Table 2.
Measured biometrics during combined first and last days of meditation compared to non-meditation following it.
| Experienced meditators | Novice meditators | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| During meditation | After meditation | p-value (N) | During meditation | After meditation | p-value (N) | |
| Mean respiratory rate | 12.8 | 14.8 | 0.074 (N = 20) | 14.2 | 17.5 | 0.38 (N = 20) |
| Mean heart rate | 69.2 | 69.8 | 0.95 (N = 20) | 69.5 | 72.3 | 0.90 (N = 20) |
| Mean arterial blood pressure (mmHg) | 99.4 | 101.4 | 0.061 (N = 8) | 96.2 | 99.2 | <0.001 (N = 8) |
| Heart rate variability (RMSSD) | 25.6 | 31.2 | <0.01 (N = 20) | 32.5 | 33.3 | 0.053 (N = 20) |
| Median nuHF HRV | 0.229 | 0.259 | 0.48 (N = 20) | 0.325 | 0.169 | <0.001 (N = 20) |
| Mean lnHF HRV | 11.9 | 11.7 | 0.16 (N = 20) | 12.4 | 12.0 | <0.01 (N = 20) |
| Mean Scaled Meditation Score | 0.400 | 0.287 | <0.0001 (N = 13) | 0.332 | 0.328 | <0.01 (N = 13) |
| Mean Relative Gamma Score | 0.677 | 0.821 | <0.0001 (N = 13) | 0.895 | 0.918 | <0.01 (N = 13) |
RMSSD, Root Mean Square Sequential Differences in RR intervals; nuHF HRV, normalized high frequency heart rate variability; lnHF HRV, natural log high frequency heart rate variability. N values represent number of individuals on day 1.