Slaying the Hydra: Integrative Wellness Training Affects Ten Complementary Measures of Stress

The stress someone experiences is influenced by their health, relationships, emotions, habitual patterns of thought, and dozens of other factors. Stress also has wide-ranging consequences on a person's body, mind, and relationships. This complexity suggests that dramatic and sustainable reductions in stress may require an approach that effectively addresses numerous underlying causes simultaneously. Similarly, reductions in stress may be most meaningfully characterized when several complementary markers of stress are measured in parallel. The present randomized, controlled investigation examined changes in ten complementary measures of stress reduction among healthy young adults completing an integrative mindfulness-based health and wellness program. Substantial reductions in stress were observed across subjective, behavioral, neuroendocrine, neural, genomic, and third-party ratings of stress. Additionally, perceived stress and social anxiety were examined at a six-week longitudinal follow-up and revealed that the reductions in stress were not only enduring but continued to improve after the intervention ended.