Effects of meditation practice on body balance training

Objectives Meditation may help athletes to reach better results, however measuring only sport results makes it difficult to disentangle the specific effects of meditation contributing to performance. We conducted this study to evaluate if meditation practice, along with stability exercises, may improve body balance, a basic skill relevant for action execution and performance. Methods 81 high school students were trained in body balance for six weeks through balance and stabilization exercises and to stand on a fit-ball. 42 of them were trained in meditation, practiced during the same six weeks (meditation group), the remaining 39 did not (control group). Results Core stability, tested before and after the training period, improved in both groups to a comparable extent. On the other hand, the meditation group developed a much greater skill on fit-ball compared to the control group, on average their falling rate was almost 1/3 (34.8%; highest Bayesian posterior probability 94% density interval: 17.6–52.3%). Conclusions The results indicate that for more difficult tasks meditation can increase learning and execution, and suggest that introducing meditation in athletes’ training routine may be of value for balance control and performance.