IntechOpen eBooks
July 3, 2026
Luis Miguel Gallardo
This chapter explores the relationship between self-clarity and happiness among artisans in rural India, integrating theoretical foundations from positive psychology with empirical evidence from a comprehensive intervention study conducted in Manpura village, Rajasthan. Drawing on Seligman’s PERMA model, self-determination theory, and culturally adapted contemplative practices, we investigate...
IntechOpen eBooks
May 28, 2026
Li Wang (15202), Sedine Marie Desiree Nina Agbo, Jin Zhang et al.
Nitrous oxide (NO), often recognized as “laughing gas” in medicine, has seen a surge in recreational use among young people over the last decades. While its medical application is generally safe at controlled doses, its abuse has raised major concerns due to its potential toxicity. The most commonly reported sequelae are associated with subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord, and...
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May 11, 2026
Puspanjali Borthakur, Thaddeus Alfonso
Loyalty is one of the most significant aspects of trust between individuals, and its violation may cause psychological stress, mental instability, and long-term relationship issues. Although conventional methods of restoring trust, such as apologizing, forgiving, and acting consistently, are helpful, they often overlook the profound psychological and neurological consequences of betrayal....
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April 9, 2026
Madalena Abreu
This chapter explores how monastic environments foster empathic experiences for both visitors and residents through practices of contemplation, hospitality, and spiritual presence. Drawing on autoethnographic insights and service-learning frameworks, the chapter examines how European monasteries operate as distinctive experiential settings in which silence, ritual, and embodied spirituality...
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March 18, 2026
Jörg Fachner, Filippo Pasqualitto, Clemens Maidhof
Music and psychoactive substances play a key role in forming identity during adolescence. Grasping the historical, neurobiological, and clinical aspects of this relationship is crucial for exploring how music therapy (MT) can support recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). In this chapter, the discussion begins by framing adolescent risk-taking, including substance experimentation, as a way...
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March 5, 2026
A. M. Roy, Sushil Prasad Mahato, Deepti Padmanabha Bhat et al.
Cognitive enhancement is increasingly pursued through complementary mind–body therapies that target fundamental brain–body mechanisms. This chapter synthesizes evidence for core modalities such as meditation and yoga, and additional approaches including Tai Chi/Qigong, breathwork, and music-based interventions. Across healthy and clinical populations, these therapies produce modest yet reliable...
IntechOpen eBooks
February 2, 2026
Clarine Jacobs
Awareness during general anesthesia—the postoperative recall of sensory experiences while under anesthesia—remains among medicine’s most haunting yet underexplored phenomena. Affecting 1 to 2 in every 1,000 patients, anesthesia awareness challenges assumptions of total unconsciousness and highlights the gap between scientific understanding and lived experience. Even with proper anesthetic...
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June 10, 2025
Ratna Jyothi Kakumanu
The Abhidhamma, a classical Buddhist doctrine, offers a profound understanding of cognitive processing and sensory perception, concepts formulated over 2700 years ago and recently reflected in modern neuroscience. It presents a sophisticated cognitive model in which consciousness (citta), mental factors (cetasika), and materiality (rūpa) co-arise and function in a causally interdependent...
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April 22, 2025
Patrick Jones
The journey to actualise our full potential is a complex one but there is research to suggest it is marked with signs along the way. Following an investigation of the literature, a theoretical framework made up of five major stages and their markers is proposed. It is suggested that in Stage 1, the conventional sense of self, well-being pivots on the experiences of pleasure and pain. In Stage 2...
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January 13, 2025
Matthew Furnell, William van Gordon
The concept of enlightenment has long intrigued scholars and contemplation practitioners alike, often associated with profound insights into the nature of self and reality. This chapter explores the notion of enlightenment through the lens of non-dualism, emphasizing the dissolution of the independent, single, permanent self and the emergence of self-transcendent experiences. Such experiences...
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December 13, 2024
Amir Freimann, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
This paper explores the concept of enlightened joy and love as an aspect of a stable and enduring spiritual “high plateau” state, referred to here as “Living Transcendence,” which contrasts with transient mystical or spiritual “peak” experiences. Drawing from a phenomenological study of 32 “spiritual exemplars” from various traditions, the research identifies key characteristics of this state....
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December 11, 2023
Matea Stiperski Matoc, Zoran Stiperski, Tomica Hruška
2 citations
The Amero-Indians of the Amazon traditionally use ayahuasca for various physical and psychological ailments. Shamans in the Peruvian Amazon use the psychedelic drug ayahuasca to have various experiences in guided rituals. The goal of this religious experience is to expand consciousness and gain deeper insights. Consumption of the drink can cause harmful psychotic and paranoid reactions, but the...
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June 26, 2020
Patrizio Paoletti, Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan, Joseph Glicksohn
13 citations
EEG theta (4–7 Hz) activity is closely related to hypnosis and hypnotic analgesia, as well as to meditation and absorption. Research further indicates that theta oscillatory power is involved in different cognitive functions, such as spatial navigation, memory, creativity, and divided attention. The current manuscript will provide a synthesis of current knowledge regarding the importance of...
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February 25, 2020
José Jesús Vargas Delgado
2 citations
Welcome to the 0.0 Stress program. A practical trip integrator to reduce stress to its minimum expression. In this chapter, we will deepen our transpersonal experiential program, which can be very useful for anyone who experiences any signs or symptoms of stress such as anxiety, irritability, muscular tension, burnout, apathy, restlessness, headache, fatigue, digestive problems, concentration...