Research has shown that
subjects who practiced meditation performed significantly better
in tasks requiring attention and demonstrated greater reductions
in stress than did a control group [22,25,30]. Meditation has been
used in medical approaches to stress management and mental
disorders. In addition, loving-kindness meditation, which facilitates
the transformation of anger into compassion, was associated
with significant reductions in pain and psychological distress [3].
Understanding of the mechanisms by which meditation practice
affects stress and the body may be enhanced by measuring levels
of plasma catecholamines, as these substances (norepinephrine