Mindfulness and meditation

إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخۡتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِمَّا يَأۡكُلُ ٱلنَّاسُ وَٱلۡأَنۡعَٰمُ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَخَذَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ زُخۡرُفَهَا وَٱزَّيَّنَتۡ وَظَنَّ أَهۡلُهَآ أَنَّهُمۡ قَٰدِرُونَ عَلَيۡهَآ أَتَىٰهَآ أَمۡرُنَا لَيۡلًا أَوۡ نَهَارࣰ ا فَجَعَلۡنَٰهَا حَصِيدࣰ ا كَأَن لَّمۡ تَغۡنَ بِٱلۡأَمۡسِۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لِقَوۡمࣲ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

The life of this world is like this: rain that We send down from the sky is absorbed by the plants of the earth, from which humans and animals eat. But when the earth has taken on its finest appearance, and adorns itself, and its people think they have power over it, then the fate We commanded comes to it, by night or by day, and We reduce it to stubble, as if it had not flourished just the day before. This is the way We explain the revelations for those who reflect

۞يَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلۡخَمۡرِ وَٱلۡمَيۡسِرِۖ قُلۡ فِيهِمَآ إِثۡمࣱ كَبِيرࣱ وَمَنَٰفِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثۡمُهُمَآ أَكۡبَرُ مِن نَّفۡعِهِمَاۗ وَيَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَۖ قُلِ ٱلۡعَفۡوَۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

They ask you [Prophet] about intoxicants and gambling: say, ‘There is great sin in both, and some benefit for people: the sin is greater than the benefit.’ They ask you what they should give: say, ‘Give what you can spare.’ In this way, God makes His messages clear to you, so that you may reflect

أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمۡ أَن تَكُونَ لَهُۥ جَنَّةࣱ مِّن نَّخِيلࣲ وَأَعۡنَابࣲ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ لَهُۥ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ وَأَصَابَهُ ٱلۡكِبَرُ وَلَهُۥ ذُرِّيَّةࣱ ضُعَفَآءُ فَأَصَابَهَآ إِعۡصَارࣱ فِيهِ نَارࣱ فَٱحۡتَرَقَتۡۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

Would any of you like to have a garden of palm trees and vines, graced with flowing streams and all kinds of produce, which, when you are afflicted with old age and feeble offspring, is struck by a fiery whirlwind and burnt down? In this way God makes His messages clear to you, so that you may reflect on them

ٱلَّذِينَ يَذۡكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمࣰ ا وَقُعُودࣰ ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَٰذَا بَٰطِلࣰ ا سُبۡحَٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ

who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose- You are far above that!- so protect us from the torment of the Fire

قُل لَّآ أَقُولُ لَكُمۡ عِندِي خَزَآئِنُ ٱللَّهِ وَلَآ أَعۡلَمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبَ وَلَآ أَقُولُ لَكُمۡ إِنِّي مَلَكٌۖ إِنۡ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَيَّۚ قُلۡ هَلۡ يَسۡتَوِي ٱلۡأَعۡمَىٰ وَٱلۡبَصِيرُۚ أَفَلَا تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

Say, ‘I do not have the treasures of God, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me.’ Say, ‘Is a blind person like one who can see? Why will you not reflect?’

وَلَوۡ شِئۡنَا لَرَفَعۡنَٰهُ بِهَا وَلَٰكِنَّهُۥٓ أَخۡلَدَ إِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُۚ فَمَثَلُهُۥ كَمَثَلِ ٱلۡكَلۡبِ إِن تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡهِ يَلۡهَثۡ أَوۡ تَتۡرُكۡهُ يَلۡهَثۚ ذَّٰلِكَ مَثَلُ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَاۚ فَٱقۡصُصِ ٱلۡقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

if it had been Our will, We could have used these signs to raise him high, but instead he clung to the earth and followed his own desires- he was like a dog that pants with a lolling tongue whether you drive it away or leave it alone. Such is the image of those who reject Our signs. Tell them the story so that they may reflect

