Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
January 1, 2011
Ramesh Manocha, Deborah Black, Jerome Sarris et al.
100 citations
An 8-week randomized controlled trial with 178 full-time workers compared a mental-silence meditation (Sahaja Yoga) to a relaxation active control and a wait-list control. The meditation group showed significantly greater improvements in work stress and depressed mood than both control groups. The findings suggest that approaches emphasizing thought reduction or mental silence may have specific benefits for occupational stress and depressive feelings.
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
January 1, 2013
M. A. D. Danucalov, E. H. Kozasa, K. T. Ribas et al.
80 citations
An 8-week yoga and compassion meditation program reduced perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and morning salivary cortisol levels in familial caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. In a randomized trial, 46 caregivers were assigned to either the program or an untreated control group. After two months, the program group showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, depression, and cortisol, while the control group did not. The findings suggest that such a program may be an effective intervention for improving well-being in this population.
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
January 1, 2015
Stefan G. Hofmann, Nicola Petrocchi, James Steinberg et al.
70 citations
Loving-kindness meditation (LKM), a practice aimed at cultivating unconditional kindness toward oneself and others, was tested as a brief group intervention for people with dysthymia or depression in two small, uncontrolled studies—one in Boston (10 participants) and one in Frankfurt (8 participants). At both centers, LKM was associated with large reductions in self-reported depression symptoms and negative affect, and large increases in positive affect. Clinician ratings also showed large improvements in depression, rumination, and specific positive emotions, with moderate gains in adaptive emotion regulation. Qualitative reports supported the intervention's potential. These proof-of-concept results warrant further controlled investigation.