The paper is Article 1 of the Pali-Psycho series. It focuses on the empirical and clinical comparison axis: mindfulness, breath meditation, compassion cultivation, absorption states, affect labeling, default-mode-network findings, and selected positive-psychology parallels are treated as modern comparison points for Pali-canonical practice architectures. The central result is deliberately...
The interrelationship between mental health, emotional balance, and the evolution of consciousness has been a central concern of Yogic and Indic psychological traditions for millennia and is increasingly gaining attention within contemporary scientific research. Within these traditions, the human heart is regarded not merely as a physiological organ but as a subtle center of intelligence,...
Stress worsens clinical outcomes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD); however, timely accessible stress management tools remain limited. Digital interventions offer scalable adjunctive solutions early during pharmacological treatment. In this multicenter, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled crossover pilot trial, we conducted a preliminary evaluation of the short-term efficacy...
This chapter explores how integrating contemplative praxis into the human rights field could transform the dominant separation paradigm of human rights, which is rooted in dualisms that separate political from spiritual, individual from community, and humans from nature. Drawing on feminist, Indigenous, and decolonial thought and empirical research on the mental health of human rights...
Most existing scholarship on contemplative practices and queer politics deals with the ways in which contemplative practices may help LGBTQIA+ people heal from traumas. Only a few studies discuss the roles that contemplative or wellness practices may play in queer activism. This chapter reviews these studies and discusses the benefits of contemplative practices in relation to healing and...
This chapter explores the intersection of contemplative practices and international relations theory, offering a reimagining of the classical security dilemma through the lens of nonself and interdependence—core insights from ancient Buddhist thought. Building on foundational realist thinkers such as Thucydides, Kenneth Waltz, and John Mearsheimer, the chapter critically examines the evolution...
Popular practice of yoga has spread worldwide, alongside fitness, health, and contemplative pursuits. Concurrently, mental distress and disorders are major contributors to the burden of non-communicable diseases. Practices of yoga-meditation are widely touted and often pursued as antidotes for stress. A qualitative mixed methods study incorporating freelisting and cultural consensus analysis...
Distinguishing between self (internal) and environment (external) is fundamental to human experience, yet mind-body traditions describe non-dual states where this boundary dissolves. However, the neural basis of non-duality remains underexplored. We investigate this in advanced and novice meditators from the Isha Yoga tradition and meditation-naïve controls using psychological scales and...
Adolescência e SaúdeJune 10, 2026S Nagarajan, K Subbulakshmi, S Vidhya Shankari et al.
Few randomized studies have isolated the incremental contribution of Dheergha Swasam (deep diaphragmatic breathing), a fundamental yoga technique thought to promote the psychological benefits of asana-based practice in student groups. In this three-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial, female postgraduate students in Chennai, India, were asked if a 12-week yoga practice program that...
A growing body of psychological and neuroscientific research suggests that moral injury (MI) involves maladaptive self-referential processing, including disruptions in moral identity, rigid negative self-appraisals, and impaired meaning-making following exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Building on Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (MMT), this paper proposes...