Meditation
Seated or guided practice — mindfulness, transcendental, loving-kindness, body scan or open awareness. Recorded by duration and style, since they are not interchangeable.
Recovery practices
Research records
Historical source snapshot. Not freshly verified, not a recommendation. Study findings, community accounts and app defaults are not interchangeable.
Publication suitability · 2026-10-15: Historical reference only; not a clinical verification. Clinical, regulatory, efficacy, safety and dose claims are not independently established by this review.
Meditation
Seated or guided practice — mindfulness, transcendental, loving-kindness, body scan or open awareness. Recorded by duration and style, since they are not interchangeable.
Evidence category: Systematic review. This describes the source category, not approval or certainty.
Regulatory statement in source: Not separately recorded; do not infer approval from the evidence category.
A systematic review of 47 trials with 3,515 participants found moderate-strength evidence that mindfulness meditation programmes reduce anxiety, depression and pain, and low-strength evidence for stress and mental health-related quality of life, with no evidence of benefit for sleep, weight or substance use. A review of 38 randomised trials in chronic pain found low-quality evidence of a small reduction in pain, plus improvements in depression symptoms and quality of life. A meta-analysis of six trials in irritable bowel syndrome found better quality of life and less pain, while the symptom score was not significantly changed.
Benefits reported in the imported source
- Moderate-strength evidence across 47 trials for less anxiety, depression and pain.
- In chronic pain, pooled trials found a small pain reduction plus better mood and quality of life.
- In irritable bowel syndrome, quality of life and pain improved.
Risks and limits
- No evidence of benefit for sleep, weight, attention, positive mood or substance use.
- The chronic pain evidence was rated low quality and the effect was small.
- The irritable bowel symptom score itself did not change significantly.
Source bottom line: Mindfulness meditation has moderate evidence for anxiety, depression and pain, and none for sleep, weight or substance use.
Uncertainty: Reference information only. Not medical advice.
Study protocols — reports, not instructions
adults with chronic pain across 38 randomised trials
- Reported regimen
- mindfulness programmes, MBSR in 21 trials and MBCT in 6, combining classroom instruction with home practice; 29 of 38 ran for 8 weeks
- Duration
- 3 to 12 weeks
- Reported outcome
- Low-quality evidence of a small pain reduction (SMD 0.32) with improvements in depression symptoms and quality of life.
- Source
- Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Hilton et al. 2017)
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:recovery:meditation/protocols/0
3,515 participants across 47 randomised trials with active controls
- Reported regimen
- MBSR programmes of 20-27.5 hours over 8 weeks, other mindfulness programmes about half that, and transcendental meditation of 16-39 hours over 3-12 months
- Duration
- 3 to 15 weeks for mindfulness programmes; 3 to 12 months for mantra programmes
- Reported outcome
- Moderate evidence of improved anxiety, depression and pain; no evidence of benefit for sleep, weight, attention, positive mood or substance use.
- Source
- Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Goyal et al. 2014)
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:recovery:meditation/protocols/1
adults with irritable bowel syndrome across six randomised trials
- Reported regimen
- 8-week programmes with weekly group sessions of 1.5 to 2.5 hours, MBSR in five trials and MBCT in one, two adding a 3-4 hour retreat
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Reported outcome
- Quality of life, mindful awareness and pain improved; the IBS symptom score change was not statistically significant (p = 0.054).
- Source
- Meditation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Baboș et al. 2022)
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:recovery:meditation/protocols/2
Community and practice descriptions
Accounts of a practice are not evidence of safety or effectiveness. Words such as “standard”, “safe” or “recommended” describe the source account, not verified consensus or this wiki’s advice. Commercial and self-published citations are retained for traceability, not vendor endorsement or independent clinical corroboration.
Unverified imported account — How to Meditate - Mindful
An imported authored paraphrase, not a quotation or a recommended protocol.
Review: unverified historical account. The imported wording is preserved for attribution; its full clinical, dosing, efficacy or consensus claims have not been independently established. Described practice context only; no clinical benefit or safety outcome is inferred.
Imported wording: A mindfulness practice guide describes a short seated session of five to ten minutes, with attention on the breath and a return to it when the mind wanders.
Historical research outcome: verified-description · 2026-10-06
Rechecked the previously published description against live source content. The live Mindful guide describes a short seated practice with attention to breathing and returning attention when distracted. The text attributes the practice to this guide, not a measured population frequency.
- https://www.mindful.org/how-to-meditate/: verified-description — The live Mindful guide describes a short seated practice with attention to breathing and returning attention when distracted. The text attributes the practice to this guide, not a measured population frequency.
Pharmacokinetic context
No half-life recorded in this source snapshot. No value has been inferred.
Source references
- Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Hilton et al. 2017)
- Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Goyal et al. 2014)
- Meditation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Baboș et al. 2022)
- PubMed: mindfulness meditation (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)
Snapshot provenance
Source ID: catalog:recovery:meditation. Commit: adc7684614f9439b41d91a3312b62e7982c7e20e. Review state: historical-not-reverified. Authored links are retained separately from the canonical evidence links in the public data. App templates/defaults and rejected drafts are archived, not deployed.
Related entries and components
None listed.