Meditation Practice and Mental Health Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Indian Context

Abstract

Recent technological advancements and changes in social norms have developed significant mental health concern. Meditation, an ancient practice has gained an attention in recent years for its psychological as well as neurological benefits. Hence the objectives of the current study are to inspect the relationship between meditation practice and scores of depressions, anxiety and stress among Indian population. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 200 meditation practitioners (mean age of 22.7 years) were finalized. All the participants were assessed for meditation, depression, anxiety and stress. All the variables were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0. In results, experience of meditation showed an inverse relationship with scores of depressions(p<0.05). Whereas, daily practice of meditation in a week showed a negative relation with anxiety (p<0.01) and with the total of DAS scores (p<0.05). The results concluded as meditation practicesserves as an effective strategy to enhance mental health.