Heroes Not Zombies

I came across an interesting article in the Japan Times on Saturday. The heading was “Relax…it might mean you live longer”. Most of the article was about the emerging research work from the Samatha project about the health benefits of meditation.

It seems almost every week there’s a new story about the health benefits of meditation, but the work this article focused on was the effects on “telomeres”. Telomeres shorten every time a cell divides, and, ultimately the cell dies, so it’s thought that protecting the telomeres from this effect can reduce, or slow, the aging process. The key enzyme responsible for telomere health is called “telomerase”.

It appears that people participating in meditation retreats have significantly higher amounts of telomerase than other people (in control groups). However, the headline of the article is slightly misleading – meditation is an active process. It’s not a form of “relaxation”.

You might like to know that it’s not only meditation which can improve the health of the telomeres – exercise, stress management and writing journals can all do the same. In fact –

in increased sense of control and purpose in life are more important than the meditation itself. Doing something we love, whether meditating or gardening, may protect us from stress and maybe help us to live longer. “The news from this paper is the profound impact of having the opportunity to live your life in a way that you find meaningful.”

I particularly liked the concluding paragraph of the article –

But researchers warn that in our modern, work-obsessed society we are increasingly living on autopilot, reacting blindly to tweets and emails instead of taking the time to think about what really matters. If we don’t give our minds a break from that treadmill, the physical effects can be scarily real.

Aha! Moving from zombies to heroes, huh?!