Cumulative effect of short-term and long-term meditation practice in men and women on psychophysiological parameters of electrophotonic imaging: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract: Anapanasati is one of the meditation techniques discussed in Buddhism. In this meditation, one focuses one’s attention on bodily sensations caused by incoming and outgoing breath. This study aims to track the cumulative effect of long-term meditators (LTM) and short-term meditators (STM) using electrophotonic imaging (EPI).: To execute the current study, 432 subjects (264 men and 168 women with mean age of 34.36: In both LTM and STM, lower values of stress (activation coefficient) were found in woman meditators as compared to men. In both groups, highly significant gender-related differences were observed in integral area parameter, which measures the overall health of an individual. Integral entropy (index of disorderliness of subtle energy in the body) was fluctuating in both groups in both directions for both genders. It was increasing in LTM group and decreasing in STM group with increasing length of practice.: Women of LTM and STM demonstrated lesser stress than men. Both groups showed cumulative health-related improvement. Moreover, in gender-related analysis woman meditators exhibited more positive improvement in EPI parameters than men.