The Physiological Implications of Mindfulness Meditation 

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

With the continuous advances in scientific frontiers, the overlap between science and spirituality becomes more apparent. This paper aims to further explore mindfulness meditation's physiological effects through the dual lens of science and spirituality. 

The Duality of Modern Medicine

The cardiorespiratory system is integral to bodily functions. We often take it for granted, whether by eating till our veins and arteries clog or by neglecting our blessing of mobility by sitting in bed all day instead of going on a run. One of the leading causes of death in the US is heart disease. Many factors contribute to these problems, high blood pressure caused by stress, built-up cholesterol leftover from a poor diet, and vascular constriction caused by tobacco use. One side of the double-edged sword of modern medicine is its advances in reactive-style treatment, which has redeemed the lives of millions. However, on the other side, it ignores preventative healing and how an inch of prevention is worth a mile of cure. 

Comparing Treatments

One of the main ways we treat cardiovascular issues is through fast-acting, reliable pharmaceutical medications. The main thing I learned in this class is that the DOSE makes the POISON, so it was interesting to hear the background story of some of these drugs. Rats are resilient creatures able to squeeze through the smallest nooks and crannies. Often, knicking themselves, causing wounds that quickly clot up, but warfarin, a rat poison, stops the clotting process acting as an antagonist to enzymes that produce vitamin K, which is vital to clots forming. Warfarin kills the rat by forcing them to bleed out, but it can be used in humans to stop a deep venous thrombosis from forming with the correct dose. 

There are many routes to healing, and modern allopathic medicine strives at the critical care aspect of treatment. A general rule of thumb for a max heart rate is to subtract the age from a baseline of 220, equaling the max heart rate for the person. If a 30-year-old were tachycardic and had their heart rate resting at around 190, a problem with the timing of the heart, would call for a negative chronotropic drug to slow down the heart rate. If it were a problem traced to their heart's inability to regulate the blood output, then they would be administered a negative inotropic drug to decrease their ejection fraction; it would most likely end with a suffix of -olol. On the other hand, if a patient were bradycardic and had a heart rate floating around 40, they are at risk for heart failure, in which case care depends on the cause. If the heart were experiencing a timing issue, it would receive a positive chronotropic drug increasing the blood output. If it were a problem with the strength of the heart, a positive inotropic drug would get administered to increase the output of blood in the stroke volume; it will most likely end with the suffix -amine. These healing approaches are valid, but there are other ways to treat these issues and not only with regards to diet and exercise. 

Multiple Other Factors

Our psychology has a profound effect on our physiology in more ways than we care to believe. Our nervous system's sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions seem to be the gas and breaks in many aspects of our body. Not only do they affect our physical states, but they play a role in our perception. The opposite is also true; our perception and inner narrative may affect our physical states, like inducing a fear response raising heart rate or seducing a relaxed state lowering blood pressure, the mind plays a key role. 

Limited but Compelling Evidence

A research study titled Understanding the Physiology of Mindfulness: Aortic Hemodynamics and Heart Rate Variability, has made some interesting findings. In the study, with just under 200 students, mindfulness subjects participated in a guided regimen of mindfulness meditation through an app. For the control group, they solely sat down and relaxed. Measures included: pulse wave analysis, heart rate variability, beat-to-beat BP, and BP variability. Eighty percent of participants were female. It was interesting to read how, amongst the qualifying factors, females were screened for the follicular phase of the ovarian cycle to avoid potential variations in pressure wave morphology and cardiac reactivity.  The results found that mindfulness was associated with a decreased systolic time interval and an increased subendocardial viability index, showing efficacy for improving coronary profusion. Though it may not be much, combined with other healing methods it could be extra beneficial.

Conclusion

In summation, we should question our habits and put health at the forefront of our minds. We should use all the tools available to take care of our bodies, from rat poison to mindfulness meditation, and most significantly, we should be mindful about our diet and exercise, or lack thereof.