This thesis examines the phenomena of meditation sickness as it is presented from historical Buddhist accounts through to contemporary research. I argue that the popular conception of meditation as a purely benign practice does not hold up to the evidence of meditation sickness. This thesis aims to combine historical documentation of Buddhist accounts of meditation sickness with the...
Background. Self-criticism and dependency are established personality vulnerabilities for mood and anxiety disorder onset. Although dispositional mindfulness is associated with lower depressive and anxiety symptoms, its preventive role in disorder onset remains unclear. The present study examined whether dispositional mindfulness facets predict first onset of mood and anxiety disorders, and how...
This research is an attempt to expand the topic of “heart in pedagogy” by exploring how the cultivation of positive emotional states may affect the pedagogical relationality between teacher and student and, ultimately, classroom climate. After all, “we never educate directly, but indirectly through means of the environment” (Dewey, 1944, p. 19). A heartfulness approach in education complements...
Objective Through a randomized treatment-as-usual (TAU) wait-list controlled trial, the current studies examined the feasibility and impact of an online “real-time” synchronous Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) group program for distressed people diagnosed with cancer, who did not have access to in-person MBCR. Sub-analyses combined both the immediate and TAU wait-list groups to evaluate...
Salvia divinorum is a hallucinogenic plant that is used for divination and spiritual communion by the Mazatecs of Mexico. The active component of the plant is salvinorin A, a neoclerodane diterpenoid that selectively acts as a potent κ opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A's novel receptor binding profile makes derivatives of the compound potentially useful in the treatment of various...