This study compares the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) programme with the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a well-established intervention, and a control group, and includes 1 year of continuous practice. A longitudinal quasi-RCT was conducted with measurements at baseline, post-training, 6 months and 1 year. A total of 170 individuals (75.9% female) were randomly assigned to the MSC...
The new millennium is witnessing a remarkable shift within the scientific community, to be increasingly understanding and accepting the impact of meditative, spiritual, and even religious practices, on health and wellbeing. This has been precipitated ironically, by cutting edge scientific studies. Rigorous empirical research in epigenomics and neuroscience is proving that religious and...
Mindfulness has been adopted from its origins in Buddhist philosophy and is now widely applied in Western psychology. Existing research suggests this has been beneficial. The aim of this study is to identify possible areas for further integration of Buddhist approaches into current mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) from the perspective of individuals from a range of geographical areas who...
This study aims to systematically evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO and ERIC was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to December 31, 2024, that assessed the effects of...
The study anchors on the conservation of resource theory and examines the impact of mindfulness techniques on athletic performance through the mediating role of mental resilience and the moderating effect of emotional intelligence. Data were collected from 332 athletes in China using a time-lagged survey method over three waves. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares...
Tonic immobility (TI) is an innate, last-resort response to the presence of a predator, commonly referred to as feigning death or thanatosis. However, it is critical to distinguish death feigning from TI; the former encompasses a complex series of behaviors, with TI representing its final aspect. Given this complexity, death feigning is hypothesized to manifest a higher-order intentionality in...
Several mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown efficacy in enhancing interoceptive awareness (IA), the ability to perceive and interpret bodily signals, leading to improved mental and physical wellbeing. However, no study has yet explored the effects of mindfulness practice on IA in individuals training to become MBI teachers. Thus, we investigated the impact of a mindfulness teacher...
This longitudinal mixed-methods study explored the interplay between emotional intelligence (EI), mindfulness practices, and burnout among secondary school educators in mainland China. The aim was to understand changes in these variables over time and the impact of mindfulness. The study tracked EI Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) and burnout Maslach Burnout Inventory -...
In the last decade, mindfulness-based programs have been assimilated among educational staff to cultivate socio-emotional skills and mental resilience. Most mindfulness programs use generic international models, omitting explicit acknowledgement of cultural and ethnic differences. Recent research highlights the importance of considering participants' identities and diverse cultural and...
In the last decades, research on animal consciousness has advanced significantly, fueled by interdisciplinary contributions. However, a critical dimension of animal experience remains underexplored: the self. While traditionally linked to human studies, research focused on the self in animals has often been framed dichotomously, distinguishing low-level, bodily, and affective aspects from...
Buddhist meditation, encompassing practices such as Samatha (focused attention), Vipassana (open monitoring), and Metta (loving-kindness), offers unique pathways for transforming consciousness beyond conventional mindfulness. In this article, we review the studies that explore how these distinct meditative techniques systematically cultivate meta-cognitive insight, emotional regulation, and...
This study aims to investigate the impact of yoga meditation on the mental health of female college students, focusing on how meditation improves emotional regulation, alleviates stress and strengthens psychological resilience. Employing a combination of quantitative assessment and qualitative analysis, the study measured participants' emotional states, stress levels, and psychological...
The MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) sponsored MDMA-assisted therapy protocol has had greater success in treating trauma in preliminary clinical trials than any prior psychotherapeutic, pharmacologic, or combined approach. It is predicated on a synergy between drug action and the participant's inner healing intelligence. The latter is described mainly by analogy with...
Mixed-method studies require adaptation to the era of big data in quantitative research, seeking scalable approaches that can analyze extensive qualitative datasets while preserving the depth and nuance inherent in the study of consciousness on a broader scale. This study aimed to leverage ChatGPT, renowned for its descriptive generation proficiency, to perform a phenomenological analysis. Our...
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are primarily characterized by the sensation of the self being located outside one's physical body. The complexity of this phenomenon has led researchers to propose various theories to explain it, including physiological, psychological, and non-local consciousness theories. The objective of this study is to directly explore the interpretations of individuals who...
There has been a growing interest in mindfulness research during the past three decades. However, studies investigating the mediating mechanisms of mindfulness on student-athletes and their quality of life (QoL) are sparse. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine if the effects of a brief body scan intervention on QoL among student-athletes would mediate a change in five facets of...
This exploratory qualitative study was conducted to investigate the experiences of individuals who have been participating in online mindfulness sessions with an online mindfulness community since the beginning of COVID-19, i.e., during a period of heightened uncertainty and social isolation. The study's purpose was to better understand the social functions of regularly practicing mindfulness...
Oceanic feelings, which reflect a sense of boundlessness, unity but also fragmentation can evoke spiritual experiences and possibly lead to psychosis proneness. This study explores oceanic feelings psychometrically, by examining their connections with spirituality, schizotypy, and personality organization. A sample of 480 adult non-clinical participants (66.2% female) completed an online...
In this study, we aimed to (1) examine profiles of mindfulness using the short form of the FFMQ (FFMQ-SF), (2) identify the demographic predictor (i.e., sex) of mindfulness profile membership, and (3) examine associations of mindfulness profiles with psychological outcomes (i.e., anxiety and depressive symptoms). This cross-sectional study included 604 individuals recruited from Amazon's...
The paper argues for an embodied and enactive view of linguistic concepts as a solution to the "scaling up" problem, namely the transition from embodied experience to symbolic and abstract thought. Drawing on phenomenology, neurobiology, conceptual metaphor theory and enactivism, it aims to demonstrate the constitutive role of the body and intersubjectivity in concept formation. Concrete...
Yoga is usually defined and researched as a mind-body practice used for stress reduction, fitness and general health and wellbeing. While there are widely accepted definitions found in traditional texts and contemporary literature, as a millennial tradition yoga has evolved throughout time, places and people. Less is known about how regular yoga practitioners perceive, experience, and define...
Classical near-death experiences (NDEs) refer to states of disconnected consciousness characterised by a range of features occurring in the context of being close to death. Various psychedelic substances, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), consistently replicate NDE features and may be considered 'near-death-like experiences.' However, a systematic qualitative analysis comparing the...
This study investigated whether body image mediates the link between mindfulness (state/trait) and restrictive eating behaviors. A 6-day daily survey of 65 females with restrictive eating patterns incorporated correlation, regression, and multilevel mediation analyses. Trait mindfulness, state mindfulness, and body image were positively interrelated, while all three demonstrated inverse...
Archaeological findings witness the anthropological roots of dance, while psychological, medical, cultural and aesthetic studies shed light on health promoting capacities and curative factors inhering in symbolic and expressive body movement. Since dance therapy became a multifaceted discipline in the middle of the 20th century, increasing evidence of beneficial effects has advocated the use of...
A three-item Peak Experience Scale (PES) was developed to rapidly evaluate the strength of the psychoactive experience, and to guide the dosing regimen, of the psychedelic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT; mebufotenin). This paper aims to compare the PES with a range of established questionnaires designed to evaluate the psychedelic experience. Data were gathered from three separate...