Changes in Microbiota in Healthy Subjects Before and After Meditation Practices in a Controlled Environment

The present study was designed as a single-arm pilot scale to understand the temporal changes in both gut and oral microbiome of the practitioners at a meditation-cum-spiritual retreat in a controlled environment. There was open communication between all the participants before, during and after the retreat. As all the practitioners followed group practices in one location under the supervision of the senior instructors, separate assessment of the adherence of the practitioners to the protocol was not performed. Oral and fecal samples of practitioners were collected at the start (Day0: T1), middle (Day3-5: T2) and end (Day7-9:T3) of the retreat in a sterile containers. Amplicon sequencing was performed from extracted DNA to study changes in microbiome profile during retreat.

Inclusion criteria

• must provide written informed consent prior to initiation of any study procedures
• was able to understand and agreed to comply with planned study procedures (agreed to the collection of specimens (saliva and fecal) before, during and after the study
• male or non-pregnant female greater than 18 years of age at time of enrolment
• must have a distinct Arhatic level (0-5 level) and performed meditation and MTH practices from once a week to more than 3 times a week prior to this retreat

Exclusion criteria

• concomitant disease that requires any medical treatment
• pregnancy
• any antibiotic treatment in the past two weeks
• pediatric population
• clinical apparent infectious disease