They ask thee about wine and gambling.... And they ask thee what they should expend. God has servants on the earth who drink the wine of recognition and are drunk from the cup of love. There is no more than a whiff of this wine's reality in this world, and nothing but a show of that drunkenness, for this world is a prison, and what can a prison put up with? Today there is no more than that. Nonetheless, wait until tomorrow, the assembly of repose and ease [56:89], the arena of union with the Beloved, when the servants will be gazing on the Real. Hope for union with you has added to my life. What can union itself be, when hope does that!? A man in turmoil entered the shop of a wine merchant with one dirham. He said, “Give me wine for this dirham.” The merchant replied, “There's no wine left.” The man said, “I'm already in turmoil. I can't tolerate wine's reality. Show me a drop so I may s

Who remember God, standing and sitting and on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. Those who remember are three: One remembers God with the tongue and is heedless with the heart. This is the remembrance of the wrongdoer, who is aware neither of the remembrance nor of the Remembered. Another remembers Him with the tongue and is present with the heart. This is the remem- brance of the moderate and the state of the wage-earner. He is seeking reward and excused in his seeking. The third remembers Him with the heart; the heart is filled with Him, and his tongue is silent in remembrance. “When someone recognizes God, his tongue is mute.” This is the remembrance of the preceder. His tongue is lost in the remembrance, and the remembrance is lost in the Remem- bered. The heart is lost in love, and love in the Light. The spirit is lost in face-to-face vision, and

They ask you about wine and divinatory arrows gambling and what the ruling is regarding them. Say to them ‘In both that is in the partaking of both is great sin a variant reading for kabīr ‘great’ has kathīr ‘much’ because of the fighting cursing and swearing that ensue from it; and profit for men by way of delight and enjoyment in wine and acquiring money effortlessly from gambling; but the sin in them that is the degenerate behaviour in which they result is greater graver than the usefulness’. When this verse was revealed some gave up drinking while others persisted until the verse of sūrat al-Mā’ida Q. 590-91 finally made it illicit. And they will ask you what that is to say how much they should expend. Say expend ‘Comfortably’ al-‘afwa in the accusative is also read in the nominative al-‘afwu implying a preceding huwa that is the surplus of your need and do not expend what you need r

Would any of you wish to have a garden an orchard of date-palms and vines with rivers flowing beneath it for him there is in it all manner of fruit then old age smites him and makes him too weak to profit from it and he has seed but they are weak young children who cannot manage it; then a whirlwind i‘sār are violent winds with fire smites it and it is consumed? so that he loses what he is most in need of and now he and his children have become incapacitated confused without any resources. This is a similitude of how the expenditure of the one expending for show or the one who reproaches after having expended vanishes and how it is of no avail when he will be most in need of it in the Hereafter the interrogative a-yawaddu ‘would any wish’ is intended as a denial. According to Ibn ‘Abbās this is the person who performs deeds of obedience but when Satan comes to him he begins to work disob

Those who alladhīna an adjectival qualification of the preceding li-ūlī l-albāb ‘for people of pith’ or a substitution for it remember God standing and sitting and on their sides reclining that is to say in all states it is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that they perform prayer in these ways each according to his own capacity; and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth to deduce therefrom the power of their Creator saying ‘Our Lord You have not created this creation that we see in vain bātilan a circumstantial qualifier frivolously but as a proof of the totality of Your power. Glory be to You! exalted above any frivolity. So guard us against the chastisement of the Fire.

