CTET Sep 2014 Unseen Passage in English with mcq quiz
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Meditating can have an almost instant effect on reducing stress, researchers have found. They say three consecutive days of 25-minute sessions can have a dramatic effect. Researchers studied ‘mindful meditation’- the guiding principle is to live more ‘in the moment,’ spending less time going over past stesses and worrying about future problems. Techniques include moving the focus of attention around the body and observing sensations that arise-the so-called ‘body scan’.
A secular practice, it is said to help people recognise and overcome negative thoughts. For the study, the research team had 66 healthy individuals aged 18-30 years old participate in a three-day experiment. Some participants went through a brief mindfulness meditation training program; for 25 minutes for three consecutive days, the individuals were given breathing exercises to help them monitor-their breath and pay attention to their present moment experiences.
A second group of participants completed a matched three-day cognitive training program in which they were asked to critically analyze poetry in an effort to enhance problem-solving skills. Following the final training activity, all participants were asked to complete stressful speech and mathematical tasks in front of sternfaced evaluators. Each individual reported their stress levels in response to stressful speech and mathematical performance stress tasks, and provided saliva samples for measurement of cortisol, commonly referred to as the stress hormone. The participants who received the brief mindfulness meditation training reported reduced stress perceptions to the speech and mathematical tasks, indicating that the mindfulness meditation fostered psychological stress resilience.