Mindfulness and Loving-Kindness Meditation: a Potential Tool for Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

An attempt has been made to study the integration ofBuddhist meditation practices into subjective well-being of healthy individuals engaged in formal meditation methods. Based on the Abhidhamma model of mental health (the primary mental factors of classical Buddhist Psychology), it was observed that from a full range of negative, unhealthy attitudes that stand in the way of healthy psychological development the individuals started flourishing healthy perceptual cognitive and affective states. The subjects practiced Buddhist meditation like Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing), Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness) and experienced a self-reinforcing degree of internal change along the continuum of mental states toward the healthy pole. The paper will discuss pre-post and follow up data on self report measures and meditation as a potential health promotion tool.