We hypothesised a 10 minute mindfulness based intervention performed by a novice therapist would have a beneficial effect on pain responses in naive participants. Twenty-four participants were randomly assigned to the control group or mindfulness meditation group. The control group sat quietly for 10 minutes in between two cold pressor tasks. The mindfulness meditation intervention group practi...

The aim of mindfulness meditation is to develop present-focused, non-judgmental, attention. Therefore, experience in meditation should be associated with less anticipation and negative appraisal of pain. In this study we compared a group of individuals with meditation experience to a control group to test whether any differences in the affective appraisal of pain could be explained by lower ant...

This research explored whether developing mindfulness and self-compassion through meditation supports weight loss. The research addressed if (a) mindfulness meditation and (b) mindfulness with self-compassion Meditation (through loving kindness meditation and psychoeducational material to develop self-compassion) aid weight loss and maintenance. Sixty-three soldiers followed independent diet pl...

The economic value of meditation based services is clearly demonstrated by a growing number of companies using such services. In the USA one quarter of the companies offer in-house meditation training to their employees. On the other hand, the number of those who think that the western consumption paradigm in its present form is unsustainable is also increasing. In addition to its business valu...

Mindfulness meditation is a form of secular meditation that emphasizes non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. Research into mindfulness has greatly expanded in recent years (Davidson & Kasniak, 2015) and a growing literature has documented effects of mindfulness training on cognition. However, the specific aspects of mindfulness meditation training for novice practitioners that might i...

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) disease course is known to be adversely affected by several factors including stress. A proposed mechanism for decreasing stress and therefore decreasing MS morbidity and improving quality of life is meditation. This review aims to critically analyse the current literature regarding meditation and MS. Methods. Four major databases were used to search for Engl...

According to several conceptualizations of meditation, the interplay between brain systems associated to self-related processing, attention and executive control is crucial for meditative states and related traits. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate such interplay in a highly selected group of "virtuoso" meditators (Theravada Buddhist monks), with long-term training in the two ...

Mindfulness meditators practice the non-judgmental observation of the ongoing stream of internal experiences as they arise. Using voxel-based morphometry, this study investigated MRI brain images of 20 mindfulness (Vipassana) meditators (mean practice 8.6 years; 2 h daily) and compared the regional gray matter concentration to that of non-meditators matched for sex, age, education and handednes...

Meditation is important in facilitating health. Pregnancy health has been shown to have significant consequences for infant behaviors. In view of limited studies on meditation and infant temperament, this study aims to explore the effects of prenatal meditation on these aspects. The conceptual framework was based on the postulation of positive relationships between prenatal meditation and infan...

OBJECTIVE Although the efficacy of meditation interventions has been examined among adult samples, meditation treatment effects among youth are relatively unknown. We systematically reviewed empirical studies for the health-related effects of sitting-meditative practices implemented among youth aged 6 to 18 years in school, clinic, and community settings. METHODS A systematic review of electr...