Mindfulness meditation increases heart rate variability (HRV), reduces stress, and improves sleep quality, but the effects vary across HRV metrics.
Effects of mindfulness on HRV were inconsistent, with some measures showing increased HRV and some no effect.Heart rate variability typically increases with parasympathetic activation and decreases with sympathetic activation . The autonomicpractice on HRV in a naturalistic setting, exploring both acute and chronic changes. The study also assessed how mindfulness affects respiratory rate. Mindfulness involves frequently refocusing, potentially leading to higher daytime and nighttime HRV.
The study included 30 participants in each group: mindfulness, music control, and non-intervention control. Two-thirds of participants were female. Random assignment was used, but the researchers were not blinded to group allocation. Participants were excluded if they had prior mindfulness experience,illness, or used certain medications. HRV was continuously measured for 48 hours before and after the intervention.
Mindfulness increased daytime RMSSD, but there were no significant changes in HF-HRV or the LF/HF ratio. Similarly, mindfulness increased nighttime RMSSD without significant changes in HF-HRV or the LF/HF ratio.Both mindfulness and music produced acute increases in RMSSD, but only mindfulness significantly reduced respiratory rate during practice.Source: Kirk U, Axelsen JL Heart rate variability is enhanced during mindfulness practice: A randomized controlled trial involving a 10-day online-based mindfulness intervention. PLOS ONE 15: e0243488.
Adequate compliance with the interventions was verified, though there was some variability in adherence. There was a moderate positive correlation between the amount of mindfulness practiced and increases in RMSSD, suggesting that greater practice led to larger improvements in parasympathetic activity. Similar trends were observed in the music group.The results indicate that mindfulness may enhance HRV and reduce stress, but the findings were inconsistent across different HRV measures.
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