Scientific Reports
May 19, 2026
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
Abstract Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in Australia and New...
Current Opinion in Psychology
February 1, 2026
Karin Matko, Nicholas T. van Dam
4 citations
Despite the growing popularity of mindfulness, mindfulness-based programs (MBPs), and meditation, potential harms have largely been overlooked. Recent studies reveal that 25-87 % of those who engage in meditation report adverse effects (AEs), with 3-37 % experiencing functional impairment (e.g., inability to work). It remains unclear to what extent AEs reflect transitory discomfort vs. lasting...
October 20, 2025
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
preprint
Introduction: Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. Methods: We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in...
Mindfulness
December 1, 2023
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier
Abstract Objectives Meditation encompasses a variety of techniques, but little is known on how and for whom they work. This study explored potential mechanisms of four different meditation techniques in beginners and which technique might be suited for whom. Method Using an experimental single-case design, we compared the longitudinal effects of concentrative, humming, observing-thoughts, and...
Journal of Clinical Medicine
May 31, 2023
Karin Matko, Meike Burzynski, Maximilian Pilhatsch et al.
5 citations
Chronic pain is a growing worldwide health problem and complementary and integrative therapy options are becoming increasingly important. Multi-component yoga interventions represent such an integrative therapy approach with a promising body of evidence. The present study employed an experimental single-case multiple-baseline design. It investigated the effects of an 8-week yoga-based mind-body...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
September 17, 2022
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier, Holger C Bringmann
17 citations
Yoga is an embodied contemplative practice considered as a path toward long-term well-being, which fosters an integrated processing of bodily and emotional stimuli. However, little is known about how the different components of yoga contribute to these processes. This was the aim of this single-case multiple-baseline study. Herein, we explored how different yoga components affect body...
Journal of Clinical Medicine
August 4, 2022
Karin Matko, Anne Berghöfer, Michael Jeitler et al.
Mind-Body Medicine (MBM) includes a broad range of interventions with proven preventive and clinical value, such as yoga and meditation. However, people differ in their preferences and response to different MBM treatments and it remains unclear who benefits most from what type of practice. Thus, finding moderators of treatment outcome seems to be a promising approach. This was the aim of the...
September 15, 2021
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier, Holger C Bringmann
3 citations
preprint
Yoga is an embodied contemplative practice entailing multiple components, such as ethical teachings, postures, breathing practices, and meditation. Little is known to date how these different components affect aspects of embodied cognition. This single-case multiple-baseline study explored the differential and incremental effects of four different combinations of yoga components on body...
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
June 29, 2021
Holger C Bringmann, Jill Vennemann, Julianne Gross et al.
Background: Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification (MBLM) is a new mind–body intervention that is based on classical yoga; it implements virtue-based ethical living, physical yoga, and meditation in a therapeutic context. This qualitative study aimed at understanding better how depressive patients who received MBLM as a treatment experience intra- and interpersonal outcomes of their practice....
Frontiers in Psychology
2021
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier, Holger C Bringmann
Traditionally, yoga is a multicomponent practice consisting of postures, breathing techniques, meditation, mantras, and ethics. To date, only a few studies have tried to dismantle the effects of each of these components and their combinations. To fill this gap, we examined the incremental effects of ethical education and physical Hatha yoga on mantra meditation using a single-case...
Mindfulness
November 30, 2020
Karin Matko, Ulrich Ott, Peter Sedlmeier
Meditation is an umbrella term for a vast range of contemplative practices. Former proposals have struggled to do justice to this variety. To our knowledge, there is to date no comprehensive overview of meditation techniques spanning all major traditions. The present studies aimed at providing such a comprehensive list of meditation techniques. In a qualitative study, we compiled a collection...
Frontiers in Psychology
October 15, 2019
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier
Meditation is an umbrella term, which subsumes a huge number of diverse practices. It is still unclear how these practices can be classified in a reasonable way. Earlier proposals have struggled to do justice to the diversity of meditation techniques. To help in solving this issue, we used a novel bottom-up procedure to develop a comprehensive classification system for meditation techniques. In...
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier, Holger Carl Bringmann
preprint
Traditionally, yoga is a multicomponent practice consisting of postures, breathing techniques, meditation, and ethics. To date, only a few studies have tried to dismantle the effects of each of these components and their combinations. To fill this gap, we examined the incremental effects of ethical education and physical yoga on mantra meditation using a single-case multiple-baseline design....