Mindfulness
November 1, 2024
Cynthia J Price, Kenneth C Pike, Anna Treadway et al.
9 citations
A mindfulness-based intervention teaching interoceptive awareness skills, added to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), did not reduce substance use more than MOUD alone in a stable treatment population. However, participants who received the mindfulness training showed significant improvements in PTSD symptoms, interoceptive awareness, pain severity, pain-related activity interference, and physical symptom frequency. The study involved 303 adults stabilized on MOUD from six community clinics in the Northwestern United States, randomly assigned to either the mindfulness intervention plus MOUD or MOUD only. Findings suggest that interoceptive training can improve multiple health outcomes critical for supporting MOUD treatment, even when substance use levels are already low.
Mindfulness
June 1, 2024
Nicholas T. Dam, Jessica Targett, Alex Burger et al.
9 citations
A new questionnaire, the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME), captures a wide range of meditation-related experiences, from pleasant to unpleasant and mild to intense. Developed with data from 886 US meditators, the final 30-item scale has three factors and shows good statistical fit. The IME correlates as expected with measures of adverse effects, meditation habits, and mental health symptoms. The tool allows researchers to assess both the intensity and subjective valence of experiences separately or together, offering a more nuanced way to study the full spectrum of meditation-related psychological states.
Mindfulness
April 1, 2023
Carly A Hunt, Janelle E Letzen, Samuel R Krimmel et al.
9 citations
A secondary analysis of a clinical trial compared a 12-week enhanced mindfulness-based stress reduction course (MBSR+) to stress management for headache in 98 migraine patients. Greater pre-treatment functional connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and right nucleus accumbens predicted more meditation practice during MBSR+ and larger reductions in headache frequency. Participants who meditated more showed increased mindfulness and reduced helplessness related to pain, but not improvements in headache frequency, severity, or impact. Increased mindfulness mediated reductions in headache impact but not frequency. The findings suggest mesocorticolimbic system function relates to motivated behavior, and motivation-enhancing interventions might boost meditation engagement.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2023
Shannon Maloney, Christina Surawy, Maryanne Martin et al.
9 citations
Four specific mindfulness practices from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (body scan, mindful movement, breath and body, and befriending) produced similar state- and trait-level improvements in self-compassion, mindfulness, decentering, interoceptive awareness, and psychological quality of life among 160 adults from the general population. After a single session, state-level effects were observed across all candidate mechanisms and outcomes except decentering, with effect sizes ranging from 0.27 to 0.86. After two weeks of daily practice, trait-level improvements occurred in psychological quality of life and most mechanisms (effect sizes 0.26 to 0.64). No practice proved superior to any other. Changes in mindfulness, self-compassion, decentering, and body listening were linked to better psychological quality of life and more self-led practice.
Mindfulness
May 29, 2023
Otto Simonsson, Christine Bergljottsdotter, Jayanth Narayanan et al.
7 citations
Mindfulness training helped British politicians better cope with the demands and stresses of political work, reconnect with themselves, and relate to other politicians more constructively, especially in group settings. Interviews with 18 politicians and 4 mindfulness facilitators revealed two main themes: mindfulness approaches addressing particular challenges in political work, and the role of group dynamics in training. The findings suggest mindfulness can be beneficial personally and professionally for those in political contexts, supporting the case for government mindfulness programs.
Mindfulness
March 1, 2025
Julieta Galante, Nicholas T. Van Dam
6 citations
The authors critique a proposal to broaden the definition of mindfulness to include diverse contemplative practices, arguing instead to move the term away from the spotlight and study contemplative practices with more precise academic terms. They contend that comparing mindfulness and public health is a category error: mindfulness is a set of practices, while public health is a field defined by application. Reframing mindfulness as an aid to public health, rather than a replacement, clarifies its potential as an individual-level component of multi-level interventions addressing social determinants of health. Realizing this requires collaborative partnerships between mindfulness developers and independent public health researchers, using participatory methods to assess community needs.
Mindfulness
December 1, 2024
Larissa G Duncan, Na Zhang, Trilce Santana et al.
