Can meditation slow down your biological clock?
There are tentative indications that regular meditation is associated with slower biological ageing, but the evidence is still too thin to draw firm conclusions. If you already meditate, there is little reason to stop; just do not expect a proven anti-ageing effect from it.
Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of your chromosomes, and they shorten as you age. Shorter telomeres are associated with a higher risk of disease and death. A meta-analysis of 11 studies found that meditators have, on average, longer telomeres than non-meditators. The average effect was modest: after correcting for an outlier, the effect size was small. More hours of meditation was associated with a greater benefit. The researchers themselves describe the findings as 'preliminary', because the studies differed considerably from one another.
Beyond telomere length, one cross-sectional study looked at the so-called epigenetic clock, a measure of biological ageing based on DNA methylation. In non-meditators over the age of 52, that clock accelerated measurably, whereas experienced meditators did not show that pattern. The more years a person had meditated, the more favourable their score. However, this is observational research: people who meditate for many years may also lead healthier lives in other ways, and those factors are difficult to rule out.
An intensive month-long meditation retreat showed signs of longer telomeres immediately after completion, compared with meditators who had not attended a retreat. Genes involved in telomere maintenance changed in a favourable direction. The effect varied considerably between individuals and the study was small, so this amounts to no more than a tentative indication.
A systematic review of studies in healthy adults found that only two of the five included studies showed a statistically significant beneficial effect on telomere length. The quality of the evidence was rated as moderate. Larger, well-designed studies are needed before anything can be said with greater certainty. Psilocybin as a 'meditation alternative' is purely theoretical at this point: there are no empirical data to support that idea.
Based on one meta-analysis (11 studies, telomere length), one cross-sectional study (epigenetic clock), one randomised retreat study, one systematic review in healthy adults, one association study (158 participants), one MBCR study in cancer patients, one mixed systematic review on religiosity, and one hypothesis paper without empirical data (psilocybin). No large RCTs available. PMIDs: 28889075, 31903785, 29518528, 26963792, 31331401, 34020720, 39760184, 31634774.