Would any of you wish to have a garden with date palms and vines, with rivers flowing underneath, and all kinds of fruits for him therein, while he is striken with old age, and his children are weak (not able to look after themselves), then it is struck with a fiery whirlwind, so that it is burnt? Thus does Allah make clear His Ayat to you that you may give thought (266) The Example of Evil Deeds Nullifying Good Deeds Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn 'Abbas and 'Ubayd bin 'Umayr said that 'Umar bin Al-Khattab asked the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, "According to your opinion, about whom was this Ayah revealed, أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن تَكُونَ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ (Would any of you wish to have a garden with date palms and vines…?)." They said, "Allah knows best." 'Umar became angry and said, "Say we know or we do not know." Ibn 'Abbas said, "O Leader of the Fai

حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّاسُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَظِيمِ الْعَنْبَرِيُّ، وَغَيْرُ، وَاحِدٍ، قَالُوا حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عِمْرَانُ الْقَطَّانُ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، رضى الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ لَيْسَ شَيْءٌ أَكْرَمَ عَلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ مَرْفُوعًا إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ عِمْرَانَ الْقَطَّانِ وَعِمْرَانُ الْقَطَّانُ هُوَ ابْنُ دَاوَرَ وَيُكْنَى أَبَا الْعَوَّامِ ‏.‏ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، عَنْ عِمْرَانَ الْقَطَّانِ، بِهَذَا الإِسْنَادِ نَحْوَهُ ‏.‏

Abu Hurairah narrated that:The Prophet said: “There is nothing more honorable with Allah [Most High] than supplication.”

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنِيعٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ ذَرٍّ، عَنْ يُسَيْعٍ، عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ ثُمَّ قَرَأََ ‏:‏ ‏(‏وقالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ ‏)‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ ‏.‏ وَقَدْ رَوَاهُ مَنْصُورٌ وَالأَعْمَشُ عَنْ ذَرٍّ وَلاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ ذَرٍّ ‏.‏ هُوَ ذَرُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْهَمْدَانِيُّ ثِقَةٌ وَالِدُ عُمَرَ بْنِ ذَرٍّ ‏.‏

An-Nu`man bin Bashir narrated that:The Prophet said: “The supplication, is worship.” Then he recited: And Your Lord said: “Call upon me, I will respond to you. Verily, those who scorn My worship, they will surely enter Hell humiliated

وأما ربع المنجيات فيشتمل على عشرة كتب كتاب التوبة وكتاب الصبر والشكر وكتاب الخوف والرجاء وكتاب الفقر والزهد وكتاب التوحيد والتوكل وكتاب المحبة والشوق والأنس والرضا وكتاب النية والصدق والإخلاص وكتاب المراقبة والمحاسبة وكتاب التفكر وكتاب ذكر الموت

ويعينه على هذه المراقبة والمحاسبة : معرفته أنه كلما اجتهد فيها اليوم استراح منها غدا إذا صار الحساب إلى غيره وكلما أهملها اليوم اشتد عليه الحساب غدا

تم كتاب الصدق والإخلاص يتلوه كتاب المراقبة والمحاسبة والحمد لله

| كتاب المراقبة والمحاسبة وهو الكتاب الثامن من ربع المنجيات من كتاب

وقال إبراهيم الخواص : المراقبة خلوص السر والعلانية لله عز وجل وقيل : أفضل ما يلزم الإنسان نفسه في هذه الطريق : المحاسبة والمراقبة وسياسة عمله بالعلم

# ### | 15 باب في المحاسبة والمراقبة

An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Mind-Body Interventions Targeting Sleep on Salivary Oxytocin Levels in Cancer Survivors.: Cancer survivors experience high levels of distress, associated with a host of negative psychological states, including anxiety, depression, and fear of recurrence, which often lead to sleep problems and reduction in quality of life (QOL) and well-being. As a neuropeptide hormone associated with affiliation, calmness, and well-being, oxytocin may be a useful biological measure of changes in health outcomes in cancer survivors. In this exploratory study, which comprised a subset of participants f

Effects of Mindfulness Training and Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.: Importance: Episodic memory and executive function are essential aspects of cognitive functioning that decline with aging. This decline may be ameliorable with lifestyle interventions. Objective: To determine whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), exercise, or a combination of both improve cognitive function in older adults. Design, setting, and participants: This 2 × 2 factorial randomized clinical trial was conducted at 2 US sites (Washington University in St Louis and University o

Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: a systematic review.: Mindfulness-based approaches are growing in popularity as interventions for disordered eating and weight loss. Initial research suggests that mindfulness meditation may be an effective intervention for binge eating; however, no systematic review has examined interventions where mindfulness meditation was the primary intervention and no review has examined its effect on subclinical disordered eating or weight. Using the PRISMA method for systematic reviews, we reviewed 14 studies that investigate

Do workplace-based mindfulness meditation programs improve physiological indices of stress? A systematic review and meta-analysis.: Objective: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have been related with improved job satisfaction, wellbeing, health, and reduced workplace stress with employees. However, until now, synthesis of the evidence of the effect of MBIs on physiological indices associated with stress and ill-health has been lacking. Therefore the current systematic review aimed to synthesise the literature from employee samples to provide guidance for future investigations in terms of which physiological indicators an

Differential effects of mindfulness meditation conditions on repetitive negative thinking and subjective time perspective: a randomized active-controlled study.: ObjectivePreliminary findings suggest that different kinds of meditation could work on diverse cognitive and psychological processes. The present study aimed at disentangling the effects of three mindfulness techniques on mental rumination and subjective time perspective. Design: 75 young healthy participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: mindful breathing, body scan, observing-thoughts meditation and an active control condition. The meditation groups practiced mindfulness da

Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation, Cognitive Therapy, and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain.: Objectives: This study evaluated theoretically derived mechanisms and common therapeutic factors to test their role in accounting for pain-related outcome change during group-delivered cognitive therapy, mindfulness meditation, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for chronic low back pain. Methods: A secondary analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial was used to explore the primary mechanisms of pretreatment to posttreatment changes in pain control beliefs, mindful observing, and pain

Mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and Zen meditation for depression, anxiety, pain, and psychological distress.

Mindfulness has been described as a practice of learning to focus attention on moment-bymoment experience with an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance. Mindfulness practices have become increasingly popular as complementary therapeutic strategies for a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions. This paper provides an overview of three mindfulness interventions that have demonstrated effectiveness for psychiatric symptoms and/or pain. The goal of this review is to provide a synopsis that practicing clinicians can use as a clinical reference concerning Zen meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). All three approaches originated from Buddhist spiritual practices, but only Zen is an actual Buddhist tradition. MBSR and MBCT are secular, clinically based methods that employ manuals and standardized techniques. Studies…

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Mevlana Jalāl-ad-Dīn Rumi and mindfulness.

The use of mindfulness-related methods for the treatment of a variety of psychological, somatic and interpersonal problems has increased dramatically in the last decade. Almost all mindfulness-based therapies include the practice of meditation in addition to various cognitive and/or behavioral techniques. The source of inspiration for mindfulness has traditionally been Buddhism, while Islamic thought has not been present in this development despite the similarities in philosophy and a growing need for mental health support among Muslim populations throughout the world. It is in this context that Sufism and especially Rumi's teachings seem to be promising both in terms of research on consciousness and in terms of culturally sensitive methods of healing. The aim of the present article is to highlight the commonality of mindfulness-based therapies and Rumi's religious philosophy. Introducin…

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Effect of a mobile-based intervention on mental health in frontline healthcare workers against COVID-19: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of a psychoeducational, mobile health intervention based on cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness-based approaches on the mental health of healthcare workers at the frontline against COVID-19 in Spain. Design: We will carry out a two-week, individually randomized, parallel group, controlled trial. Participants will be individually randomized to receive the PsyCovidApp intervention or control App intervention. Methods: The PsyCovidApp intervention will include five modules: emotional skills, lifestyle behaviour, work stress and burnout, social support, and practical tools. Healthcare workers having attended patients with COVID-19 will be randomized to receive the PsyCovidApp intervention (intervention group) or a control App intervention (control group). A total of 440 healthcare workers will be necessary to assure statistical power. Measures will be co…

