Abstract Contemplative traditions have posited that exceptional abilities can occur in conjunction with meditation. These claims have been often dismissed as mere fantasies, but some have been evaluated experimentally. This chapter reviews historical accounts from Asian and Western traditions about such abilities and summarizes the research on the relation of meditation with exceptional...
Abstract Sociologists study meditation as a social phenomenon, utilizing the contemporary practice of meditation as a window to larger questions about social life and organization in the contemporary world. This chapter illustrates how meditation serves as a new institution and social sphere that balances the “secular” and the “mystical” as well as “being together” and “being alone.” It...
Abstract Eastern Orthodox Christianity has developed a wide variety of theories and practices of meditation. Among these, this chapter covers the contemplation of sins, the recitation of the Jesus prayer, hesychasm, and the contemplation of Divine Light. This latter form of meditation, where God’s uncreated Light is revealed to the individual, is particularly important in the Eastern Christian...
Abstract The Jewish meditative tradition is a diverse collection of techniques and practices, originating at different eras and exhibiting varying characteristics. In the following a summation of the major trends of Jewish meditation is attempted, following a chronological scheme and aiming to underline the shifts in emphasis displayed by different Jewish meditative paths, from the Bible,...
Abstract This chapter offers an overview of the intricate connections between meditation and emotion. It begins by outlining a framework for understanding meditation, whereby practices can be classified according to four key parameters: behaviors of mind; object; attitude; and form. It also introduces some basic ideas around the nature of emotions, and affective experience more broadly. After...
In light of a growing interest in contemplative practices such as meditation, the emerging field of contemplative science has been challenged to describe and objectively measure how these practices affect health and well-being. While “mindfulness” itself has been proposed as a measurable outcome of contemplative practices, this concept encompasses multiple components, some of which, as we...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental disorder affecting numerous U.S. citizens, but conventional interventions have shown limited success in treating PTSD symptoms (e.g., high dropout rates). Various meditative techniques have been used as alternative interventions to treat PTSD, demonstrating that these interventions have strong potential to improve symptoms and...
Abstract Evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation (MM) improves selective attention and reduces distractibility by enhancing top-down neural modulation. Altered P300 and alpha neural activity from MM have been identified and may reflect the neural changes that underpin these improvements. Given the proposed role of alpha activity in supressing processing of task-irrelevant information, it...
INTRODUCTION: Multiple studies have demonstrated that patients practicing yoga-based interventions/techniques have decreased anxiety and depression, increased self-efficacy and improved quality of life. This has included prior work with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. We developed novel videos and an educational website about yoga and breathing techniques which allows patients to...
Objective: Despite the heightened urgency of the current prescription opioid crisis, few psychotherapies have been evaluated for chronic pain patients receiving long-term opioid analgesics. Current psychological pain treatments focus primarily on ameliorating negative affective processes, yet basic science suggests that risk for opioid misuse is linked with a dearth of positive affect....