6 citations
Integrating mindfulness skills training into group prenatal healthcare delivered in Spanish and English is feasible and may reduce postpartum depression. In a pragmatic pilot trial, 49 pregnant people (90% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; 65% Latina/e/x; 63% Spanish-speaking) were allocated to standard CenteringPregnancy group care or CenteringPregnancy enhanced with mindfulness skills drawn from Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting. The enhanced group showed lower postpartum depression with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 0.80) and a trend toward lower postpartum anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.59). Effects on mindfulness, affect, and perceived stress were only partially supported. Satisfaction with care was high in both conditions.
Mindfulness
June 5, 2021
Liudmila Gamaiunova, Pierre-Yves Brandt, Matthias Kliegel
6 citations
Meditation practitioners reported using humor, positive affect, combined emotion regulation strategies, and adaptive attention allocation during a stressful laboratory task, compared to non-meditators. Interviews with 25 meditators and 20 controls after the Trier Social Stress Test revealed five themes: primary experiences, reasons for stress, affect, emotion regulation, and attention allocation. The findings suggest that contemplative training may alter the subjective experience of psychological stress, offering new insights into how meditation attenuates stress responses.
Mindfulness
May 20, 2025
Eviatar Shulman
5 citations
Brahma-vihāra meditation in early Buddhism functions both as ethical cultivation and as a form of meditative concentration (samādhi), allowing the mind to reach a state of totality through love, compassion, empathic joy, and equanimity. These radically ethical states can perfect ethical practice and, at their best, be liberating. The early Buddhist path is flexible, not a single fixed route; practitioners can use Brahma-vihāra meditation in various ways according to their inclinations, sometimes as part of the path to liberation and sometimes not. This interpretation shows that samādhi can be ethical and ethics can be liberating.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Marc-Henri Deroche, Willem Kuyken, Teruhisa Uwatoko et al.
5 citations
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can help higher education address student distractibility and superficial engagement caused by information overload, guiding the journey from information to knowledge and from knowledge to wisdom. Drawing on Buddhist studies, philosophy of education, anthropology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry, the article argues that mindfulness training should move beyond isolated interventions to become the very thread of learning. It reviews evidence on student mental health, listens to students' existential concerns, and uses T. S. Eliot's questions about information, knowledge, wisdom, and Life to frame an epistemic and developmental model. Ultimately, mindfulness is conceived as forming attention and fostering the joy of learning to achieve both academic excellence and human flourishing.
Mindfulness
July 11, 2024
Oren Hanner
5 citations
A philosophical analysis argues that mindfulness meditation directly contributes to a meaningful life, not merely as a mediating factor. Drawing on Susan Wolf's account of meaningfulness, which requires both subjective attraction and objective value, the article proposes that mindfulness meditation is non-subjectively valuable because it is necessary for exploring objective meaning and engaging with objectively valuable projects. This addresses a worry in Wolf's theory about how to secure objective standards for meaningful activities. The argument suggests that mindfulness, as understood in Buddhism, provides a foundation for meaning that is independent of individual subjective preferences.
Mindfulness
July 1, 2023
Snehal Lopes, Lu Shi, Xi Pan et al.
5 citations
Among 1,160 middle-aged and older adults from the Health and Retirement Study, meditating at least twice a week was not associated with changes in recall, global cognitive function, or quantitative reasoning over 16 years. However, among participants without depressive symptoms at the start, frequent meditation was linked to improvements in total recall and global cognitive function over time. The findings suggest that meditation may protect cognitive function only in those without baseline depressive symptoms.
Mindfulness
September 27, 2022
Elena López, Rafael Jódar Anchía, Lucía Halty et al.
5 citations
A new questionnaire, the Meditative State Scale (MSS), was developed and tested across two studies. Study 1 involved 241 participants and used factor analyses to reveal three underlying dimensions: transcendence, difficulties, and mental quietening. The scale showed consistent structure across beginners and experienced meditators. Study 2 recorded brain activity (EEG) from 12 meditating participants and found that higher MSS scores correlated with increased gamma-wave activity in parietal and occipital brain regions. The MSS aims to provide a reliable way to measure meditative states alongside neurophysiological data, supporting research and clinical applications of meditation.
