Mindfulness
2021
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Abstract One of the mindfulness exercises described in the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta and its parallels concerns the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, which stand representative of the qualities of solidity, cohesion, temperature, and motion. Within the ancient Indian setting, the early Buddhist analysis of matter into these four elements can be seen to eschew the two extremes of...
Mindfulness
December 2, 2020
Ruth A. Baer, Catherine Crane, Jesus Montero-Marin et al.
Evidence-based mindfulness programs have well-established benefits, but the potential for harmful effects is understudied. We explored the frequency and severity of unpleasant experiences and harm in two nonclinical samples participating in an adaptation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for the general population. Study 1 included 84 schoolteachers; study 2 included 74 university...
Mindfulness
December 1, 2020
Aleksandra Eriksen Isham, Adriana Del Palacio-Gonzalez, Barbara Dritschel
Abstract Objectives Depression is associated with both emotion dysregulation upon retrieval of autobiographical memories and low trait mindfulness. The present study raised the question of whether these processes are related to each other and whether they may reflect a cognitive-affective vulnerability in individuals at risk of depression. The study examined emotion regulation in response to...
Mindfulness
November 30, 2020
Karin Matko, Ulrich Ott, Peter Sedlmeier
Meditation is an umbrella term for a vast range of contemplative practices. Former proposals have struggled to do justice to this variety. To our knowledge, there is to date no comprehensive overview of meditation techniques spanning all major traditions. The present studies aimed at providing such a comprehensive list of meditation techniques. In a qualitative study, we compiled a collection...
Mindfulness
November 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
AbstractThe proposal to understand an external application of mindfulness to refer to being objective rather than subjective is not well supported by the relevant sources and fails to be directly applicable to actual meditation practice. The most commonly accepted understanding in Buddhist sources and contemporary research, which considers external mindfulness to refer to being aware of other...
Mindfulness
October 1, 2020
Marleen J. Ter Avest, Corina U. Greven, Marloes J. Huijbers et al.
Abstract Objectives Gaining knowledge of dynamic processes of mechanisms underlying mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression could help to improve treatment efficacy. The current study examined the overall course and week-to-week associations of mindfulness and positive/negative affect during MBCT for recurrent depression. Methods Using data from the MOMENT study, 235...
Mindfulness
October 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
AbstractRacial oppression is a longstanding and widespread problem with significant repercussions and consequences for the health of those impacted. The roots of racial prejudice reach far back into the history of European culture. A contribution to the much-needed change can be found in the cultivation of mindfulness, in particular in its external dimension. This emerges from considering the...
Mindfulness
September 24, 2020
S. Kriakous, K. Elliott, Carolien Lamers et al.
Burnout and occupational stress are frequently experienced by healthcare professionals (HCPs). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been found to improve the psychological health outcomes of HCPs. To date, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have primarily focused upon empirical investigations into the reduction of stress amongst HCPs using MBSR and are limited to empirical studies...
Mindfulness
September 1, 2020
Ivan Nyklíček, Renée Zonneveld, Johan Denollet
Abstract Objective Introspective interest and insight have long been argued to be important factors in psychotherapy. However, empirical studies are scarce and their results equivocal. Therefore, in the present study, the potential moderating and mediating roles of introspective interest and insight were examined in the context of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Methods In a...
Mindfulness
September 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
Abstract A case study of the descriptions of the progress of Buddhist insight meditation provided by Daniel Ingram shows how a forceful form of mindfulness combined with high-speed mental noting can result in the construction of meditative experiences to accord with expectations created by maps of the progress of insight, culminating in claims to having reached levels of awakening. The...
Mindfulness
August 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
AbstractThis article surveys references to mindfulness-related meditations found in Pāli discourses in the first five chapters of the Majjhima-nikāya and their parallels, showing the ubiquity of a concern with contemplative practices in early Buddhist thought. Such concerns were, according to these texts, not confined to monastics, but also included lay practitioners. Overall, the impression...
Mindfulness
July 15, 2020
Matthew C. Enkema, Lauren M McClain, E. Bird et al.
Psychological science has taken up investigations of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) and mechanisms through which people benefit from mindfulness. Reliable and valid psychometric tools are essential components of psychological science, and efforts have been made to produce tools for the accurate measurement of mindfulness as a construct. However, trait measurement...
Mindfulness
July 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
AbstractDescriptions of the formal cultivation of mindfulness in theSatipaṭṭhāna-suttaand its parallels highlight that such practice has “internal” and “external” dimensions. Later traditions reflect a variety of viewpoints on the implications of these dimensions of establishing mindfulness. Perhaps due to the resultant uncertainty, contemporary research on the potential applicability and...
