Comparative Analysis of the Level of Contentment Before and After the Practice of Meditation
Abstract:
Objective: To carry out a comparative analysis of the level of contentment of people before and after the practice of meditation.
Methodology: The study was carried out among a randomly selected sample of 50 people who have done meditation for at least three months in Kozhikode District of Kerala. Data was collected using a questionnaire which contained the measure of contentment, the characteristics of the respondents such as age, marital status, period of meditation practice, whether they had any psychological problems or any other problems during the past six months. The data was analyzed as percentages and through statistical test.
Results: The findings show that after meditation practice, more number of people experienced the positive contentment items and less number experienced the negative items considered under the study, when compared to before doing meditation. This is also reflected in the higher contentment scores after the start of meditation than before starting it, with statistically significant difference in the scores. Meditators reporting psychological problems and other problems in life during the past six months obtained a lower contentment score than those who had no such problems, with statistically significant difference in the scores. Respondents with 16 months of meditation practice obtained a higher contentment score than those who have done meditation for 3 to 10 months, with statistically significant difference in their scores
Conclusions: The study has revealed that meditation has helped in improving the level of contentment of people, when compared to before the start of meditation. It would be useful if the institutions carrying out research on meditation, yoga etc. transfer the results to people through appropriate means so that more people could be motivated to practice them and achieve mindfulness and better wellbeing in their lives.
