Meditation Practice Improves Short-Term Changes in Heart Rate Variability

BACKGROUND: It is well known that meditation improves the physical and psychological condition of its practitioners. This study investigated the heart rate variability response of meditation practitioners in two Chan master teaching environments, namely face-to-face and video classes. METHODS: Experimental sessions were conducted, one featuring face-to-face classes and the other featuring video classes. The difference in participants' physiological parameters (blood pressure and heart rate variability) between the two experimental sessions was determined. In the first session, physiological parameters were recorded twice, before and after one teaching course, and the second session took place one month after the first. The first and second sessions had 45 and 27 participants, respectively. Those involved in the first experiment had no experience with meditation, whereas participants in the second experiment had practiced meditation for an average of 9 years (range = 1 to 27 years). Both experiments were conducted once a week, with each session lasting 1.5 h. RESULTS: For both experiments, both heart rate and heart rate variability by age significantly decreased after one teaching course. CONCLUSIONS: Chan meditation practitioners benefit from receiving both face-to-face and video class teaching from a Chan master.