Mindfulness
August 1, 2024
Stefan Schmidt, Prisca R. Bauer, Fynn-Mathis Trautwein
4 citations
Integrating first-person reports with standard cognitive experiments can bridge the gap between subjective experience and neuroscientific accounts. Using the Libet task on voluntary action, where a readiness potential precedes a participant's self-timed movement, the authors propose a neurophenomenological approach that combines three methods: adapting the Libet paradigm, employing micro-phenomenological interviews, and collaborating with experienced meditators. This framework aims to develop a more coherent account of volitional action, challenging the notion that decisions are predetermined by brain processes alone. The approach suggests meditation enhances self-regulation and self-determination, leading to more deliberate decisions and ethical behavior.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Juan P Zuniga-Hertz, Sierra Simpson, Ramamurthy Chitetti et al.
3 citations
During a week-long meditation retreat, twins showed changes in gene expression, metabolites, and cytokines in blood plasma that varied with the timing of assessment. Twin pairs began the retreat with similar molecular and brain-activity profiles, diverged at the midpoint, and converged again by the end. Even when in separate rooms, twin pairs exhibited significant correlations in brain-wave (spectral power) patterns, and heart rate dynamics aligned more closely in twin pairs than in unmatched pairs. These findings suggest that meditation may influence biological markers and that genetic background contributes to these responses.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Vera U Ludwig, Lana Prieur, Scott M Rennie et al.
2 citations
A two-minute shared-gazing exercise called Just-Like-Me (JLM), in which partners contemplate shared humanity while looking at each other, increased feelings of closeness by about one standard deviation both online and in person. The effect was larger than solitary meditation and, when done in person, larger than mutual gazing without contemplation. JLM also boosted prosocial behavior in a dictator game and induced synchrony in smiling and heart rates. Synchronized smiling partly explained the relational benefits. The findings suggest that brief dyadic meditations can foster social connection and may help address loneliness.
Mindfulness
November 1, 2024
Maja Stańko-kaczmarek, Paweł Kleka, Wojciech Zięba et al.
2 citations
A strong positive correlation exists between mindfulness and Stoic attitudes, with coefficients of 0.65 and 0.63 in two measurements taken two weeks apart. A weak but statistically significant relationship was found between scores on a newly developed 100-item questionnaire (the 100-I-K) and understanding of Stoicism ideology (r = 0.19 and 0.21). Stoic attitude also correlated weakly and negatively with subjective declarations of adopting Stoic attitudes (r = -0.19 and -0.18). The results suggest similarities between Eastern mindfulness and Western Stoic traditions, and the relationship remains stable over time. The 100-I-K questionnaire shows potential for assessing overall Stoic attitude but requires further development.
Mindfulness
November 19, 2025
Sebastian Ehmann, Ryan T. Pohlig, Alejandro Chaoul et al.
1 citation
A 9-month online program teaching traditional Tibetan Mind-Body meditation practices based on Bon Dzogchen philosophy led to gradual improvements in compassion for self and others, mindfulness, flourishing, and non-dual awareness among 30 predominantly experienced meditators. Improvements were independent of how often participants meditated, suggesting the program's structure itself drove benefits. The findings provide preliminary evidence that such practices may foster advanced meditative states tied to self-transcendence. Limitations include the small, self-selected sample, lack of a control group, and reliance on quantitative measures, which may miss the richness of advanced meditative experiences.
Mindfulness
June 4, 2025
Cailen J. Calkin, Nirbhay N. Singh, Oleg N. Medvedev
1 citation
Fear of death is often seen as pathological, but this study used network analysis with 486 community participants to examine its links to psychological distress, mindfulness, compassion, life-limiting illness, spirituality, meaning in life, and self-esteem. The directed network showed that fear of another's death centrally influenced other death-anxiety facets, life-limiting illness, mindfulness, and meaning in life, while other death-anxiety facets had no significant influence on wellbeing. Self-esteem did not buffer death anxiety as previously proposed. Psychedelic use and meditation correlated with lower death anxiety, though these findings require replication. The results suggest death anxiety could facilitate existential growth, supporting Buddhist teachings on mortality awareness.
