Differential Effects of Ethical Education, Physical Hatha Yoga, and Mantra Meditation on Well-Being and Stress in Healthy Participants—An Experimental Single-Case Study

Abstract

Traditionally, yoga is a multicomponent practice consisting of postures, breathing techniques, meditation, mantras, and ethics. To date, only a few studies have tried to dismantle the effects of each of these components and their combinations. To fill this gap, we examined the incremental effects of ethical education and physical Hatha yoga on mantra meditation using a single-case multiple-baseline design. This study was part of a project evaluating the new mind–body program Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification. Fifty-seven healthy participants with no regular yoga or meditation practice were randomly assigned to three baselines (7, 14, and 21 days) and four conditions using a random number generator. The conditions were mantra meditation alone (MA), meditation plus physical yoga (MY), meditation plus ethical education (ME), and meditation plus yoga and ethical education (MYE). All the interventions lasted for 8 weeks and were run consecutively according to baseline length. During the baseline and treatment phases, participants received daily questionnaires measuring their well-being (WHO-5 Well-Being Index), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and subjective experiences. Forty-two participants completed the treatment and were entered in the analyses. We analyzed our data using visual inspection, effect size estimation (Tau-U), and multilevel modeling. Almost all participants showed a longitudinal increase in well-being. Regarding between-group differences, participants who received ethical education exhibited the largest increases in well-being (Tau-U = 0.30/0.23 for ME/MYE), followed by participants in the MY condition (Tau-U = 0.12). Conversely, participants in the MA condition showed no change (Tau-U = 0.07). There was a tendency for the combined treatments to decrease stress. This tendency was strongest in the MY condition (Tau-U = –0.40) and reversed in the MA condition (Tau-U = 0.17). These results emphasize the incremental and differential effects of practicing meditation in combination with other practices from the eight-fold yoga path. This approach is valuable for better understanding the multifaceted practice of yoga.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04252976.

Impact of Meditation–Based Lifestyle Modification on HRV in Outpatients With Mild to Moderate Depression: An Exploratory Study

“…The program has been shown to be feasible and effective for depressive outpatients ( 33 , 34 ). In healthy individuals participating in the MBLM program, incremental and differential effects of practicing various components of the program could be seen, supporting the relevance of multilayered processes as described above ( 35 ).…”

Meditation‐based lifestyle modification in mild to moderate depression—A randomized controlled trial

“…Preliminary clinical studies also suggest additional benefits on well‐being and prosocial behaviour (Andy Smith et al, 2011; Chen & Jordan, 2020). With respect to MBLM, the additive effects of the ethics modules on postural yoga and meditation has already been shown in healthy participants (Matko et al, 2021). In a feasibility study with depressive patients and in the qualitative evaluation for a subgroup of patients in the present study, the ethical component of MBLM was identified as a key factor in individual empowerment and appreciation of one's own strengths (Bringmann et al, 2021a; Bringmann et al, 2021).…”

“…These results could be confirmed in a subsequent qualitative analysis, in which the high relevance of the ethical aspects for the participants and the associated reappraisal of their lives became apparent (Bringmann et al, 2021). Various components of MBLM also increased well‐being and reduced stress in psychologically healthy participants (Matko et al, 2021).…”

Who benefits most? Interactions between personality traits and outcomes of four incremental meditation and yoga treatments

“…We randomised participants across these four conditions and across three baseline lengths (7, 14 or 21 days) using simple random sampling without replacement. A detailed breakdown of the study methods and the four treatments can be found in Matko et al (2021a).…”

“…MBM research so far has shown that people differ in their preferences regarding different psychological treatments (Williams et al, 2016), meditation techniques (Anderson & Farb, 2018;Burke, 2012), and practices of multi-component interventions that they use at home (Carmody et al, 2009). In addition, earlier studies found substantial interindividual variation in response to different contemplative treatments (Matko, Sedlmeier, et al, 2021a;May et al, 2014), and to psychotherapy (Saunders et al, 2019;Stulz et al, 2007). Several researchers pointed out that personality and other personality traits might tremendously influence the effects of meditation and yoga in this regard (Hölzel et al, 2011;Schmalzl et al, 2015;Tang & Braver, 2020).…”