http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725154.300
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If meditation is good, God makes it better
02 September 2005
Rowan Hooper
Magazine issue 2515

Those practising spiritual meditation were more relaxed and better able
to withstand pain than people performing secular meditation, a new study
finds GOD can help you relax, according to a study of meditation. People
practising spiritual meditation were more relaxed and better able to
withstand pain than those performing secular meditation.

College students who volunteered for the study were randomly assigned
to one of three groups regardless of their spiritual beliefs. The 25 students
in the spiritual meditation group were told to concentrate on a phrase
such as "God is love" or "God is peace" during their meditation periods. Those
in the secular meditation group used a phrase such as "I am happy" or "I
am joyful" while the third group were simply told to relax.

Subjects were asked to practise their technique for 20 minutes each day
for two weeks, at the beginning and end of which the researchers used
psychological profiling to assess their mood. They also tested pain
tolerance as measured by the amount of time the volunteers could ...

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