Mindfulness
June 26, 2026
Jiaxiong Irvin Li, Brian M. Galla, Michael J. Tumminia
Adolescents who attended a six-day mindfulness retreat reported applying mindfulness skills in both personal and social contexts one month later. All 15 participants described intrapersonal benefits such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, self-compassion, and broader perspective. Many also described interpersonal applications: 73% used mindfulness to navigate social anxiety and build connections, 67% engaged in more compassionate communication including active listening and emotional support, and 53% reported greater empathy and perspective-taking. The findings suggest that an immersive retreat can help adolescents transfer mindfulness skills to real-world developmental challenges, supporting both internal well-being and social relationships.
Mindfulness
June 23, 2026
Pankhuri Aggarwal, Blessing S. Johnson, Christian Garcia et al.
College students in India and the United States define and practice mindfulness in culturally distinct ways. In a survey of 512 Indian and 508 U.S. students, U.S. students more often defined mindfulness as awareness of self, environment, and consideration of others. Indian students more commonly practiced meditation, while U.S. students favored physical activity, reflective practices, spiritual or religious practices, and consideration of others. Distraction was the main barrier for Indian participants, whereas U.S. participants reported emotional and interpersonal difficulties. Strategies to overcome challenges also varied culturally. The findings emphasize the need for culturally informed mindfulness interventions for college students.
Mindfulness
May 19, 2026
Tim Wood, Merle Kock, Nicholas T van Dam et al.
Intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) can suddenly alter a person's sense of self, worldview, and emotions, but their meaning often shifts as meditators reflect and interpret them over time within their social and cultural context. Through in-depth interviews with 13 participants, four themes emerged: watching the self and world transform; emotional explosions leading to insight; deciding whether to share the experience or remain silent; and developing new perspectives and agency. Most participants found that the meaning of their IMREs became clearer through conversation with others, using concepts from science and meditation traditions. These experiences were transformative, offering new ways of perceiving and acting in the world.
Mindfulness
May 11, 2026
Patton Burchett, Adrian J. Bravo, Mark Mclaughlin et al.
Lay people's understanding of mindfulness varies with their level of contemplative experience. A mixed-methods study of 100 US participants (50 inexperienced college students and 50 experienced community members) identified six categories of mindfulness definitions: religious/spiritual/philosophical, attention/observing, calming and grounding, tenets of MBSR, virtue cultivation, and awareness. Experienced participants more often defined mindfulness as attention/observing and as aligned with MBSR tenets, and they more frequently endorsed that mindfulness reveals no substantive self and is a specific type of meditation. Inexperienced participants more often defined mindfulness as calming/grounding and as awareness, and they were more likely to see mindfulness as distinct from meditation. These findings suggest that prior contemplative experience shapes how people conceptualize mindfulness.
Mindfulness
March 27, 2026
Paulina Lamas-Morales, Carlos García-rubio, María Beltrán-ruiz et al.
A systematic review of 18 studies (2457 participants) found that deconstructive meditative practices, such as Vipassana and insight meditation, may improve depression, anxiety, stress, and psychological well-being in adults. Mindfulness, non-attachment, and insight were identified as possible mechanisms of change. Results varied by study design and intervention duration, and the limited number of randomized controlled trials and methodological heterogeneity restrict generalizability. The evidence suggests these practices can be effective, but higher-quality studies are needed to confirm clinical applications.
Mindfulness
March 26, 2026
Céline Stinus, Sophie Berjot
A randomized controlled trial compared two meditation styles—focused-attention and self-inquiry—against a wait-list control group among 147 participants. Both meditation types reduced depressive symptoms and identity threat more than no meditation, with similar effectiveness. Focused-attention meditation also reduced dysfunctional attitudes more than self-inquiry or the control. Cognitive decentering (the ability to observe thoughts without identification) mediated the benefits of focused-attention meditation, while self-inquiry meditation showed exploratory links to increased feelings of connectedness to humanity and nature. The findings suggest that different meditation practices improve well-being through partially distinct psychological mechanisms, though the connectedness results require cautious interpretation.