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Internet-based stress recovery intervention FOREST for healthcare staff amid COVID-19 pandemic: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The demand for care during the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs), thus increasing the need for psychosocial support services. Internet-based interventions have previously been found to reduce occupational stress. The study aims to test the effects of an Internet-based stress recovery intervention-FOREST-among HCWs. Methods: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) parallel group design with three measurement points will be conducted to assess the efficacy of an Internet-based stress recovery intervention FOREST for nurses. The FOREST intervention is a 6-week Internet-based CBT and mindfulness-based program which comprises of six modules: (1) Introduction, (2) Detachment (relaxation and sleep), (3) Distancing, (4) Mastery (challenge), (5) Control, and (6) Keeping the change alive. We will compare the intervention against a waiting list gr…

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Study protocol of a multicenter randomized controlled trial of mindfulness training to reduce burnout and promote quality of life in police officers: the POLICE study

BACKGROUND: Police officers experience a high degree of chronic stress. Policing ranks among the highest professions in terms of disease and accident rates. Mental health is particularly impacted, evidenced by elevated rates of burnout, anxiety and depression, and poorer quality of life than the general public. Mindfulness training has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, burnout and promote quality of life in a variety of settings, although its efficacy in this context has yet to be systematically evaluated. Therefore, this trial will investigate the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention versus a waitlist control in improving quality of life and reducing negative mental health symptoms in police officers. METHODS: This multicenter randomized controlled trial has three assessment points: baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up. Active police officers (n = 160) will b…

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Exploring the impact of a gratitude-focused meditation on body dissatisfaction: Can a brief auditory gratitude intervention protect young women against exposure to the thin ideal?

This study aimed to determine if a brief gratitude-focused meditation would significantly impact body dissatisfaction, and whether it would serve as a protective factor from exposure to thin idealized images in a sample of undergraduate women. 176 participants (Mage= 19.75) engaged in either a gratitude meditation, mindfulness meditation, or listened to a recording of a history textbook. Women were subsequently exposed to a set of neutral images or thin ideal images. Women reported significant decreases in state body dissatisfaction following all auditory conditions, regardless of auditory content. Decreased levels of body dissatisfaction persisted through exposure to neutral images, but not through exposure to thin ideal images. Results indicated that both the gratitude and mindfulness interventions were effective in eliciting a significant increase in self-reported levels of gratitude …

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Differential benefits of mental training types for attention, compassion, and theory of mind.

Mindfulness- and, more generally, meditation-based interventions increasingly gain popularity, effectively promoting cognitive, affective, and social capacities. It is unclear, however, if different types of practice have the same or specific effects on mental functioning. Here we tested three consecutive three-month training modules aimed at cultivating either attention, socio-affective qualities (such as compassion), or socio-cognitive skills (such as theory of mind), in three training cohorts and a retest control cohort (N = 332). While attentional performance improved most consistently after attention training, compassion increased most after socio-affective training and theory of mind partially improved after socio-cognitive training. These results show that specific mental training practices are needed to induce plasticity in different domains of mental functioning, providing a fou…

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Compassion meditation increases optimism towards a transgressor.

Past research reveals important connections between meditative practices and compassion. Most studies, however, focus on the effects of one type of meditation (vs. a no-intervention control) on a single expression of compassion (e.g. offering a seat) towards a relatable target (e.g. a person on crutches), without exploring possible mechanisms. Hence, few studies include different types of meditation, active controls, multiple ways to express compassion, unrelatable targets, and potential mediators. To this end, the present study compared the effects of mindfulness meditation with those of compassion meditation on different expressions of compassion towards a convicted murderer. Seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, or active control class, or a no-class control. After an 8-week programme, we assessed compassion by giving part…

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Effects of mindfulness meditation on mindfulness, mental well-being, and perceived stress.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation using the Headspace™ app on mindfulness, mental well-being, and perceived stress in pharmacy students. Methods: Professional year one (P1), professional year two (P2,) and professional year 3 (P3) pharmacy students were recruited to participate. Students were instructed to meditate using the Headspace™ app for at least 10min per day for four weeks. Students at baseline completed the health promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP). Data was collected from the pre/post surveys using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), and Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Ninety-two pharmacy students enrolled in the study. Seventy-percent of the participants completed the study. Only one participant was excluded in the post data analysis due …

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Heart Rate Variability, Cortisol and Attention Focus During Shamatha Quiescence Meditation.

