can learn to do this, though they cant tell you how. The protocol is simply to provide the person with real-time feedback about any measurable property of his body, and very often the person learns after a number of sessions to make the meter move in the desired direction.Maybe we could learn to express telomerase. Maybe there are other markers of the rate of aging that we could learn to modulate if only they were measured so that we could be offered real-time feedback.The Bottom LineI think there probably is a benefit from meditation for health and longevity, but it is difficult to substantiate this from the available studies. All the evidence is indirect. Perhaps the best justification for my position is that meditation has been found to increase positive affect, and people who are happier live a lot longer (the nun study). There seems to be a connection between chronic stress and aging, but its not about the objective pressures a person is under, but rather the attitude and the way in which the challenges of life are perceived. This is a central theme in the work of Elissa Epel, who first discovered thestress/telomere connection.Studies that come out of Maharishi University are not of high quality, and aside from these there is a regrettable lack of attention to a practice for which there is preliminary evidence of broad psychological and physiological benefits and no down side.For many of us, it is difficult to muster the consistent determination to focus our minds for a practice that we know will make our lives better. Maybe it will help to have the additional motivation that it will also make our lives longer.This entry was posted in Uncategorized by joshmitteldorf. Bookmark the permalink.4 COMMENTS ON MEDITATION AND LONGEVITYH R Reddy on August 19, 2013 at 12:09 am said:After observing good diet regime try to feel and wish good about others. Now follow what society tells you to do which will not cause harm any.Have constant rememberence of the almighty in mind.Do your work as demanded and ignore the consequences.Then you will not face emotions or stress.If one tries to do any thing personal expectations will lead to emotions and its effect on the physiology of the body mechanisms.Forget about the past. Dont imagine for tomorrow , live for today.That is what lord Krishna told Do your duty and leave the rest to me without expectations.What is life and what for one should live? Live as it comes.cReply saijanai on August 21, 2013 at 12:10 pm said:barely statistically significant is an interesting choice of words to use. Can you justify it with reverence to statistical textbooks, I wonder?BTW, here is what the American Heart Association recently said about the effects of TM, mindfulness, and other relaxation/meditation practices on hypertension:http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2013/04/22/HYP.0b013e318293645f.full.pdfBeyond Medications and Diet: Alternative Approaches to Lowering Blood Pressure A Scientific Statement From the American Heart AssociationSummary and Clinical RecommendationsThe overall evidence supports that TM modestly lowers BP. It is not certain whether it is truly superior to other meditation techniques in terms of BP lowering because