Three Things Physicians Should Know About Meditation
An earlier version of this article appeared on the KevinMD website in November, 2o23.
Meditation is a hot topic with deep roots, but sometimes it feels like it’s being pushed as a modern-day version of snake oil for what ails the spirit.
The practice is often touted as an antidote to burnout, when in truth most of us know that a meditation app won’t solve the systemic issues that plague healthcare today. It’s no wonder that some physicians might be skeptical.
That’s why it’s exciting that academic researchers have been taking this ancient practice seriously. And they are discovering that meditation can have powerful and measurable benefits for your mental well-being, your memory, and even your physical health.
A quick search on PubMed.gov retrieves thousands of reports and peer-reviewed studies on meditation, the majority of which were published in the past 10 years. Getting a handle on the health benefits of meditation could take you down a fascinating, twisty-turny rabbit hole worthy of Alice in Wonderland.
There are many forms of meditation, but this article will focus on mindfulness meditation. This is sometimes known as Vipassana or insight meditation, although Vipassana is a more specific form of meditation that comes from the Buddhist tradition.
Mindfulness meditation is a form of meditation that focuses on being present in the current moment, slowing down your thoughts, and observing without judgement. These features make mindfulness meditation especially valuable for physicians.
Here are three things that you should know about mindfulness meditation.
Meditation may enhance your skills as a physician.
There is a broad range of research looking at the impact of meditation on neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. For physicians, the ability to focus on the details, remain present for our patients, and maintain equanimity when faced with stressful situations are especially important.
Meditation can help by
Improving the ability of the brain to pay attention to a task
Enhancing body awareness
Helping you to regulate your emotions
Increasing capacity for memory
Boosting your sleep quality
Improving your cardiovascular health
It may be best to meditate in the morning.
Although meditation may improve your sleep quality, there is good evidence that in the short term, mindfulness meditation can actually increase brain arousal. Why does this happen? The theory is that since meditation may help to focus the mind, this can result in heightened awareness and attention. That’s why it may be better for most people to meditate at the beginning of the day.
A five-minute daily meditation can have lasting benefits
Morning might be the best time to meditate, but few of us are willing to wake up 30 minutes early just to sit quietly in a comfortable position. The good news is that a study of stressed-out mental health professionals found that a mere 5 minutes of mindfulness meditation can have important benefits.
How to get started with meditation
Getting started with meditation is easy. Counter to what you might have heard, you don’t have to escape to an ashram or travel to a tropical island to learn how to do it. I’ve written a quick-start guide to meditation for physicians that you can access here.
As with many things, meditation isn’t for everyone. For some, it can even create mental distress. If you find that meditation provokes anxiety or agitation, it may be best to avoid it. And if you’re under the care of a mental health professional, check in with them first before beginning a meditation practice.
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References:
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Fox KC et al. Is meditation associated with altered brain structure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphometric neuroimaging in meditation practitioners. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014 Jun;43:48-73.
Hölzel BK et al. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jan 30;191(1):36-43.
Kozasa, EH et al. Meditation training increases brain efficiency in an attention task. NeuroImage, 2012 Jan; 59: 745-749,
Krittanawong C et al. Meditation and Cardiovascular Health in the US. Am J Cardiol. 2020 Sep 15;131:23-26.
Lam AG et al. Effects of Five-Minute Mindfulness Meditation on Mental Health Care Professionals. J Psychol Clin Psychiatry 2015 March; 2(3): 00076.
Levine, G. N., Lange, R. A., Bairey‐Merz, C. N., Davidson, R. J., Jamerson, K., Mehta, P. K., Michos, E. D., Norris, K., Ray, I. B., Saban, K. L., Shah, T., Stein, R., & Smith, S. C. (2017). Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction. Journal of the American Heart Association, 6(10). https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.117.002218
Pérez-Peña M et al. Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Body Awareness. Brain Sci. 2022 Feb 18;12(2):285.
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Taylor, G. B., Vasquez, T. S., Kastrinos, A., Fisher, C. L., Puig, A., & Bylund, C. L. (2022). The Adverse Effects of Meditation-Interventions and Mind–Body Practices: a Systematic Review. Mindfulness, 13(8), 1839–1856. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01915-6
Youngs MA, Lee SE, Mireku MO, Sharma D, Kramer RSS. Mindfulness Meditation Improves Visual Short-Term Memory. Psychol Rep. 2021 Aug;124(4):1673-1686. doi: 10.1177/0033294120926670. Epub 2020 May 25. PMID: 32448056; PMCID: PMC8242403.
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