Cardiac vagal tone can be seen as a stable marker for the ability to sustain attention and regulate emotion, two factors associated with the quality of meditation. In this study, heart rate variability (HRV) has been monitored in different forms of Shamatha quiescence meditation: three breath meditations, Settling the Mind in its natural state, Awareness of Awareness, Loving-kindness and Tonglen. Establish and test a practical means of monitoring neurobiological effects of meditation. Over 6 weeks, two experimental groups practiced Shamatha meditation on a daily basis (n = 20). HRV patterns and cortisol tests were monitored at three measuring points during these weeks, and an attention focus test was performed at the start and after 6 weeks. Six weeks of regular practice in Shamatha meditation were associated with HRV indices suggesting improvements in the homeostatic regulation of the a…

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Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations.

So far, the large and expanding body of research on meditation has mostly focussed on the putative benefits of meditation on health and well-being. However, a growing number of reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant experiences can occur in the context of meditation practice. Very little is known about the prevalence and potential causes of these experiences. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences in a large international sample of regular meditators, and to explore the association of these experiences with demographic characteristics, meditation practice, repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Using a cross-sectional online survey, 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience (mean age = 44.8 years ± 13.8, 53.6% female) responded to one question about pa…

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Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation.

During the past two decades, mindfulness meditation has gone from being a fringe topic of scientific investigation to being an occasional replacement for psychotherapy, tool of corporate well-being, widely implemented educational practice, and "key to building more resilient soldiers." Yet the mindfulness movement and empirical evidence supporting it have not gone without criticism. Misinformation and poor methodology associated with past studies of mindfulness may lead public consumers to be harmed, misled, and disappointed. Addressing such concerns, the present article discusses the difficulties of defining mindfulness, delineates the proper scope of research into mindfulness practices, and explicates crucial methodological issues for interpreting results from investigations of mindfulness. For doing so, the authors draw on their diverse areas of expertise to review the present state o…

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Mindfulness and mind wandering: The protective effects of brief meditation in anxious individuals.

Mind wandering can be costly, especially when we are engaged in attentionally demanding tasks. Preliminary studies suggest that mindfulness can be a promising antidote for mind wandering, albeit the evidence is mixed. To better understand the exact impact of mindfulness on mind wandering, we had a sample of highly anxious undergraduate students complete a sustained-attention task during which off-task thoughts including mind wandering were assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to a meditation or control condition, after which the sustained-attention task was repeated. In general, our results indicate that mindfulness training may only have protective effects on mind wandering for anxious individuals. Meditation prevented the increase of mind wandering over time and ameliorated performance disruption during off-task episodes. In addition, we found that the meditation intervention …

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Meditation experts try Virtual Reality Mindfulness: A pilot study evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of Virtual Reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in people attending a Mindfulness conference.

Regular mindfulness practice benefits people both mentally and physically, but many populations who could benefit do not practice mindfulness. Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology that helps capture participants' attention and gives users the illusion of "being there" in the 3D computer generated environment, facilitating sense of presence. By limiting distractions from the real world, increasing sense of presence and giving people an interesting place to go to practice mindfulness, Virtual Reality may facilitate mindfulness practice. Traditional Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training was specifically designed for clinical treatment of people who have trouble focusing attention, however severe patients often show difficulties or lack of motivation to practice mindfulness during the training. The present pilot study explored whether a sample of mindfulness e…

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Mindfulness practice: A promising approach to reducing the effects of clinician implicit bias on patients.

