Here we summarise a long list of proposed mechanisms of meditation that outline how positive change resulting from mindfulness meditation and other meditation practices comes about. In addition to a list of these mechanisms, we also consider different models that offer integrated views on how the mechanisms work and interact, including Buddhist and therapeutic perspectives.
Mechanisms of meditation
The question how meditation brings about positive effects has been asked since the first wave of meditation research in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Arguably the first widely accepted contribution was put forward by Benson and co-workers (e.g. Benson, 1993; Hoffman et al., 1982), who proposed that meditation induces a relaxation response, characterised by a rebalancing of the autonomous nervous system (ANS), with a decrease in sympathetic and an increase in parasympathetic activity – in simplified terms: the calming of the fight-or-flight response and an activation of the rest-and-digest or feed-and-breed response.
