In a unique collaboration between a team of California scientists and Buddhists, researchers have found schoolteachers who underwent a short but intensive program of meditation were less depressed, anxious or stressed than their non-meditating peers.
The study, led by the University of California-San Francisco, also found meditating teachers were more “compassionate and aware of others' feelings.”
Prior studies have found meditation can lower blood pressure, change metabolism and alleviate pain. But the new study was designed to examine the specific emotional changes resulting from the practice that can reduce destructive emotions while improving social and emotional behavior.
The study, published in journal Emotion, involved 82 female schoolteachers between the ages of 25 and 60 years. Researchers said the idea for the study came from a meeting in 2000 between Buddhist scholars, behavioral scientists and emotion experts at the home of the Dalai Lama.
For the study, teachers underwent a 42-hour, eight-week training program learn meditation. At the end of the program, researchers said the teachers were better able to understand the relationship between emotion and cognition, recognize emotions in others, monitor their own emotional patterns and better resolve difficult problems in their relationships.
"The findings suggest that increased awareness of mental processes can influence emotional behavior," said lead author Margaret Kemeny. "The study is particularly important because opportunities for reflection and contemplation seem to be fading in our fast-paced, technology-driven culture."