Mindfulness
June 1, 2020
Paweł Holas, Izabela Krejtz, Katarzyna Wisiecka et al.
Abstract Objectives Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based treatment to prevent relapse in individuals with recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD). It is not clear if MBCT is an effective therapy for current depression, and it is not clear what mechanisms are responsible for the effectiveness of MBCT. Theoretically, MBCT is believed to modify the processing of...
Mindfulness
June 1, 2020
Bhikkhu Anālayo
AbstractThe body is a central object of the cultivation of mindfulness, in the way this has been described in relevant Pāli discourses and their parallels. At the background of such cultivation stands the absence of positing a mind-body duality and a lack of concern with a particular physical location of the mind in early Buddhist thought. Moreover, the various exercises that involve directing...
Mindfulness
June 1, 2020
Kristina Sundquist, Karolina Palmér, Ashfaque A. Memon et al.
Abstract Objectives Identification of biological markers that can guide treatment selection is considered to be a viable solution for personalized treatment for patients with psychiatric disorders. This study investigated whether macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels at baseline were associated with mindfulness-based group therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy response in...
Mindfulness
May 2, 2020
Christina Totzeck, Tobias Teismann, Stefan G Hofmann et al.
62 citations
Abstract Objectives Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has been shown to improve wellbeing and positive emotions in clinical and non-clinical populations. The main goal of the present study was to examine whether LKM might be an effective intervention to promote positive mental health using the Positive Mental Health Scale (PMH) and to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress in university...
Mindfulness
May 1, 2020
Adam W. Hanley, Michael Dambrun, Eric L Garland
66 citations
Mindfulness training is believed to encourage self-transcendent states, but little research has examined this hypothesis. This study examined the effects of mindfulness training on two phenomenological features of self-transcendence: 1) perceived body boundary dissolution, and 2) more allocentric spatial frames of reference. A sample of healthy, young adults (n=45) were randomized to five...
Mindfulness
May 1, 2020
Zarah Rowland, Mario Wenzel
Abstract Objectives Mindfulness has been positively associated with affective well-being, which may be explained by improved affective disengagement from prior experiences. Methods We used a dynamic network approach to represent temporal interconnections between specific affective states (i.e., network density)—with less interconnected states indicating better affective disengagement—to...
Mindfulness
April 1, 2020
Eduard J. de Bruin, AnneMarie Meijer, Susan M. Bögels
Abstract Objectives Insomnia is highly prevalent among adolescents, with severe consequences for daily life, including mental disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) can be effective in internet-delivered and face-to-face modalities. However, it is yet unclear what the contribution is of mindfulness-based techniques to the effectiveness of traditional CBTI. The present study...
Mindfulness
March 5, 2020
Rachel S. Wasson, Clare L Barratt, W. O’Brien
Health care professionals have elevated rates of burnout and compassion fatigue which are correlated with poorer quality of life and patient care, and inversely correlated with self-compassion. Primary studies have evaluated the extent to which mindfulness-based interventions increase self-compassion with contradictory findings. A meta-analytic review of the literature was conducted to...
Mindfulness
February 10, 2020
T. Jankowski, Paweł Holas
Attention switching is postulated in many theories as a crucial executive function related to mindfulness. However, the existing literature does not provide convincing support for this claim. Based on the attentional control theory, the presented experiment tested the hypothesis that brief mindfulness training improves attention switching in the presence of anxiety. Seventy-four undergraduates...
Mindfulness
February 1, 2020
Lars‐gunnar Lundh
AbstractThe present paper argues that experimental phenomenology has an important role to play in research on mindfulness. Experimental phenomenology is defined as a subcategory of phenomenology (defined as the science of our subjective experience of being in the world), which explores the effects of intentional variations of subjective experiencing (direction of attention and choice of...
Mindfulness
February 1, 2020
Alice E. Buxton, Carina Remmers, Hans-Peter Unger et al.
Abstract Objectives Recent preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness-based programmes may be beneficial in the treatment of patients suffering from current depression. Due to the heterogeneity of patients with this diagnosis, a specialisation in treatment concepts for subgroups of patients may be beneficial. Methods This randomised controlled pilot study investigated the effectiveness of...
Mindfulness
2020
Ariel J Lang, Pollyanna Casmar, Samantha Hurst et al.
Compassion meditation (CM) is a contemplative practice that is intended to cultivate the ability to extend and sustain compassion toward self and others. Although research documents the benefits of CM in healthy populations, its use in the context of psychopathology is largely unexamined. The purpose of this study was to refine and initially evaluate a CM protocol, Cognitively Based Compassion...