Key result
Meditation alone or combined with walking reduces state anxiety versus walking alone or sitting.
Why the study?
Does a short bout of walking, meditation, or a combination of both reduce state anxiety in young adults?
RCT (n=110)
Randomized
No
Does a short bout of walking, meditation, or a combination of both reduce state anxiety in young adults?
p-value: p=.01
A brief session of meditation, alone or combined with walking, significantly reduces state anxiety in young adults, whereas a short bout of walking alone does not.
Brief meditation alone or with walking offers a practical option for acute anxiety reduction in young adults; extends mindfulness evidence to brief combined formats.
Introduction: Single bouts of aerobic exercise and meditation have been shown to improve anxiety states. Yet to be evaluated in the literature, we sought to examine the effects of a single, short bout of aerobic exercise or meditation, as well as exercise and meditation combined on state anxiety among young adults. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: University. Subjects: Participants (N = 110, mean age = 21.4 years) were randomly assigned to walk, meditate, walk then meditate, meditate then walk, or to sit (inactive control). Measures: All walking and meditation bouts were 10 minutes in duration. Participants’ state anxiety was monitored before and after the intervention using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. Results: Significant group × time interaction effects were observed ( P = .01). Post hoc paired t tests revealed that state anxiety significantly decreased from baseline to postintervention in the meditation ( P = .002), meditation then walk ( P = .002), and walk then meditation ( P = .03) groups but not the walk ( P = .75) or control ( P = .45) groups. Conclusion: Meditation (vs a brisk walk) may be a preferred method of attenuating anxiety symptomology. Individuals desiring the health benefits associated with aerobic exercise may achieve additional anxiolytic benefits if they employ a brief meditation session before or after exercising.
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Edwards et al. (2017) conducted an RCT in State anxiety (n=110). Walking, meditation, or combination of walking and meditation vs. Sitting (inactive control) was evaluated on State anxiety measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire (p=.01). Meditation alone or combined with walking significantly decreased state anxiety from baseline (P=0.002 to P=0.03), whereas walking alone (P=0.75) or sitting (P=0.45) did not.
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