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by Carrie Heeter, 1/19/2014

Scientific methods used to study yogic-meditative practices document wonderful outcomes but ignore the process and experience of meditation. Today I write about a review of empirical evidence of how meditation practices complement and enhance higher education, conducted by Shapiro, Brown, and Astin (2011). They identified three primary rationales for incorporating meditation into higher education: 1.) Improving Cognition and Academic Performance; 2.) Improving Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being; and 3.) Development of the Whole Person.

Note that assigning someone to meditate twice a day for 18 months may sound like good science, but it does not sound like good meditation. It is actually a very messy intervention. Despite the intention of experimental treatment uniformity, the “uniformity” of a treatment condition of that nature will in no way resemble that neat little gold standard pill.

All of the empirical studies reviewed assume that effects occur when meditation is practiced repeatedly over months, years, or more.  What is the mechanism for over time effects?  Who rejects and who adopts or internalizes regular meditative practice? Science needs to better understand what happens DURING mediation for an individual.

In conclusion, substantial scientific evidence documents myriad benefits of meditation for higher education. But that evidence is built upon meditation-as-a-pill approaches to randomized, controlled trials.  I look forward to reading (and conducting) studies that look more deeply at the nature and process of meditation.

Jha, A., Krompinger, J. and Baime, M.J. (2006). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7, 109-119.

Rani, N.J., & and Rao, P.V. (2000). Effects of meditation on attention processes. Journal of Indian Psychology, 18, 52-60.

Shapiro, S., Brown, K.W. & Astin, J. (2011). Toward the integration of meditation into higher education: A review of research evidence. Teachers College Record 11:3:493-528.

So, K. & and Orme-Johnson, D. (2001). Three randomized experiments on the longitudinal effects of the transcendental meditation technique on cognition. Intelligence, 29, 419-440.