
Okay, -so we’re a ways off from using meditation to invade peoples’ thoughts or flipping tractor-trailers through the air like baby toys the way that Dr. Charles Xavier and Magneto do,
But here’s a BIG hat-tip to the previously-thought woo-woo field of Meditation:
In the first(?) study known to have taken and analyzed blood-samples of people before and after the test,
It turns out that Meditation can Actually Control Something Physical.
Not just your heart-rate, not just your breathing, O2-usage, metabolism, or San-Francisco-tofu-fart-production-quality-control;
Meditation & Yoga Can Actually Control The Expression Of Your Genes.
–So, Epigenetics is the field that studies not just what DNA you have, but how your genes are Actually Expressed.
And up until now, it was always thought the factors contributing were things like the epigenome (doh!), weight, age, bodyfat percent, chronic inflammation, diet, exercise, etc.
And although “The Big S”, Stress, is usually mentioned, there were probably very few people outside Tai Chi classes, and other “Old-Arts” generally laughed-at by modern medicine, suggesting that the Opposite of Stress could have such a big effect.
But there it is: In people who had been practicing ~some form of Meditation-ish art like Yoga for the long-term, they showed Significant Changes in ::drumroll please::
2209 Genes!

BUT WAIT! -It gets better!
In the group of people who were Newly-taught a meditative-art for a time-period as short as two weeks, that group showed differences in ::another drumroll::
1561 Genes!
AND 433 of those were the same as those changed by the Meditation-Pros!
So even NEWBIES can make significant changes with just a little training!
-BOOM!
And The Changes From Meditation & Yoga Seemed To All Be Good Ones, Too!:
Almost all the gene-changes involved were ones that resulted in Increased Metabolism, Lower Stress, Lower Inflammation, Reduced Trauma, Better Insulin Profile, and Improved Immune & Cardiovascular health.
AND it also Did Not Matter the Type of Meditation-like activity! -The genes that The Pros changed were modified by all types of activity: Yoga, Qi Gong, Repetitive Prayer, etc.

So there you go.
You might not be talking jumpers down from a ledge wordlessly, or blasting out of a plastic prison using only a few iron-filings,
But with just a little meditation or yoga training you too can refresh that toxic psycho-social stress right out of your body, through the superpowers buried in your very own mind!
Photo Credits:
Charles and Erik Playing Chess, by Matthew Vaughn, Marvel Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox
“Old theatre dashboard”, by Petr Kratochvila
“Meditation 3”, by T. Boonyarangkul
Links:
• Source: MassGeneral-Study identifies genes, pathways altered during relaxation response practice
• via: Geekosytem
• More Coverage: TheAtlantic | USNews
• Source Study: PlosOne-Genomic Counter-Stress Changes Induced by the Relaxation Response
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