Like the population at large, health care providers hold implicit racial and ethnic biases that may contribute to health care disparities. Little progress has been made in identifying and implementing effective strategies to address these normal but potentially harmful unconscious cognitive processes. We propose that meditation training designed to increase healthcare providers' mindfulness skills is a promising and potentially sustainable way to address this problem. Emerging evidence suggests that mindfulness practice can reduce the provider contribution to healthcare disparities through several mechanisms including: reducing the likelihood that implicit biases will be activated in the mind, increasing providers' awareness of and ability to control responses to implicit biases once activated, increasing self-compassion and compassion toward patients, and reducing internal sources of co…

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A Pilot Trial of Mindfulness Meditation Training for ADHD in Adulthood: Impact on Core Symptoms, Executive Functioning, and Emotion Dysregulation.

Objective: Mindfulness meditation training is garnering increasing empirical interest as an intervention for ADHD in adulthood, although no studies of mindfulness as a standalone treatment have included a sample composed entirely of adults with ADHD or a comparison group. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of mindfulness meditation for ADHD, executive functioning (EF), and emotion dysregulation symptoms in an adult ADHD sample. Method: Adults with ADHD were stratified by ADHD medication status and otherwise randomized into an 8-week group-based mindfulness treatment ( n = 11) or waitlist group ( n = 9). Results: Treatment feasibility and acceptability were positive. In addition, self-reported ADHD and EF symptoms (assessed in the laboratory and ecological momentary assessment), clinician ratings of ADHD and EF symptoms, and self-r…

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Internal and external attention and the default mode network.

Focused attention meditations have been shown to improve psychological health and wellbeing and are nowadays an integral part of many psychotherapies. While research on the neural correlates of focused attention meditation is increasing, findings vary on whether meditations are associated with high or low activity in the default mode network (DMN). To clarify the relationship between focused attention meditation and the activity in DMN regions, it may be helpful to distinguish internal and external attention as well as different phases within one meditation: During focused attention meditation, the practitioner switches between mindful attention, mind-wandering and refocusing. Here, we employed a thought-probe paradigm to study the neural correlates of these different phases. Twenty healthy, meditation naïve participants were introduced to external (mindfulness of sound) and internal (mi…

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Online Training in Specific Meditation Practices Improves Gratitude, Well-Being, Self-Compassion, and Confidence in Providing Compassionate Care Among Health Professionals.

Mind-body practices that intentionally generate positive emotion could improve health professionals' well-being and compassion. However, the feasibility and impact of clinician training in these practices is unknown. Data were analyzed from 3 online modules offered to health professionals: ( a) Gratitude, ( b) Positive Word, and ( c) Loving-kindness/Compassion meditation. Paired t tests were used to assess pre- to posttraining changes in gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire), well-being (World Health Organization Well-Being Index), self-compassion (Neff's Self-Compassion Scale), and confidence in providing compassionate care (Confidence in Providing Calm, Compassionate Care Scale). The 177 enrollees included diverse practitioners (nurses, physicians, social workers, and others). Training was associated with statistically significant improvements in gratitude (38.3 ± 4.6 to 39.5 ± 3.3), wel…

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Within-person changes in mindfulness and self-compassion predict enhanced emotional well-being in healthy, but stressed adolescents.

Meditation training programs for adolescents are predicated on the assumptions that mindfulness and self-compassion can be directly cultivated, and further, that doing so is beneficial for emotional well-being. Yet, very little research with adolescents has tested these assumptions directly. In the current study, I examined longitudinal relationships between changes in mindfulness and self-compassion and changes in emotional well-being among healthy, but stressed adolescents who participated in five-day, intensive meditation retreats. Immediately before and after the retreats, and then three months later, 132 adolescents (Mage = 16.76 years, 61% female) completed questionnaires measuring mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional well-being. Repeated measures ANOVA showed adolescents improved in mindfulness, self-compassion, and all indices of emotional well-being immediately following …

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Positive Effects of a Stress Reduction Program Based on Mindfulness Meditation in Brazilian Nursing Professionals: Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation.

