Impact of Himalayan Singing Bowls Meditation Session on Mood and Heart Rate Variability – An Observational Study

Abstract

Introduction Scientific evidence has demonstrated the psychological and physiological benefits of meditation. Sound vibrations also improve emotional wellbeing while enhancing the physiological parameters. There is an opportunity to explore the psychological and physiological benefits of Himalayan Singing Bowls (HSB) sound bath meditation, i.e. meditation assisted with sound vibrations. Aim of the Study The study explored changes in mood and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) parameters after a HSB Sound Bath Meditation on healthy individuals. The primary objectives of the study were to understand if a 40 minute long seated HSB Sound Bath Meditation results in significant improvement (a) in positive affect and negative affect, as measured by Positive And Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and (b) in physiological parameters, as measured by Heart Rate Variability. The secondary objective of the study was to understand the impact on various moods as measured by Profile Of Mood States (POMS) Survey. Methods The psychological parameters included changes in Positive and Negative Affect (measured on 77 individuals using PANAS) and changes in specific, positive and negative moods (measured on 17 individuals using POMS) before and after the meditation session. The physiological parameters included HRV parameters such as Heart Rate (HR), Stress Index (SI) and Root Mean Square of Standard Deviation (RMSSD) measuring during the entire session on 15 individuals using the EmWave Pro device. HRV data analysis was conducted with Kubios HRV Premium and all the data was analyzed using paired T-Test. Results All the subjects after meditation showed statistically significant improvement in Positive Affect (mood) and a reduction in Negative Affect (mood). The HRV parameters showed a trend demonstrating overall relaxation with a statistically significant reduction in HR, Stress Index and an increase in RMSSD in the last 5 minutes as compared to the first 5 minutes. Consistent with changes in positive, negative mood and HRV, all the participants showed statistically significant reduction in tension, anger, fatigue, depression and confusion. In terms of positive mood, there was a statistically significant improvement in esteem related affect and an increase (but not statistically significant) in vigor. Conclusion The findings demonstrate that seated HSB Sound Bath Meditation session has a positive impact on the mood related measures. The physiological changes measured during the meditation using HRV parameters indicated a consistent reduction in Heart Rate throughout the meditation and a reduction in overall sympathetic tone and an increase in parasympathetic tone. Thus, HSB can be used to improve both psychological and physiological parameters even after one 40 min session. Future work in this area could explore comparison with a control group and a longer study duration consisting of multiple sessions.