Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2013
Yung-Jong Shiah, Dean Radin
Drinking oolong tea that had been intentionally treated by Buddhist monks improved mood more than drinking ordinary tea from the same source. Over seven days, 189 Taiwanese adults in Kaohsiung recorded their mood each evening. On three of those days, participants drank 600 mL of tea twice daily. One group blindly received tea treated with good intentions; the other received untreated tea. Those who drank the treated tea showed a greater mood increase (Cohen's d = 0.65). Believing one was drinking treated tea also produced a large mood improvement, but only when actually drinking the treated tea, suggesting that belief and the intentional treatment interact.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2013
Rupert Sheldrake
Materialism—the claim that all reality is physical and consciousness is merely a by-product of brain activity—faces a credibility crisis, chiefly because it cannot explain consciousness. Panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental feature of matter, offers a solution. Additionally, recognizing that minds are not confined to brains provides another way forward.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2013
Amit Sood, David T Jones
Human attention is naturally drawn to threats, pleasures, and novelty, but modern psychological worries and hurts often trigger mind wandering focused on the past and future. The brain's default mode network is linked to this mind wandering, and its abnormal activity may contribute to depression, anxiety, attention deficit, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Meditation can reverse some of these brain abnormalities, producing beneficial functional and structural changes. This narrative review explains how meditation works mechanistically, drawing on recent neuroscience advances regarding mind wandering, attention, and brain networks.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2012
Kenneth Kushner
An old Zen saying holds that thoughts cannot be controlled by other thoughts, suggesting the mind is regulated through the body. In Zen meditation (zazen), this is achieved by regulating breathing and posture. This article examines the relationship between breathing, posture, and concentration within one Zen tradition and explores how this relationship may inform psychotherapy and healing arts, along with implications for future research.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2012
Adam Burke
A pilot study compared four meditation techniques for personal preference among 247 undergraduate students. Participants learned Vipassana (Mindfulness), Zen, Mantra, and Qigong Visualization over six weeks, practicing one method per week. After training, they ranked the techniques by preference. Significantly more students chose Vipassana or Mantra as their preferred methods over Qigong Visualization and Zen. The findings suggest that individual preference for meditation type varies and may influence sustained practice, which is important for achieving therapeutic benefits.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2011
Kyung-Eun Choi, Thomas Rampp, Felix J Saha et al.
In a semirandomized feasibility study, experienced Vipassana meditators showed greater baseline pain tolerance than nonmeditators. Electroacupuncture (EA) increased pain tolerance and decreased pain ratings in nonmeditators, matching the level of meditation-induced analgesia, but provided no additional benefit for meditators. The study used an ischemic pain model (submaximum effort tourniquet technique) with 8 meditators (mean 2,626.8 hours of practice) and 40 control subjects. Pain tolerance was measured as the ratio of tolerated time to pain ratings. The findings suggest both EA and meditation can relieve pain, but combining them does not enhance analgesia.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2010
Stephan A. Schwartz
Two centuries of reductive materialism have failed to explain extraordinary experiences such as moments of genius, religious epiphany, and psychic insight. This paper argues that these three experiences are fundamentally the same, differentiated only by intention and context, drawing on experimental research across science that supports an interdependent model of consciousness involving nonlocal linkage or entanglement not limited by space and time. It surveys relevant research from quantum biology, physics, psychology, medicine, anthropology, and parapsychology, and proposes greater attention to autobiographies and journals of historically recognized geniuses, saints, or psychics. Comparisons between ethnohistorical material and spiritual traditions suggest a similar worldview. Meditation research, seen as psychophysical self-regulation, is proposed as a powerful avenue for producing these exceptional experiences.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2006
Cara Rosaen, Rita Benn
Seventh-grade students who practiced Transcendental Meditation for one year described three main benefits: a growing state of restful alertness, improvements in emotional intelligence (self-control, self-reflection, and flexibility in emotional response), and better academic performance. The state of restful alertness appeared central to helping students look inward, regulate their behavior, and focus on school tasks. The findings suggest that TM may support social-emotional capacities needed during adolescence, though the authors call for further empirical validation.