The present study aimed to analyze the extent to which yoga practitioners (n = 784) live by their faith/spirituality and how this influences their perceived prosocial behaviors. For that purpose, the model of transformational spirituality was applied. This model assumes that people who experience the sacred in their lives change their attitudes and behaviors and take responsibility in the...
Background: Spirituality is a multidimensional construct which includes religious, existentialistic, and relational issues and has different layers such as faith as the core, related attitudes and conviction, and subsequent behaviors and practices. The perceptive aspects of spirituality such as wondering awe are of relevance for both, religious and non-religious persons. These perceptions were...
We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week meditation program (focused meditation) in patients with chronic low-back pain. A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 68 patients (55 years;75% female) with chronic low-back pain who scored >40mm on a 100mm Visual-Analogue-Scale. Subjects were allocated to an 8-week meditation program (focused meditation) with weekly 75min classes or to...
Chronic neck pain is a common medical complaint partly mediated by psychosocial distress and having a high socioeconomic impact. There is preliminary evidence that stress reduction by meditation might be beneficial in chronic pain syndromes. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week meditation program (jyoti meditation) in patients with chronic neck pain by means of a randomized...
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the relevant existing evidence, and critically appraises the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in cancer care. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was conducted in order to investigate the effect of MBSR on quality of life (QoL), mood, and distress. Besides 6 reviews (5 systematic, 1 meta-analytic) which are reported separately, a total of...
Several mind body medicine interventions require an active participation of the practitioners. We intended to develop a questionnaire to operationalize and measure the "inner correspondence" of individuals practicing Yoga or Eurythmy Therapy. In an anonymous cross-sectional study we enrolled 501 individuals (61% yoga). Exploratory factor analysis (study 1) of the 12-item instrument (Cronbach's...
The impact of meditation on cardiorespiratory synchronization with respect to breathing oscillations and the modulations of heart rate induced by respiration (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) was investigated in this study. Four different exercises (spontaneous breathing, mental task, Zen meditation, and Kinhin meditation) were consecutively performed by nine subjects mainly without any...