Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

In a study involving 75 breast cancer survivors, pranic meditation was observed to significantly improve various aspects of the participants' quality of life and mental health over an 8-week period. The participants, who practiced meditation for 20 minutes twice daily, showed improvements in physical, role, emotional, and social functioning, as well as global health status, fatigue, pain, sleep disturbances, body image, arm symptoms, and breast symptoms. Notably, there was also a reduction in the side effects of systemic therapy and distress caused by hair loss. Mental health benefits included reduced psychic stress, death ideation, performance diffidence, psychosomatic disorders, and severity of mental disorders. Extending the meditation practice to 15 weeks did not yield additional benefits. Despite these positive outcomes, the study's authors call for more rigorous research to confirm pranic meditation as a supportive therapy for cancer patients due to the limitations of the study's design.