Effect of Anapanasati Meditation on Thought Patterns and Subjective Well-being Among Orphan Adolescents.

A study of 54 orphan adolescents in Pune, India, found that three months of Anapanasati meditation—a mindful breathing technique—was associated with increases in appraising others' emotions, emotional regulation, sharing feelings with peers, and a sense of a promising future. Content analysis of subjective experiences revealed nuanced changes hinting at enhanced self-awareness and regulation of negative emotions, while other emotional facets remained stable. The findings suggest meditation's transformative potential for emotional well-being in this population.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Over 2000 years old, Anapanasati meditation is the technique of mindful breathing where Anapana is breathing and sati is mindfulness. Anapanasati meditation focuses on training the mind to be sensitive to one or more of the entire body, rupture, pleasure and the mind itself-steadying, satisfying or releasing the mind (Satipathannasutta). Mindfulness can be enhanced with the extensive practice of mindfulness meditation. The study was conducted to see the effect of Anapanasati meditation on orphan adolescents. The total sample size comprised 54 orphan adolescents from the Indian city of Pune, Maharashtra. The population had an equal number of male and female participants. Anapanasati meditation was taught to the adolescents for 3 months. Content analysis was used to analyse the subjective experiences of the individuals over a period of 3 months after inter-coder reliability for the items. Appraisal of others' emotions, emotional regulation, sharing feelings with their peers and a promising future saw a maximum increase after Anapanasati meditation. This content analysis provides valuable insights into the impact of meditation on emotional experiences. While stability is observed in various emotional facets, there are nuanced changes that hint at the transformative potential of meditation, particularly in enhancing self-awareness and regulating negative emotions. These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on meditation's psychological effects and underscore the need for further research to explore the intricacies of emotional changes during and after meditation.