Inner Engineering Practices and Advanced 4-day Isha Yoga Retreat Are Associated with Cannabimimetic Effects with Increased Endocannabinoids and Short-Term and Sustained Improvement in Mental Health: A Prospective Observational Study of Meditators

Table 3

Changes in blood biomarkers (endocannabinoids and BDNF) following a 4-day Bhava Spandana Program meditation retreat.

Biomarker	N	Baseline before retreat	Immediately after retreat	Change	value	Effect size	Participants (%) with >20 (%) increase
		Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Anandamide (ng/mL)	142	0.58 (0.16)	0.75 (0.21)	0.17 (0.22)	<0.001	0.77	59
2-AG (ng/mL)	142	2.2 (1.6)	4.2 (3.1)	2.0 (2.8)		0.71	71
1-AG (ng/mL)	142	4.4 (3.3)	14.3 (11.3)	9.8 (10.6)		0.92	92
Total AG (ng/mL)	142	6.6 (4.8)	18.5 (14.2)	11.9 (13.2)		0.90	89
DEA (ng/mL)	142	0.21 (0.07)	0.27 (0.09)	0.06 (0.07)		0.86	60
OLA (ng/mL)	142	22.4 (36.5)	30.9 (45.4)	8.5 (50.7)	0.048	0.17	52
BDNF (pg/mL)	142	17152 (8048)	23097 (5526)	5945 (8414)	<0.001	0.71	53

1-AG = 1-arachidonoylglycerol (degradation product of 2-arachidonoylglycerol); 2-AG = arachidonoylglycerol (unstable in plasma without pH adjustment); total AG = sum of 1-arachidonoylglycerol and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (this is the value that should be used for the estimation of endocannabinoid 2-AG); BDNF = brain-derived neurotrophic factor; DEA = docosatetraenoylethanolamide (novel endocannabinoid); OLA = oleamide (novel endocannabinoid).