A Mindfulness-Based Exercise Program (MBEP) includes techniques from the traditional Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and incorporates exercise as a mindfulness technique. The goal of this intervention is to teach individuals how to cope with stressors since high stress levels are associated with disease. During acute stress, the autonomic and neuroendocrine systems play key...
Mechanisms of change in psychotherapy must be empirically investigated to shed light on how particular therapies work, as well as common mechanisms that may be at work across modalities. The current study investigated a proposed mechanism of change in a mindfulness intervention; this proposed mechanism, experiential avoidance (EA), may function more broadly as a mediator of change across...
The aim of the study was to explore experiences of practising mindfulness and how this related to living with, and managing, bipolar disorder. Qualitative methodology was used to explore the experiences of 12 people with bipolar disorder who had been practising mindfulness for at least 18 weeks. Semi-structured interviews exploring how mindfulness practice related to living with bipolar...
In the wide range of Buddhist meditation and spirituality a very special place is held by the practice of calling on the name of Amitabha, or in Japanese Amida Buddha, using the simplest of formulas, the nenbutsu. Japanese masters such as Honen, Shinran and others made this the core of a profound spiritual experience which has fascinated numberless followers ever since. The deeper meaning of...
The commitment to evidence-based practice in clinical psychology requires scientific investigation of the effects of treatment and mechanisms of change. Empirical evidence suggests that mindfulness-based treatments provide clinically meaningful improvement for people suffering from many important problems, including depression, anxiety, pain, and stress. However, the processes of change that...
AbstractMindfulness-based cognitive therapy creates an unlikely partnership, between the ancient tradition of mindfulness meditation rooted in Buddhist thought, and the much more recent and essentially western tradition of cognitive and clinical science. This article investigates points of congruence and difference between the two traditions and concludes that, despite first appearances, this...
The guest editors introduce this special issue on Mindfulness, explaining its rationale, aims, and intentions. Integrating mindfulness-based approaches into medicine, psychology, neuroscience, heal...
To gain insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in Zen meditation, we evaluated the effects of focused attention (FA) on breathing movements in the lower abdomen (Tanden) in novices. We investigated hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an attention-related brain region, using 24-channel near-infrared spectroscopy during a 20-minute session of FA on Tanden...
Science—in the forms of Western theoretical science, empirical research, and revised Vedic teachings—has played at least three different roles over the last fifty years in the evolving public and internal teachings of the Transcendental Meditation Organization (TMO) of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The first phase, starting in 1957, emphasized the power of Indian spiritual teachings to transform the...
Previous researchers have studied meditation practices as a means to understand consciousness as well as altered states of consciousness. Various meditation techniques, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Qigong, have been explored with source localization tools; however, the concentrative meditation technique has yet to be fully studied in this manner. The current study demonstrates...
The purpose of this paper is to determine the meaning and function of mindfulness meditation using as the source of inquiry the Pāli Canon, the oldest complete collection of Buddhist texts to survive intact. Mindfulness is the chief factor in the practice of satipa hāna, the best known system of Buddhist meditation. In descriptions of satipa hāna two terms constantly recur: mindfulness (sati)...
The Buddhist construct of mindfulness is a central element of mindfulness-based interventions and derives from a systematic phenomenological programme developed over several millennia to investigate subjective experience. Enthusiasm for ‘mindfulness’ in Western psychological and other science has resulted in proliferation of definitions, operationalizations and self-report inventories that...
Background: A sensation of vibration is experienced during audible ′OM′ chanting. This has the potential for vagus nerve stimulation through its auricular branches and the effects on the brain thereof. The neurohemodynamic correlates of ′OM′ chanting are yet to be explored. Materials and Methods: Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the neurohemodynamic correlates of audible ′OM′...
UNLABELLED: Fjorback LO, Arendt M, Ørnbøl E, Fink P, Walach H. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy - a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence for MBSR and MBCT. METHOD: Systematic searches of Medline, PsycInfo and Embase were performed in October 2010. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were...
Purpose: To identify and compare the concepts contained in questionnaires measuring mindfulness using the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) as external reference. Method: Questionnaires which are published in peer-reviewed journals and listed in Pubmed or PsycInfo were included. The questionnaires were analysed and, using a content-analytical approach, the respective items were...
Objectives: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was originally developed to prevent relapse in recurrent depression. More recently it has been applied to individuals at high risk of suicide or currently suffering with anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to consider the feasibility of MBCT for individuals with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Design: The...
This article presents 4 studies (N = 1,413) describing the development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). In Study 1 (n = 428), the authors determined procedures for item development and examined comprehensibility of the initial 25 items. In Study 2 (n = 334), they reduced the initial item pool from 25 to 10 items through exploratory factor analysis. Study 3...