Mindfulness meditation can put pain-relieving pills to shame

As it turns out, mindfulness meditation can prove to be an effective alternative to usual drug-based pain relieving pills and are especially useful to those suffering from chronic pain, a new research has found.

As it turns out, mindfulness meditation can prove to be an effective alternative to usual drug-based pain relieving pills and are especially useful to those suffering from chronic pain, a new research has found.

Mindfulness meditation, an essential element of Buddhist practice, involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and bringing your attention to the present moment.

It is especially useful for those who have built up a tolerance to opiate-based drugs and are looking for a non-addictive way to reduce their pain, the researchers said.

Mindfulness meditation does not employ the endogenous addictive opioid system to reduce pain, rather it uses the body’s naturally made opioids as an alternative therapy.

Mindfulness meditation does not employ the endogenous addictive opioid system to reduce pain, rather it uses the body’s naturally made opioids as an alternative therapy.

“Our finding was surprising and could be important for the millions of chronic pain sufferers who are seeking a fast-acting, non-opiate-based therapy to alleviate their pain,” said Fadel Zeidan, assistant professor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in the US.

Read: Want to relieve pain? Meditation works better than placebo

The results of the study involving 78 volunteers showed that even when the body’s opioid receptors were chemically blocked, meditation still was able to considerably reduce pain.

Pain ratings also were reduced by 21% in the meditation group that those who received the placebo-saline injection.

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