“Walking with God”: developing and pilot testing a manualised four-week program combining Christian meditation and light-to-moderate physical activity for daily stress
Joshua J. Knabb, R. Pate, Sean Sullivan, E. Salley, Amy E Miller, William R. Boyer
Mental Health, Religion & Culture October 20, 2020 DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2020.1819221 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 8 |
| Population | Christian adults with daily stress who are churchgoers |
| Interventions | Christian meditation Light-to-moderate physical activity |
| Duration | 4-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | 75% of participants reported score changes in the hypothesized direction on all four outcome variables after a four-week program combining Christian meditation with physical activity. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT In the current study, the authors developed and pilot tested a manualized four-week program for Christian adults with daily stress, combining Christian meditation with light-to-moderate physical activity among a community sample of churchgoers (N = 8). Although Eastern-influenced mindful walking and yoga practices are quite popular in the contemporary psychology literature as interventions for a wide variety of psychological problems, we wanted to offer a Christian-sensitive alternative for Christian adults to draw from their own faith tradition to impact psychological change. Over a four-week period of time, Christian participants were instructed to meditate on a short passage in Scripture as they engaged in a daily 30-minute movement and walking activity. On all four outcome variables, pilot results revealed that 75% of participants reported score changes in the hypothesized direction. To conclude, study limitations are reviewed, as are directions for future research.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression August 21, 2006
- The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. American Psychologist 2006
- Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research August 23, 2017