Why a Meditation Practice Is Key to Longevity

Meditation is certainly having its moment in the sun. Originally an ancient Eastern practice, meditation has permeated mainstream Western culture.

Meditation, in its purest form, is the practice of observing your inner thoughts in a non-judgmental way.

Meditation’s ability to reduce stress and lower the amount of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the brain has been well-established.

Indeed, emotional stress is a major contributing factor to the leading causes of death in the United States: cancer, coronary heart disease, accidental injuries, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. Indeed, around 180,000 people die each year from some stress-related illness.

Stress and Inflammation

One of the ways that stress physically manifests in the body is through inflammation. Scientific research has repeatedly proven that chronic, low-grade inflammation can turn into a silent killer that contributes to cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions.

The relationship between prolonged stress and inflammation is becoming increasingly clear.

Stress triggers inflammation through several mechanisms involving the body’s physiological and immune responses. Here’s how.

• Hormonal Response: Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol itself can have an anti-inflammatory effect. However, over a long enough time period, chronic stress can lead to cortisol resistance, reducing its effectiveness and, therefore, increasing inflammation.
• Sympathetic Nervous System Activation: Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which releases catecholamines (like adrenaline). These can increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can promote inflammation.
• Immune System Activation: Chronic stress can cause the immune system to overreact, releasing excessive inflammatory cytokines. This response is meant to protect the body in acute situations but can cause harmful chronic inflammation when prolonged over time.
• Oxidative Stress: Stress can lead to oxidative stress, which can damage cells and tissues, triggering an inflammatory response.
• Gut Microbiota: Stress can alter the gut microbiota, leading to increased intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”). This allows toxins to enter the bloodstream, which can lead to systemic inflammation.

Impact of Meditation on Physical Longevity

While everyone from tech billionaire Bryan Johnson to movie star Gwyneth Paltrow is promoting products that help us to live longer, my research shows that there is one free and accessible practice proven to boost longevity. Better yet, anyone can use it anywhere: meditation.

Our collaborative research reveals just how direct the relationship between physical and mental health is and how intensive meditation sessions can improve both. In an observational study of 632 adults, participants were given psychological tests and blood samples after an 8-day intensive Samyama course.

Samyama meditation is a form of focused meditation that emphasizes concentration and tranquility. Practitioners aim to achieve mental clarity and inner peace by maintaining sustained attention on a single object or thought.

The results showed that participants not only benefited from a boosted sense of resilience, joy, and vitality. Their physical symptoms showed significant improvement, too. Body weight decreased by 3 percent, while participants had consistently lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels compared to controls, which are markers of reduced systemic inflammation.

Further studies we have conducted point to just how much of an impact meditation could have on lowering inflammation. The studies showed that a similar 8-day Isha Samyama meditation retreat led to significant changes in blood lipid profiles among 64 participants.

Post-retreat, acylglycines increased, while several lipid types linked to atherosclerosis decreased. These changes suggest benefits in reducing inflammation and improving vascular health, contributing to enhanced physical and mental well-being.

The link between stress and physical health has been well-established. Yet inflammation is increasingly showing itself to be the missing link between the two. Our research showed that intensive meditation practices, like the Isha Samyama practice, can reduce our levels of inflammation over the long term.

Meditation Essential Reads

How to Meditate Without a Formal Routine

Can Meditation Make Microbes Mellow?

Meditation and Psychological Longevity

Of course, longevity is about far more than living longer. It’s about reaching your golden years in a fit mental condition. In short, it’s about having both a healthy body and mind.

The onset of various psychological diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, are related to the decline of connectivity in the brain.

We conducted a study of the impact of an intensive, 8-day Isha Samyana retreat on brain connectivity.

By analyzing the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of the participants and control group, we found that the intensive silent meditation program increased the resting-state functional connectivity between the salience and default mode networks. Similarly, we found that those who had an improved mindfulness score correlated with improved functional connectivity between different brain networks.

While there is a wealth of supplements and diets being touted as the “key to longevity,” we have found that a long-term meditation practice can be crucial to boosting both our psychological and physical longevity.

In short, if you want to live a longer, happier life, consider building a consistent meditation practice today.