Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2017
Rahil Rojiani, Juan F. Santoyo, Hadley Rahrig et al.
232 citations
Women who took a 12-week college meditation course showed greater decreases in negative affect and larger increases in mindfulness and self-compassion than men. Women's improvements in negative affect were linked to gains in both mindfulness skills and self-compassion, while men showed non-significant increases in negative affect and their affect changes correlated only with the ability to describe emotions, not with experiential or self-acceptance measures. The findings suggest that women may respond more favorably than men to school-based mindfulness training and that tailoring interventions by gender could improve effectiveness.
Psychosomatic Medicine
November 1, 2011
R. Gina Silverstein, Anne-Catharine H. Brown, Harold D. Roth et al.
165 citations
Mindfulness meditation training improved women's ability to quickly register their own physiological responses to sexual stimuli, a skill known as interoceptive awareness. Women who completed a 12-week meditation course also showed better attention, less self-judgment, and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to an active control group. These improvements in interoceptive awareness were linked to reductions in psychological barriers that can interfere with healthy sexual functioning, suggesting mindfulness training may be a promising approach for treating female sexual dysfunction.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
January 1, 2012
Douglas Roberts-Wolfe, Matthew D. Sacchet, Elizabeth Hastings et al.
79 citations
A 12-week mindfulness course increased recall of positive words and improved psychological well-being in university students compared to an active control (music) course. Greater positive word recall was linked to higher well-being and lower depression and anxiety. Mindfulness training may enhance well-being by altering how emotional information is processed, though self-selection could have influenced results.
Asian Traditions of Meditation
October 31, 2016
Harold D. Roth
The classical Daoist textual corpus, often interpreted as abstract philosophy, actually emerged from a tradition centered on specific meditative techniques and goals. These practices included proper posture, breath cultivation, focused attention, and apophatic training to restrict desires, emotions, thoughts, and perceptions, aiming to reveal a deeper reality called the Way. Over time, these self-cultivation methods were seen as beneficial for rulership, connecting the ruler to a correlative web of cosmic energies.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
December 15, 2020
Harold D. Roth
Daoism, China's indigenous religious tradition, is built on a cosmology of the Way (Dao) derived from ancient meditative practices emphasizing focused attention and mental tranquility achieved by systematically emptying consciousness of its normal contents. Key texts like the Laozi and Zhuangzi, supplemented by newly excavated works, describe an 'inner cultivation' practice that develops concentration to empty the mind of thoughts, desires, emotions, and perceptions. This leads to self-transcending experiences of complete union with the non-dual Way, followed by a transformed cognition enabling spontaneous, harmonious action. These methods formed a contemplative stream within Daoism, with continuities detailed by Louis Komjathy.