Abstract

Poor mood and elevated anxiety are linked to increased incidence of disease. This study examined the effects of sound meditation, specifically Tibetan singing bowl meditation, on mood, anxiety, pain, and spiritual well-being. Sixty-two women and men (mean age 49.7 years) participated. As compared with pre-meditation, following the sound meditation participants reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed mood (all Ps <.001). Additionally, participants who were previously naïve to this type of meditation experienced a significantly greater reduction in tension compared with participants experienced in this meditation (P < .001). Feeling of spiritual well-being significantly increased across all participants (P < .001). Tibetan singing bowl meditation may be a feasible low-cost low technology intervention for reducing feelings of tension, anxiety, and depression, and increasing spiritual well-being. This meditation type may be especially useful in decreasing tension in individuals who have not previously practiced this form of meditation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5871151/

Results

There were significant differences between pre- and posttreatment for all subscale variables on the POMS, HADS, and FACIT measures (Table 2). Eta-squared revealed a large effect size for all subscale variables, except the FACIT Faith subscale, which demonstrated a moderate to large effect size. An effect for these variables was also observed by age (see Table 3). Individuals in the age group 20 to 39 years displayed the largest change in tension, with a mean score of 1.6 at baseline and a mean of 0.2 posttreatment, followed by those in the age group 40 to 59 years who had a tension mean of 1.3 at baseline and 0.2 posttreatment (P < .05).