Pain MedicineFebruary 23, 2021Anna M. Polaski, A. Phelps, Thomas J. Smith et al.
OBJECTIVE This pilot trial examined the effects of a combined intervention of mindfulness meditation followed by aerobic walking exercise compared with a control condition in chronic low back pain patients. We hypothesized that meditation before exercise would reduce disability, pain, and anxiety by increasing mindfulness prior to physical activity compared with an audiobook control group....
In some types of meditation, such as mindfulness and Zen, breathing is the focus of attention, whereas during an excessive, short-period of anaerobic exercise, the muscles become the focus of attention. Thus, during both efforts, one's attention is focused on a certain feature of the body. Both meditation and exercise generally provide mental refreshment to humans. We hypothesized that the same...
BackgroundThe regular practice of mindfulness has been shown to provide benefits for mental well-being and prevent depression relapse. Technology-mediated interventions can facilitate the uptake and sustained practice of mindfulness, yet the evaluation of interactive systems, such as brain-computer interfaces, has been little explored. ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to present an...
BackgroundPrevious studies have indicated that higher subjective well-being works as a protective factor for health. Some studies have already shown the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on improving subjective well-being. However, these studies targeted specific populations rather than the general public. Furthermore, they assessed either life evaluation or affective aspects of...
Abstract Background There is a call for sustainable, evidence-based interventions in schools to promote mental health in schoolchildren. Our primary aim of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness in vulnerable pupils of a school teacher training programme to teach mindfulness (“.b” programme) as a part of compulsory class room teaching in Danish schools on the pupils’ self-reported mental...
Background: Psychological difficulties such as anxiety, depression, and irritability are common in Huntington’s disease, even for premanifest individuals. However, very little evidence exists of psychological approaches to manage this distress. We have conducted a feasibility study with an embedded qualitative component to investigate the possibility of using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy...
Background/Objective Healthcare workers play a critical role in the health of a nation, yet rates of healthcare worker stress are disproportionately high. We evaluated whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for life (MBCT-L), could reduce stress in healthcare workers and target a range of secondary outcomes. Method: This is the first parallel randomised controlled trial of MBCT-L....
In response to questions regarding the scientific basis for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), we evaluated their empirical status by systematically reviewing meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We searched six databases for effect sizes based on four or more trials that did not combine passive and active controls. Heterogeneity, moderators, tests of publication bias,...
ABSTRACT Loving-kindness meditation has been recognized as a valuable form of meditation practice and features in most mindfulness programs. The present research explored the potential of an alternative non-meditative loving-kindness practice; namely, loving-kindness coloring. University students (N= 180) were randomly assigned to the loving-kindness coloring condition or the meditation...
OBJECTIVES The present investigation is to study the impact of yoga and meditation on Brain waves concerning physical and mental health. There are mainly three stages (steps) in the brain wave classification:(i) preprocessing, ii) feature extraction, and iii) classification. This work provides a review of interpretation methods of Brain signals (Electroencephalogram (EEG)) EEG during yoga and...
Walking meditation is a form of mindfulness training, where the act of walking provides a rhythmic meter for attentional focus. Whilst digital technologies to support sitting meditation and walking practices exist, less explored is the first person in-the-moment experience of technology-mediated walking meditation. We present a study of group walking meditation, with and without an interactive...
In recent decades, psychological research on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions has greatly developed and demonstrated a range of beneficial outcomes in a variety of populations and contexts. Yet, the question of how to foster subjective well-being and happiness remains open. Here, we assessed the effectiveness of an integrated mental training program The Art of Happiness on...
Abstract In recent years a style of thought has emerged that privileges molecular biology, in the form of cognitive neuroscience, as the preferred or even only valid foundation for the scientific study of mind and mental life. Despite the lack of progress and honest positive prognosis, neuroscience has managed to create a false but pervasive sense of achievement and meaning that dominates...
Abstract This chapter outlines a theory of meditation as an art of self-shaping, by emphasizing meditation’s efficacy as a tool for sculpting the “plastic” structures of the mind. First, it considers modern views of meditation as a form of healing that brings the mind “back” to its natural functioning. This stands in contrast with most traditional views of meditation as a way to change the self...
ABSTRACT Implicit bias studies in psychology and cognitive science focus primarily on the individual self, and more recently on the brain. In this article, we argue that the embodied cognition paradigm, which encompasses both the functional body and the environment, can provide more relevant insights for social work. Implicit bias is not just in the brain. It is in the dynamic systems process...
Abstract In the Islamic tradition, diverse meditative practices expand on elements of the ritual prayer. Sufi Muslims explore their potential as independent practices to introspect, uncover the delusion of the ego, and purify the heart. There is no single term meaning “meditation.” Dhikr or remembrance consists of repeating phrases from Qurʾan or names of God. Focusing on God’s presence without...
Abstract The aim of the chapter is to compare meditation in the Western Christian tradition with the Hindu tradition, particularly from the Yoga Sūtras. Its main focus is to highlight the essential differences between meditation in these two traditions. One can find various contrasts as well as unexpected convergences, such as the description of exercises involving focused concentration and the...
OBJECTIVE Psychological treatments for chronic low back pain (CLBP) are effective. However, limited research has investigated their neurophysiological mechanisms. This study examined electroencephalography- (EEG-) assessed brain oscillation changes as potential mechanisms of cognitive therapy (CT), mindfulness-meditation (MM), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for CLBP. The a...
Abstract In a study testing whether mindfulness decreases cognitive biases, respondents answered 22 standard cognitive bias questions to measure susceptibility to the endowment effect, overconfidence, mental accounting, anchoring, loss aversion, and 17 other biases, as well as the 14 questions of the Langer mindfulness survey (LMS), measuring the traits of novelty-seeking, novelty producing,...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the mediational role of mindfulness in the linkage between cyberbullying victimization and depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents in longitudinal data. A total of 1274 Chinese high school students completed the measures at Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2). Adolescents’ self-reports of cyberbullying victimization, mindfulness, depression,...