Flotation, a form of restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST), entails lying in a warm saltwater tank. Evidence links it to lower stress and improved mood, but user characteristics outside trials remain unclear. We profiled flotation users and compared health and lifestyle measures with a population benchmark. Adults were recruited from an online community forum and a flotation...
Background: Chronic pain affects over 25% of U.S. adults and is a leading cause of disability. Mindfulness meditation (MM) is a nonpharmacologic approach to manage pain and improve well-being. Despite mounting evidence supporting its efficacy, MM remains underutilized in medical practice. Understanding physicians' engagement with MM and the barriers they face can inform strategies for...
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mental health disorders contribute to significant healthcare expenses. Lifestyle approaches that empower and enable patients to participate in their recovery are needed with the increasing complexity of cardiac patients. Traditional Tamil medical practice of Siddha self-inquiry meditation targets holistic health through intuitive lifestyle transformation. We...
Anxiety disorders make up the most prevalent class of mental illnesses. Given the growing prevalence of anxiety in the United States and beyond, there is an urgent clinical need to develop nonpharmacologic treatments that effectively treat and reduce its core symptoms (eg, worry). A leading theory posits that although worrying may be unpleasant, the immediate emotions that are avoided by...
Mindfulness has become known to the Western world through mindfulness programs that entail different formal and informal mindfulness practices. To enable initiation and commitment to a practice of mindfulness and to enhance the intrinsic motivation to follow and commit to a more demanding mindfulness program and facilitate a lifestyle adaptation, we argue that associating 1 short, accessible,...
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) teaches the patient to recognize a deteriorating mood with the goal of avoiding self-perpetuating patterns of ruminative, negative thoughts and thus depressive disorders. MBCT was initially conceived as an intervention to prevent relapse of major depression, but it has since been studied in patients with current episodes of depression. MBCT has been...