How does prayer affect your body and brain? Scientific studies provide answers.

Muslims perform the five daily prayers at specific times because it is an obligation from God. Prayer includes a series of physical movements such as standing, bowing, and prostrating, along with a state of reverence and spiritual focus. During prayer, the worshipper turns away from worldly concerns and directs their thoughts toward the hereafter, dedicating these moments to connecting with God and relieving the burdens of daily life.

In recent years, this religious practice has attracted a number of researchers to shed light on it, to identify its potential health effects, and to try to understand whether Islamic prayer can have measurable physical and mental health outcomes.

In her book “Contemporary Islamic Perspectives on Public Health,” published by Cambridge University Press, author Janine Owens analyzes regular prayer in its Islamic sense from a public health perspective, stating that prayer is a “holistic health practice” due to its connection with physical and mental health.

Body and soul

In the chapter “Islamic Prayer and Health,” Owens stated in her conceptual analysis of prayer that the physical effect of the regular bodily movements involved in prayer leads to repeated contraction and stretching of muscles and joints, which improves joint flexibility and mobilizes a diverse range of muscles.

As for “mindfulness,” which is one of the pillars of prayer, the author stated that it has a great effect on calming racing thoughts, reducing stress, and improving emotional regulation.

The researcher concluded in her presentation that regular, repeated daily prayer, which contains a high degree of mental focus and psychological tranquility, supports the ability to cope with stress, improves psychological stability, and enhances the sense of meaning and purpose in life.

What happens in your brain during prayer?

While researcher Owens’s approach stands out as a conceptual and analytical model for observing the effect of prayer, the question arises: Do anatomical and observational studies agree with her conclusions?

In 2014, a research group published a study on the effect of prayer on electroencephalography (EEG) in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The study included 30 healthy Muslim men who prayed regularly. EEG and heart rate measurements were performed on each individual during prayer to measure electrical activity in the brain, focusing on alpha waves, which are associated with states of mental focus and psychological calmness, and heart rate variations, which are associated with the activity of the autonomic nervous system and reflect tension and relaxation.

The measurement was taken in three stages, before, during and after prayer, and the researchers observed an increase in alpha wave activity and a difference in heart rate, very similar to what happens during meditation, breathing exercises and mindfulness exercises.

For your brain health… prolong your prostration

Muslims prolong their prostration during prayer because it is a position in which supplications are most likely to be answered. In 2019, a team of researchers published a study that aimed to explore the effect of the prostration position on the activity of the prefrontal cortex in the brain, the area responsible for important functions such as decision-making, emotional regulation, planning, and concentration.

The study, published in the Neuroscience Journal, included 10 healthy individuals of both sexes. Researchers asked them to remain in a prostration position for 10 seconds, and concluded that prostration led to an increase in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, indicating increased activity in this area of ​​the brain.

Although it is a preliminary study conducted on a small sample, the researchers see it as a good starting point. By analyzing data from the Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technique, the researchers believe that the indicators suggest that the prostration position may increase blood flow to the brain because the head is below the level of the heart. It also helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system associated with relaxation, and improves regulation since the prefrontal cortex is responsible for controlling emotions and decision-making.