Skip to content

Wearable Sensors for Measuring Movement in Short Sessions of Mindfulness Sitting Meditation: A Pilot Study.

Victor H Rodriguez, Carlos T Medrano, Inmaculada Plaza

Journal of healthcare engineering May 7, 2018 DOI: 10.1155/2018/7275049 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Pilot study Peer reviewed
Sample size 31
Population Volunteers practicing short sitting meditation sessions
Topics Meditation
Keywords Humans Monitoring, ambulatory Pilot projects Posture Movement Signal processing, computer-assisted Adolescent Middle aged Female Young adult Wearable electronic devices Sitting position
Key points The authors report that accelerometers placed at the thumb, head, or infraclavicular region can measure stability during short meditation, rather than the habitual lumbar or sacral placements. They also conclude that zafus, chairs, and meditation benches are all suitable for short sitting sessions, with the zafu appearing to allow fewer postural changes.

Abstract

Mindfulness techniques are useful tools in health and well-being. To improve and facilitate formal training, beginners need to know if they are in a stable sitting posture and if they can hold it. Previous monitoring studies did not consider stability during sitting meditation or were specific for longer traditional practices. In this paper, we have extended and adapted previous studies to modern mindfulness practices and posed two questions: (a) Which is the best meditation seat for short sessions? In this way, the applications of stability measures are expanded to meditation activities, in which the sitting posture favors stability, and (b) Which is the most sensitive location of an accelerometer to measure body motion during short meditation sessions? A pilot study involving 31 volunteers was conducted using inertial sensors. The results suggest that thumb, head, or infraclavicular locations can be chosen to measure stability despite the habitual lumbar or sacral region found in the literature. Another important finding of this study is that zafus, chairs, and meditation benches are suitable for short meditation sessions in a sitting posture, although the zafu seems to allow for fewer postural changes. This finding opens new opportunities to design very simple and comfortable measuring systems.

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 7

and 2 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation