Cardiovascular and affective responses to speech and anger: Proactive benefits of a single brief session of mindfulness meditation

Purpose This pilot study evaluated whether a brief, 5-min single-session of mindfulness meditation (MM) training could lessen cardiovascular and affective reactivity to speech and anger recall. Moreover, we tested if trait levels of perseverative cognitions (PCs) moderated these relationships. Methods Participants completed online survey measures including PCs; thereafter, they completed a 5-min resting baseline, 2-min speech task, and 5-min anger recall task while measures of BP were collected. The experimental group received a 5-min MM training session before the resting baseline period. Results Repeated measures ANOVA were conducted for condition (MM vs. control) and period (repeated: baseline, speech, anger recall) on blood pressure (BP). The MM group showed less systolic and diastolic BP reactivity during speech and anger recall than the control group. There were no effects observed for negative affect nor did PCs moderate the BP findings. Conclusion Thus, even 5 min of MM training can have momentary cardiovascular benefits, having important implications for the training and implementation of MM programs.