Contemplative practice and reflexivity for emotion regulation
Advancing Interpersonal Emotion Regulation and Social Regulation June 24, 2022 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-2478-0.ch003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Argues that contemplative practices, broadly defined, are effective in regulating emotional states and proposes that they enhance reflexive social interactions, thereby aiding in the social regulation of emotional conversations. |
Abstract
The historic roots of contemplative practice can be traced back to traditions in Buddhism, Confucianism, Aristotelian thought, and Christianity, with the most common contemplative practices including breathing meditation, quiet sitting, prayer, tai-chi, qigong, and yoga. Contemplative practices in contemporary times include more activities than traditionally conceptualized, including meditative artistic pursuits (such as painting, sewing, or knitting), physical pursuits (such as running, weightlifting, or dancing), or quiet independent pursuits (such as listening to music). This chapter reviews the research supporting the ways that engaging in contemplative practices is effective in regulating one's emotional states. Additionally, this chapter proposes that engaging in contemplative practice can help a person become more reflexive in their interactions with others in order to socially regulate an emotional conversation.