For practitioners of Dahn Yoga, meditation is a calming activity that engages the senses and strengthens the bond between the mind and the body. According to recent research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, this relaxation technique may also produce pain-relieving effects in the brain.
Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center said that theirs was the first study to show that even an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce patients' sensations of pain. Additionally, the mindfulness exercise decreased activation in the brain regions associated with pain.
"We found a big effect – about a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 percent reduction in pain unpleasantness," said lead author Fadel Zeidan. "Meditation produced a greater reduction in pain than even morphine or other pain-relieving drugs, which typically reduce pain ratings by about 25 percent."
The team used arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging to measure study participants' brain activity. During the scans, researchers placed a pain-inducing heat device on the subjects' legs. Meditation reduced individuals' pain ratings by as much as 93 percent.
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