Phenomenological Fingerprints of Four Meditations: Differential State Changes in Affect, Mind-Wandering, Meta-Cognition, and Interoception Before and After Daily Practice Across 9 Months of Training
Mindfulness August 18, 2016 Bethany E. Kok, Tania Singer 154 citations
Different meditation practices produce distinct short-term psychological changes. In a 9-month training program with 229 mid-life adults, body scan meditation most increased awareness of internal body sensations and decreased thinking about thoughts, loving-kindness meditation most increased warmth and positive thoughts about others, and observing-thought meditation most increased awareness of one's own thinking processes. All practices, including breathing meditation, improved mood, energy, and present-moment focus while reducing distraction. The findings suggest each meditation type has a unique psychological fingerprint, which can guide their use in specific intervention contexts and populations.