Experience matters. So does evidence.
Published research, personal observations, and questions worth exploring. A place to look closely at what we know, what remains uncertain, and what makes me curious.
I want a solid foundation for the ideas I share, and space to explore beyond my current understanding. Here you will find published scientific research, public accounts of personal practice, and my own inquiry, observations, and thoughts—each clearly labelled.
A selected reading foundation, with findings, limitations, and links to the original papers or institutional summaries. These studies have not tested my own sessions. Sources checked 3 October 2026.
A 2014 systematic review examined 47 trials involving 3,515 participants. It found moderate evidence for small improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain with mindfulness meditation programs. Evidence for stress and quality of life was weaker.
A 2023 meta-analysis found a small-to-medium reduction in self-reported stress across 12 randomised trials. The authors called for stronger study designs and caution about overstating the findings.
Brain research asks whether meditation changes brain structure or function. In 2022, two combined randomised controlled trials found no evidence of structural brain changes after an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program.
Energy healing is part of my practice. Its proposed mechanisms deserve the same careful scrutiny as any other explanation. NCCIH reports that Reiki has not been clearly shown effective for any health-related purpose, and that research is often low quality or inconsistent.
Lazar’s work at Massachusetts General Hospital explores meditation and yoga through brain imaging and measures of cognition and behavior. Her research belongs in the scientific conversation, distinct from celebrity testimony.
A 2005 paper she co-authored reported an association between meditation experience and cortical thickness. An association alone cannot show that meditation caused the difference. Read this alongside the later randomised trials above, which found no structural changes after an eight-week program.
Visit the official lab page → · Read the 2005 paper →
Sources: Massachusetts General Hospital, Lazar Lab for Meditation Research; Lazar et al. (2005), Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness, NeuroReport.
Artists and public figures have spoken openly about meditation in their lives. These short editorial summaries link to their interviews or first-person writing. Their experiences are not clinical evidence or endorsements of my services.
In a 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Jackman said he began meditating as an acting student. He described feeling more present and creative, and using meditation during lunch breaks on film sets. His account shows how he incorporates the practice into a demanding working day.
Source: PEOPLE · Cara Lynn Shultz and Mary Park · 13 September 2024. Article: Hugh Jackman Explains Why He Practices Transcendental Meditation.
In an interview with Bob Roth for Success without Stress, Seinfeld discusses more than forty years of meditation practice and his work in television. The source page includes links to the full interview and a shorter excerpt, so you can hear his account directly.
Source: David Lynch Foundation · Success without Stress with Bob Roth, SiriusXM Indie · Jerry Seinfeld section. Publication date not listed. The foundation promotes Transcendental Meditation.
In a message published by his foundation, Lynch described beginning Transcendental Meditation in 1973 and making it a lasting part of his life. His writing expresses the personal importance of the practice and his wish to make it accessible to others.
Source: David Lynch Foundation UK · Message from David Lynch · First-person statement, publication date not listed. This is an advocacy source.
Alongside published research, I want a place for my own explorations: what I read, what I notice, the connections I make, and the thoughts that grow from my experience.
Some ideas may feel logical and meaningful to me without being scientifically established. They may not make sense to you in the same way, and there is room for that here.
I share them as observations, interpretations, and questions—not as findings from a controlled scientific study. I want to remain curious, consider other explanations, and be willing to change my mind.
Some things remain beyond the current scope of scientific understanding, but a logical and scientifically-minded person recognizes that the science we know today is not the science we will know tomorrow.
How many times have you heard, ‘there’s no scientific proof for energy healing, the sixth sense, or chakras’?
The knowledge we have today is not the same knowledge we will have tomorrow.
The math of the past is not the same math we use today.
If you showed a caveman a lighter, they’d think it was magic.
What we call ‘mystery’ is often just knowledge we haven’t explored yet.
#EnergyHealing #SixthSense #Chakras #HolisticHealing
A personal reflection on curiosity and changing knowledge. Scientific knowledge can develop, but that possibility does not itself confirm any particular claim. I hold this thought alongside the evidence and its limits.
Systematic review and meta-analysis: Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being.
Read source →NIH evidence overview: Effectiveness and Safety.
Read source →Meta-analysis: Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health.
Read source →Randomised placebo-controlled trial: Effect of coherent breathing on mental health and wellbeing.
Read source →Two combined randomized controlled trials: Absence of structural brain changes from mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Read source →NIH evidence overview: findings and limitations of research on Reiki.
Read source →This page will continue to grow as the research grows.
© 2026 Inner Revolution by Stefania