"HEARTFULNESS MEDITATION: A PATHWAY TO PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLNESS- A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW"

Abstract

Background: Heartfulness Meditation has been associated with various physiological benefits through its influence on autonomic nervous system regulation and stress reduction. Heartfulness Meditation helps to replace negative thoughts and may relieve stress and depression and promote positive energy. Meditation with deep breathing enables individuals to stay with presence of mind actively and provide more control to regain balance in mind and body. Objective: The purpose of the present systematic review is to identify the effectiveness of Heartfulness Meditation and further examine whether Heartfulness Meditation helps to reduce physiological parameters like heart rate, blood Sugar, blood pressure, and body mass index and psychological parameters like depression, anxiety, stress, and emotions and improve the quality of life among adults. Methods: The literature is systematically searched for studies focusing on heartfulness meditation intervention targeting adults using relevant search terms in major databases such as Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science Core Collection, and PubMed, based on the selection criteria. The relevant existing studies published between 1st January 2010 and 30th March 2025 were included in the present review.   Results: Heartfulness meditation is used in adults for reducing physiological and psychological parameters and improving various outcomes. Based on selection criteria, 20 (twenty) articles were identified and included in the final review. The sample size, intervention duration, and outcome measures have varied based on its study objectives. Overall, the Heartfulness meditation can provide an effective alternative and promising non-pharmaceutical approach to the management of physiological and psychological health of adults. Conclusion: Research indicates that Heartfulness-based meditation may help people with psychological and physiological problems like depression, anxiety, stress, and emotion as well as physiological characteristics like body mass index, blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate. However, there is a need for good quality experimental studies with randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of Heartfulness meditation.