The Interrelated Physiological and Psychological Effects of EcoMeditation: A Pilot Study

Outcome study 👥 34 participants Preliminary ✓ Source-checked 📍 United States

In plain English. Thirty-four people at a weekend meditation-based workshop had their stress hormones, blood pressure, and mood tracked before and after. Their stress hormone cortisol dropped by almost a third, pain eased by more than 40%, and anxiety and depression both fell significantly - though the drop in PTSD symptoms didn't quite reach statistical significance in this small sample. A 3-month follow-up sample was too small to draw conclusions from, so the durability of these effects remains an open question.

What they found

Thirty-four people at a weekend meditation-based workshop had their stress hormones, blood pressure, and mood tracked before and after.

Significant reductions were found in cortisol (-29%, P < .0001), resting heart rate (-5%, P = .0281), and pain (-43%, P = .0022); anxiety and depression declined significantly (-26% and -32%, both P = .0159 or better), while the PTSD decline (-18%) did not reach statistical significance.

How the study worked

Who took part adults attending a weekend meditation-based workshop combining elements related to EFT practice (n=34)

What they did Participants received tapping and were measured before and after, without a separate comparison group.

Measured with cortisol, salivary immunoglobulin A (SigA), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, resting heart rate, anxiety, depression, PTSD, happiness, pain

⭐ Why this study matters

This study didn't just ask people how they felt — it drew saliva for cortisol and immune markers, put a cuff on their arm, and tracked heart rate and heart rate variability, all objective readouts of the body's stress machinery. Cortisol fell by nearly a third, resting heart rate dropped, and pain eased by more than 40%, all with statistically significant results, a rare case where multiple independent biological systems — hormonal, cardiovascular, immune — moved together in the same calming direction.

💡 Where this could help

If a pattern like this — cortisol, heart rate, and pain all easing together — holds up in a controlled trial, it points to real potential for people juggling chronic stress and physical pain who can't easily access ongoing therapy or bodywork: a free, self-taught practice that appears to touch multiple stress-related systems in one sitting, usable anywhere without special equipment.

🔬 What to study next

With cortisol, SigA, HRV, blood pressure, and resting heart rate all measured in the same people, the next step is to formally map the cascade — does the cortisol drop happen first and the HRV rise follow, or do they shift together? Adding a wearable to track HRV continuously across the weekend workshop, plus a 3-month follow-up sample large enough to actually analyze, would show whether this is a same-day physiological reset or the start of a lasting change, and whether the biomarkers stay linked to the anxiety, depression, and pain improvements over time.

The full record

Design	Outcome study
Participants	34 people
Population	adults attending a weekend meditation-based workshop combining elements related to EFT practice
Outcome measures	cortisol, salivary immunoglobulin A (SigA), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, resting heart rate, anxiety, depression, PTSD, happiness, pain
Journal	Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine
Year	2018
Country	United States
Language	English
Method	EFT / Tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Groesbeck, G., Bach, D., Stapleton, P., Banton, S., Blickheuser, K., & Church, D. (2018). The Interrelated Physiological and Psychological Effects of EcoMeditation: A Pilot Study. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X18759626

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/Tapping. Explore more studies on Anxiety · Depression · PTSD & Trauma · Stress & Cortisol · How It Works (Biology) · Pain