The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
May 1, 2009
Alberto Chiesa, Alessandro Serretti
1,707 citations
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) reduces stress in healthy people, but its specific effects beyond other treatments remain unclear. A review and meta-analysis of ten mostly low-quality studies found that MBSR reduced stress and enhanced spirituality compared to doing nothing. When compared to structurally equivalent interventions, MBSR showed a possible specific effect, and it performed equally well as standard relaxation training at reducing stress. MBSR also reduced ruminative thinking and trait anxiety and increased empathy and self-compassion. The authors caution that limitations of the included studies and the lack of evidence for specific effects over other treatments highlight the need for further research.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
August 1, 2005
Richard P. Brown, Patricia L. Gerbarg
470 citations
Yogic breathing, particularly Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY), offers a low-cost, low-risk adjunct treatment for stress, anxiety, PTSD, depression, stress-related medical illnesses, substance abuse, and criminal offender rehabilitation. Evidence supports its use as a public health intervention to alleviate PTSD in mass disaster survivors. Yoga techniques improve well-being, mood, attention, mental focus, and stress tolerance. Proper daily practice of 30 minutes with a skilled teacher maximizes benefits, and health care providers should encourage patients to maintain their yoga practices.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
July 28, 2010
Fadel Zeidan, Susan K. Johnson, Nakia S. Gordon et al.
323 citations
Three days of brief mindfulness meditation training (one hour total) reduced negative mood, depression, fatigue, confusion, and heart rate in 82 undergraduates with no prior meditation experience, compared to both a sham meditation group and a control group. The improvements exceeded those attributable to demand characteristics, indicating genuine beneficial effects of brief meditation on mood and cardiovascular variables.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
February 25, 2011
Erica Sibinga, Deanna Kerrigan, Miriam Stewart et al.
200 citations
A mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for HIV-infected and at-risk urban youth aged 13–21 was generally acceptable, with 79% of 33 participants attending most sessions. Among 26 program completers (77% female, all African American, average age 16.8 years), quantitative measures showed significant reductions in hostility, general discomfort, and emotional discomfort. Qualitative interviews with 10 participants indicated perceived improvements in interpersonal relationships, school achievement, physical health, and reduced stress. Due to the small sample and lack of a control group, it cannot be determined whether changes resulted from MBSR or nonspecific group effects.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
October 9, 2013
David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A Barnes
151 citations
Practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces trait anxiety more effectively than treatment as usual and most active alternative treatments, with the largest benefits seen in people who initially have high anxiety. Across 16 studies involving 1,295 participants, the effect size compared to treatment as usual was d=-0.62. Individuals with initial anxiety in the 80th to 100th percentile—such as patients with chronic anxiety, veterans with PTSD, or prison inmates—showed larger reductions (d=-0.74 to -1.2), bringing their anxiety down to the 53rd to 62nd percentile range. Reductions appeared within two weeks and were sustained at three years. No adverse effects were reported.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
December 1, 2008
Maria B. Ospina, Kenneth Bond, Mohammad Karkhaneh et al.
140 citations
A systematic review of 400 clinical trials on meditation (published 1956-2005) found that most studies have poor methodological quality, with significant threats to validity across all major quality domains. The five broad categories of meditation practices studied were mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, and qigong. The most common clinical conditions examined were hypertension, miscellaneous cardiovascular diseases, and substance abuse. Although methodological quality has improved over time by 0.014 points per year, future trials must be more rigorous in design, execution, analysis, and reporting.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
May 1, 2009
Alberto Chiesa
83 citations
A review of Zen meditation research found that electroencephalographic studies show increased alpha and theta brain activity, especially in the frontal cortex, with theta activity linked to greater experience in practitioners. Zen meditation practice may protect against age-related cognitive decline and enhance antioxidant activity. Clinically, it reduces stress and blood pressure and benefits therapists and musicians. However, current evidence is scarce, necessitating more rigorous investigations with active treatment comparisons and mechanistic explanations.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
May 1, 2010
Maria Engström, Birgitta Söderfeldt
66 citations
In one experienced compassion meditator, generating feelings of love and compassion while reciting a mantra activated the left medial prefrontal cortex extending to the anterior cingulate gyrus, as well as the right caudate body extending to the right insula and the left midbrain near the hypothalamus. These brain areas are involved with empathy and pleasant feelings, supporting the hypothesis that compassion meditation engages neural circuits related to social emotions.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
September 1, 2007
Joseph P. Rhinewine, Oliver J. Williams
37 citations
Holotropic Breathwork (HB), a prolonged voluntary hyperventilation procedure, may be useful in treating anxiety and depressive disorders. Hyperventilation produces significant changes in central nervous system activity. Preliminary evidence suggests potential efficacy, and a tentative biopsychologic hypothesis proposes that HB, when combined with ongoing psychotherapy, could facilitate extinction of avoidance behaviors, leading to therapeutic progress. Individuals high in trait absorption and social desirability who have not responded adequately to psychotherapy might benefit most. Further research using more rigorous methods is needed to confirm or refute HB's therapeutic potential for psychiatric disorders.