“Just This Breath…” How Mindfulness Meditation Can Shift Everything, Including Neural Connectivity

A commentary discusses a study by Shao et al. that adds to evidence of changes in participants who receive formal mindfulness meditation instruction. The commentary traces the field back to Kabat-Zinn's 1982 paper on the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, originally developed for chronic pain patients at an academic medical center. Those participants reported significant reductions in pain, improvements in mood, and fewer medical symptoms. Since then, mindfulness meditation instruction, especially MBSR, has been applied and studied in broadening clinical scenarios and for general health and wellness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In this issue of EBioMedicine, Shao et al. (2016-in this issue) make a significant and interesting contribution to a growing literature of changes seen in participants who receive formal programmatic instruction in mindfulness meditation. Since Kabat-Zinn's (1982) paper reporting on what would become the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, the literature and application of mindfulness meditation instruction within the Western biomedical approach has expanded greatly. The initial MBSR program was developed for patients at an academic medical center who had on-going chronic pain despite maximized allopathic treatment. These participants reported significant reductions in pain, improvements in mood, and fewer medical symptoms (Kabat-Zinn, 1982). Since that time, mindfulness meditation instruction has been applied and, especially MBSR, studied in broadening clinical scenarios, as well as for general health and wellness.