress, and gender were also investigated as possible predictors. Mindfulness predicted well-being and flourishing. These relations were mediated by gratitude and self-compassion. Physical activity also predicted well-being and flourishing, but the Coronavirus stress and strain were unrelated to students’ well-being or flourishing. In an exploratory analysis, three aspects of mindfulness (non-judging, observing, and acting with awareness) predicted well-being, and four (non-judging, describing, observing, and acting with awareness) predicted flourishing. Aspects of heartfulness mediated the relations between these aspects of mindfulness and well-being and flourishing.