Mindfulness and Loving-Kindness Meditation: a Potential Tool for Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being
Indian Journal of Positive Psychology June 1, 2015 DOI: 10.15614/ijpp/2015/v6i2/73847 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post follow-up study (self-report measures) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy individuals engaged in formal meditation practice |
| Interventions | Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing) Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 10 |
| Key points | The author reports that healthy meditators practicing Anapanasati and Metta Bhavana shifted along a continuum of mental states away from negative, unhealthy attitudes and toward healthy perceptual, cognitive, and affective states, described as a self-reinforcing internal change. The paper argues that meditation may serve as a health promotion tool, drawing on the Abhidhamma model of mental health. |
Abstract
An attempt has been made to study the integration ofBuddhist meditation practices into subjective well-being of healthy individuals engaged in formal meditation methods. Based on the Abhidhamma model of mental health (the primary mental factors of classical Buddhist Psychology), it was observed that from a full range of negative, unhealthy attitudes that stand in the way of healthy psychological development the individuals started flourishing healthy perceptual cognitive and affective states. The subjects practiced Buddhist meditation like Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing), Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness) and experienced a self-reinforcing degree of internal change along the continuum of mental states toward the healthy pole. The paper will discuss pre-post and follow up data on self report measures and meditation as a potential health promotion tool.
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
Cited by 4
- Novel machine learning-driven comparative analysis of CSP, STFT, and CSP-STFT fusion for EEG data classification across multiple meditation and non-meditation sessions in BCI pipeline Brain Informatics February 8, 2025
- Common spatial pattern for classification of loving kindness meditation EEG for single and multiple sessions Brain Informatics September 9, 2023
- Perspectives on Meditation-based Preparation for Psychedelic Experiences: Insights from Practitioners with Combined Meditation and Psychedelic Experience Mindfulness August 15, 2026
- A Systematic Review of Associations between Amount of Meditation Practice and Outcomes in Interventions Using the Four Immeasurables Meditations. Frontiers in Psychology 2017