is there data to support that meditation is beneficial to a person's state of health/happiness?

Answer 1

Research suggests that it lowers hypertension, which is beneficial not only to your mood and mental health, but also protects against cardiovascular diseases.

Answer 2

I advice you to be least bothered about those datas and fact sheets. But, if you want to improve your health and happiness levels try doing meditation daily for a month and see the difference it brings in you. Meditation is the state of mind in which we stop thinking about anything on this earth. Also we start thinking about something supreme and super natural responsible from the core for our existence.

Answer 3

A group of Buddhist monks went to New York City and meditated... and the crime rate dropped.
From experience there is much more to it than just health and happiness.
Those are only side-effects to the real purpose of discovering your true nature.

Answer 4

It's funny that a 'doctor' would consider NASA and the IPCC to be 'liberal sources'. Funny as in you're a joke. I used to be in denial just like you. It's time to admit that we were wrong and accept AGW.

Answer 5

Two studies investigated frontal alpha lateral asymmetry and frontal interhemispheric coherence during eyes-closed rest, Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice, and computerized reaction-time tasks. In the first study, frontal coherence and lateralized asymmetry were higher in 13 TM subjects than in 12 controls. In the second study (N = 14), a one-year longitudinal study, lateral asymmetry did not change in any condition. In contrast, frontal coherence increased linearly during computer tasks and eyes-closed rest, and as a step-function during TM practice-rising to a high level after 2-months TM practice. Coherence was more sensitive than lateral asymmetry to effects of TM practice on brain functioning.

Background: Recent research suggests that the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program has positive effects on health, but little is known about the immediate physiological effects of different components of the program. Purpose: To examine the short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of one of the techniques employed in mindfulness meditation training, a basic body scan meditation. Methods: In Study 1, 32 healthy young adults (23 women, 9 men) were assigned randomly to either a meditation, progressive muscular relaxation or wait-list control group. Each participated in two laboratory sessions 4 weeks apart in which they practiced their assigned technique. In Study 2, using a within-subjects design, 30 healthy young adults (15 women, 15 men) participated in two laboratory sessions in which they practiced meditation or listened to an audiotape of a popular novel in counterbalanced order. Heart rate, cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and blood pressure were measured in both studies. Additional measures derived from impedance cardiography were obtained in Study 2. Results: In both studies, participants displayed significantly greater increases in RSA while meditating than while engaging in other relaxing activities. A significant decrease in cardiac pre-ejection period was observed while participants meditated in Study 2. This suggests that simultaneous increases in cardiac parasympathetic and sympathetic activity may explain the lack of an effect on heart rate. Female participants in Study 2 exhibited a significantly larger decrease in diastolic blood pressure during meditation than the novel, whereas men had greater increases in cardiac output during meditation compared to the novel. Conclusions: The results indicate both similarities and differences in the physiological responses to body scan meditation and other relaxing activities.