A pandemic of type-2 diabetes threatens to bankrupt Western industrialized nations. In 2012, in the United States alone, more than 22.3 million people (about 7 percent of the U.S. population) suffered from the disease at an estimated cost of $245 billion. Prevention has so far focused on dietary manipulation and exercise. On completing this paper the reader will have gained practical knowledge...
Mindfulness meditation is a growing area of interest for both mental health professionals and the general public alike. Beneficial outcomes are associated with these practices, although the variety of measurement techniques makes research difficult to interpret. Definitions of these constructs are varied, and anecdotal accounts point to the idea that many people hold misconceptions about...
Youth mental health disorders are rising across the world. Mindful Parenting could be a potential tool to promote youth mental health. The primary distinction between Mindful Parenting programs and other behavioral parenting programs is the focus on emotional literacy and compassion. However, this emerging field has gaps in its theory and evidence. In order to objectively evaluate the impact of...
Research has shown the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for a variety of emotional problems in different samples, but it is unknown which factors influence this effectiveness. Therefore, the aim of the current study was: which factors (demographic, personality, and baseline levels of mindfulness skills) moderate the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)?...
Stillbirth is a significant global health problem that frequently results in perinatal grief with compound negative psychosocial impact. In low-resource settings with exceedingly high stillbirth rates, such as rural Chhattisgarh, India, it is vital to utilize low-cost, effective interventions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction is an evidence-based intervention utilized for a broad range of...
Current research suggests that associations between headache conditions (migraine, tension) and imbalances in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are due to stress-related dysregulation in the activity of the parasympathetic-sympathetic branches. Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing pain-related distress, and in enhancing heart rate variability-a vagal-mediated...
The excitement about the application of mindfulness meditation in mental health settings has led to the proliferation of a literature pervaded by a lack of conceptual and methodological self-criticism. In this article we raise two major concerns. First, we consider the range of individual differences within the experience of meditation; although some people may benefit from its practice, others...
This study examined the relationship between focused attention meditation practice habits, psychological symptoms, and quality of life. The participants were 30 adults from New York, NY, practicing Ananda Marga spirituality. They were administered the Symptom Check List-90-R and the Quality of Life Index. The findings pointed out while Ananda Marga meditation practice habits were not associated...
Surgical intensive care unit personnel are exposed to catastrophic situations as they care for seriously injured or ill patients. Few interventions have been developed to reduce the negative effects of work stress in this environment. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a workplace intervention for increasing resilience to stress. The intervention was implemented within the unique...
Interoception, Contemplative Practice, and HealthWell-being is deeply rooted in the body, a continuous flow of feelings denoting comfort or distress.Interoception, the representation of the body's internal state, is a growing target of scientific research, buoyed by a growing respect for contemplative traditions relating interoceptive awareness to the cultivation of well-being.An emerging...
Meditative techniques aim for and meditators report states of mental alertness and focus, concurrent with physical and emotional calm. We aimed to determine the electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of five states of Buddhist concentrative meditation, particularly addressing a correlation with meditative level. We studied 12 meditators and 12 pair-matched meditation-naïve participants using...
Conventional views purport that mindfulness includes two components: present moment contact (PMC) and nonjudgment. While mindfulness-based interventions that target a broad spectrum of psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emphasize “being present” as a key mechanism toward wellness, researchers have struggled to measure PMC and assess its clinical utility. Is there...
Although mindfulness plays an important role in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD), few studies have investigated whether individuals with BPD show difficulties in mindfulness. Those studies have relied exclusively on questionnaire data. Here, we used a more objective, behavioral assessment of mindfulness difficulties in BPD that allowed us to distinguish difficulties in...
Body imageDecember 1, 2016Aubrey M Toole, Linda W Craighead
Self-compassion interventions may be uniquely suited to address body image distress (BID), as change-based strategies may have limited utility in a cultural context that so highly values appearance. The current study evaluated a version of an Internet-based self-compassion training, which had previously shown promising results, but was limited by high attrition. The intervention period was...
Reiki healing is one of several complementary and integrative therapies becoming increasingly prevalent in mental health counseling. It has been identified in the medical field for its usefulness in treating anxiety, depression, distress, and pain but has rarely been studied for its counseling impact on client wellness. I conducted single-case research to explore psychotherapeutic Reiki's...
This study examined the effects of an eight-week-web-based mindfulness program designed for individuals with chronic pain. A sample of 107 participants with chronic pain ( M = 51.0 years, SD = 9.3) were randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group. The mindfulness program involved 20 minutes of training per day, six days a week, for eight weeks. During this period, the control...
Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) has written extensively on the concrete details of contemplative practice as well as its purpose in the wider context of yoga as a system of spiritual disciplines leading to God-realization. The paper summarizes his teachings with an emphasis on how contemplative practice is done and how it works in attaining its goals. Sri Chinmoy distinguishes between concentration,...
Purpose of Study: This pilot study evaluated whether short (less than 10 minutes) structured meditations decrease compassion fatigue and improve compassion satisfaction in oncology nurses. Design of Study: A nonrandomized, pre-post intervention study. Methods Used: Participants used specific meditations designed to establish a sense of calm, relaxation, and self-compassion 5 days a week for 4...
The concept of self-compassion originated from Buddhism, but very little is known about the utility and functions of this concept among Buddhists. Four hundred and eleven individuals (179 Buddhists and 232 non-Buddhists) completed the survey packages using the self-compassion scale (SCS; Neff in Self Identity 2(3):223-250, 2003a. doi: 10.1080/15298860309027 ). Confirmatory factor analysis...
Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are rapidly emerging in health care settings for their role in reducing stress and improving physical and mental health. In such settings, the religious roots and affiliations of MBIs are downplayed, and the possibilities for developing spiritual, even mystical, states of consciousness are minimized. This article helps rebalance this trend by using the...