POPULAR: These Schools Are Offering Yoga and Mindfulness Class as an Alternative to After-School Detention “This is a really important finding for the millions of people looking for a fast-acting and non-pharmacological treatment for pain.” “We were really excited to confirm that you don’t have to be an expert meditator to experience these analgesic effects,” said Zeidan. Researchers found that participants who were actively meditating reported a 32% reduction in pain intensity and a 33% reduction in pain unpleasantness.
On the final day of the study, both groups had their brain activity measured again, but participants in the mindfulness group were now instructed to meditate during the painful heat, while the control group rested with their eyes closed.
Members of the control group spent their four sessions listening to an audio book. During these visits, they were instructed to focus on their breath and reduce self-referential processing by first acknowledging their thoughts, sensations and emotions but then letting them go without judging or reacting to them. Members of the mindfulness group completed four separate 20-minute mindfulness training sessions. Participants were then split into two groups.
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After experiencing a series of these heat stimuli, participants had to rate their average pain levels during the experiment. On the first day of the study, 40 participants had their brains scanned while painful heat was applied to their leg. “You train yourself to experience thoughts and sensations without attaching your ego or sense of self to them, and we’re now finally seeing how this plays out in the brain during the experience of acute pain.” “One of the central tenets of mindfulness is the principle that you are not your experiences,” said senior author Fadel Zeidan, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine.