Open Mind, Open Heart: An Anthropological Study of the Therapeutics of Meditation Practice in the US.

Neely Myers; Sara E. Lewis; Mary Ann Dutton

doi:10.1007/s11013-014-9424-5

Open Mind, Open Heart: An Anthropological Study of the Therapeutics of Meditation Practice in the US.

Neely Myers, Sara E. Lewis, Mary Ann Dutton

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry September 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1007/s11013-014-9424-5 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Qualitative study (ethnography) Peer reviewed
Population	Meditation teachers and students in the United States, particularly women who have experienced trauma
Intervention	Meditation-based practices
Topics	Meditation
Keywords	Humans Awareness Stress disorders, traumatic Adolescent Middle aged United states Female Interviews as topic Young adult
Key findings	Argues that active training in meditation-based practices offers people with traumatic stress a way to develop a stronger mind-body connection through heightened somatic awareness and present-moment focus, which they find therapeutic. Three themes emerged: focusing on the lived present rather than traumatic memories, accepting pain and "opening" one's heart, and using silence instead of speech as a healing modality.

Abstract

Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews collected with meditation teachers and students in the United States, this article will argue that active training in meditation-based practices occasions the opportunity for people with traumatic stress to develop a stronger mind-body connection through heightened somatic awareness and a focus on the present moment that they find to be therapeutic. Three important themes related to healing through meditation for trauma emerged from the data and centered around the ways our interlocutors attempted to realign their sense of self, mind and body, after a traumatic experience. The themes helped explain why US women perceive meditation as therapeutic for trauma, namely that the practice of meditation enables one to focus on the lived present rather than traumatic memories, to accept pain and "open" one's heart, and to make use of silence instead of speech as a healing modality. As meditation practices increasingly enter global popular culture, promoted for postulated health benefits, the driving question of this research--how meditation may perpetuate human resilience for women who have experienced trauma based on their own perspectives of meditation practices--is a critical addition to the literature.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan...	2017	Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system	2004	Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety	2006	Exploratory mixed methods study	n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context	2001	Qualitative study	n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators	2013	Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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