Context: Mindfulness meditation has been shown to effectively mitigate the negative effects of stress among nursing professionals, but in countries like Brazil, these practices are relatively unexplored. Objective: To evaluate the effects of a Stress Reduction Program (SRP) including mindfulness and loving kindness meditation among nursing professionals working in a Brazilian hospital setting. Design: Pilot study with a mixed model using quantitative and qualitative methods was used to evaluate a group of participants. The quantitative data were analyzed at three different time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. The qualitative data were analyzed at post-intervention. Setting: Hospital São Paulo (Brazil). Participants: Sample 13 nursing professionals, including nurses, technicians, and nursing assistants working in a hospital. Intervention: Participants underwent…

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Increases in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and decreases the rostral prefrontal cortex activation after-8 weeks of focused attention based mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness meditation is a form of attention control training. The training exercises the ability to repeatedly focus attention. We addressed the activation changes related to an 8-weeks mindfulness-oriented focused attention meditation training on an initially naïve subject cohort. Before and after training participants underwent an fMRI experiment, thus, although not strictly a cross over design, they served as their internal own control. During fMRI they exercised focused attention on breathing and body scan as compared to resting. We found increased and decreased activation in different parts of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) by comparing pre- vs. post-mindfulness training (MT) during breathing and body scan meditation exercises that were compared against their own resting state. In the post-MT (vs. pre-MT) meditation increased activation in the right dorsolateral PFC and in the left c…

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Increased False-Memory Susceptibility After Mindfulness Meditation.

The effect of mindfulness meditation on false-memory susceptibility was examined in three experiments. Because mindfulness meditation encourages judgment-free thoughts and feelings, we predicted that participants in the mindfulness condition would be especially likely to form false memories. In two experiments, participants were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness induction, in which they were instructed to focus attention on their breathing, or a mind-wandering induction, in which they were instructed to think about whatever came to mind. The overall number of words from the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm that were correctly recalled did not differ between conditions. However, participants in the mindfulness condition were significantly more likely to report critical nonstudied items than participants in the control condition. In a third experiment, which tested recognition and…

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Mindfulness and compassion: an examination of mechanism and scalability.

Emerging evidence suggests that meditation engenders prosocial behaviors meant to benefit others. However, the robustness, underlying mechanisms, and potential scalability of such effects remain open to question. The current experiment employed an ecologically valid situation that exposed participants to a person in visible pain. Following three-week, mobile-app based training courses in mindfulness meditation or cognitive skills (i.e., an active control condition), participants arrived at a lab individually to complete purported measures of cognitive ability. Upon entering a public waiting area outside the lab that contained three chairs, participants seated themselves in the last remaining unoccupied chair; confederates occupied the other two. As the participant sat and waited, a third confederate using crutches and a large walking boot entered the waiting area while displaying discomf…

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The protective effects of brief mindfulness meditation training.

Mindfulness meditation has gained a great deal of attention in recent years due to the variety of physical and psychological benefits, including improved working memory, decreased mind wandering and reduced impact of stress on working memory. The current study examined a 1-week at home mindfulness meditation intervention compared to an active control intervention. Results suggest that mindfulness meditation does not increase working memory or decrease mind wandering but does prevent stress related working memory impairments. Mindfulness meditation appears to alter the factors that impair working memory such that the negative impact of mind wandering on working memory was only evident at higher levels of negative affect. The use of cognitive mechanism words in narratives of stressful events did not differ by condition but predicted poorer working memory in the control condition. The resul…

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The Cultural Relevance of Mindfulness Meditation as a Health Intervention for African Americans: Implications for Reducing Stress-Related Health Disparities.

African Americans experience a disproportionate rate of stress-related health conditions compared to European Americans. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to be effective for managing stress and various stress-related health conditions. This study explored the cultural relevance of mindfulness meditation training for African Americans adults. Fifteen African American adults with past or current experience with mindfulness meditation training were interviewed. Participants felt that mindfulness meditation helped them with enhanced stress management, direct health improvement, and enhanced self-awareness and purposefulness. They felt that they would recommend it and that other African Americans would be open to the practice but suggested that its presentation may need to be adapted. They suggested emphasizing the health benefits, connecting it to familiar spiritual ideology and cultura…

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