For people who suffer from chronic pain, you might want to consider taking up Zen meditation as a way to reduce it. That’s because a recent cross-sectional study has found that people who practice Zen meditation have a lower sensitivity to pain than non-meditators, regardless of whether or not they are in a meditative state. Previous studies have looked at the benefits of meditation for people who have chronic pain, but this is the first time that scientists looked at what the reason behind why mediators might perceive pain differently.

Zen meditation is known to be an effective way for a person achieve emotional and psychological balance, which in turn can help promote physical well-being. Now experts are looking to it as a way to reduce pain. Researchers brought together an equal number of Zen meditators and non-meditators for the study, which was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

The group, comprised of 10 women and 16 men between the age of 22 and 56 years, were then subjected them to a pain test, which involved a heat source that was gradually increased to a maximum of 53 degrees Celsius. Scientists observed their respective reactions and found that the meditation group was better able to tolerate the higher temperature than the control group. In fact, the tolerance to the pain was well below the maximum threshold for all of the non-meditators.

Furthermore, there seemed to be a noticeable difference in how the two groups reacted to the pain, with the meditators displaying lower pain sensitivity, particularly when actually meditating. The reason for this may be due to the fact that meditation involves slower breathing, which can help the body achieve a more relaxed state. Whatever be the case, the end result was that meditation resulted in a decreased emotional response as well as an 18% reduction in the actual sensation of pain itself.

Zen meditation has been around for thousands of years, tracing its roots back to China. Today the term Zen is ubiquitous in popular culture, and because of this, has lost some of its meaning.

The actual practice of Zen meditation entails the relaxation of the mind and body through a series of sitting positions in order to achieve a state of “oneness” with the nature. People who meditate are said to experience a slowing down of their metabolism, a lowered heart rate, and a clearing of the mind, all in an effort to be “in the moment,” with no thoughts of the past or future, thus achieving a mental state that is clear and calm.