Key points
- Mindfulness is highly likely to have positive impacts on sleep
- Mindfulness meditation reduces symptoms of IBS
- It might also improve markers of inflammation, immunity, and reduce biological aging
Mindfulness and health are now considered to go hand-in-hand. Meditation is generally considered to be a health-promoting activity resulting in increased wellbeing, reduced cognitive reactivity, reduced stress, and improved eating behaviours, and is commonly recommended in integrative health programs. Additionally, while the evidence is somewhat inconsistent at this time, there is a likely benefit for improved sleep, immunity, and stress-related conditions, especially those of the gut such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Mindfulness and sleep
Mindfulness and meditation target key risk factors of poor sleep, such as awareness, control, and most importantly acceptance (especially of the things you can’t control!)1
Meditative practices such as ‘mindfulness-based stress reduction’ (a meditation practice based originally drawn from Eastern traditions like Buddhism and now used as a medical intervention) is likely to improve sleep quality as much or more as other active interventions, and more than passive ‘control’ actions.2-4 Similarly, mindful movement practices like meditation, yoga, chi gong, and Pilates have been shown to have beneficial effects on sleep quality, along with improvements in quality of life, physical performance, and depression,5, 6 and might help to reduce chronic pain and improve sleep quality in people with chronic illness.7
Earlier reviews noted a lack of consistency among trials and a lack of a clear effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep, while also noting that mindfulness tends to be associated with improved sleep and aspects of health like stress that interfere with sleep.2 Later (2019) reviews of both the theory and evidence supporting mindfulness for improving sleep noted the same issues but suggested that mindfulness could target several of the risk factors for poor sleep,1 and that they might improve sleep quality,3 and thus is promising for the improvement of sleep and by extension, overall health.
Stress-related and gut conditions
Mindfulness meditation reduces the severity of IBS.8
Mindfulness & Immunity
A reviews of the evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation might improve markers of inflammation, immunity, and reduce biological aging.9
Interested in Kick-Starting your health and incorporating mindfulness, diet, and exercise into your life?
References
1. Shallcross AJ, Visvanathan PD, Sperber SH, Duberstein ZT. Waking up to the problem of sleep: can mindfulness help? A review of theory and evidence for the effects of mindfulness for sleep. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2019;28:37-41.
2. Winbush NY, Gross CR, Kreitzer MJ. The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Sleep Disturbance: A Systematic Review. EXPLORE. 2007;3(6):585-91.
3. Rusch HL, Rosario M, Levison LM, Olivera A, Livingston WS, Wu T, et al. The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2019;1445(1):5-16.
4. Wang Q, Zhang X, Wang Q, Zhang W. Interventional effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction on perceived stress and sleep disturbance in cancer patients: a systematic review. Chongqing Medicine. 2017;46(25):3547-50.
5. Wang F, Eun-Kyoung Lee O, Feng F, Vitiello MV, Wang W, Benson H, et al. The effect of meditative movement on sleep quality: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2016;30:43-52.
6. Zeichner SB, Zeichner RL, Gogineni K, Shatil S, Ioachimescu O. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, Mindfulness, and Yoga in Patients With Breast Cancer with Sleep Disturbance: A Literature Review. Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research. 2017;11:1178223417745564.
7. Zou L, Yeung A, Quan X, Boyden SD, Wang H. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness-Based (Baduanjin) Exercise for Alleviating Musculoskeletal Pain and Improving Sleep Quality in People with Chronic Diseases. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018;15(2):206.
8. Jufang H, Gong H, Zhang C, Zhang Z, Wang W, Tian J. A systematic review of intervention effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on irritable bowel syndrome. Chinese Mental Health Journal. 2018;32(2):106-11.
9. Black DS, Slavich GM. Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2016;1373(1):13-24.
