Short Meditation Research Articles

Effects of app-based relaxation techniques on perceived momentary relaxation: Observational data analysis in people with cancer

ObjectiveTo examine the effects of six relaxation techniques on perceived momentary relaxation and a possible association of relaxation effects with time and practice experience in people with cancer. MethodsWe used data from participants with cancer in a larger study practicing app-based relaxation techniques over 10 weeks, assessed momentary relaxation before and after every third relaxation practice, and analyzed momentary relaxation changes with a linear mixed-effects model. ResultsThe sample included 611 before-after observations from 91 participants (70 females (76.9%)) with a mean age of 55.43 years (SD 10.88). We found moderate evidence for variations in momentary relaxation changes across different techniques (P = .026), with short meditation, mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation more frequently observed and leading to more relaxation than body scan and walking meditation. Furthermore, we found moderate evidence for increasing momentary relaxation changes over time (P = .046), but no evidence for an association between momentary relaxation and the number of previous observations (proxy for practice experience; P = .47). ConclusionWe compared six app-based relaxation techniques in a real-life setting of people with cancer. The observed variations in perceived momentary relaxation appear to correspond with the popularity of the techniques used: The most popular relaxation techniques were the most effective and the least popular were the least effective. The effects increased over time, likely caused by dropout of individuals who gained no immediate benefit. Our findings open an interesting avenue for future research to better understand which relaxation techniques work best for whom in which situations. Trial RegistrationDRKS00027546; https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00027546

Reducing Menopausal Symptoms With Mindfulness-Based Meditation.

Midlife women often experience menopausal symptoms despite being treated according to clinical guidelines. The consequences of not addressing menopausal symptoms holistically are that 55% of women see primary care providers frequently with menopausal symptom complaints. The problem was women's lack of coping strategies to deal with their symptoms effectively. The interventions aimed to (1) develop a protocol to provide point-of-care mindfulness-based meditation intervention as a standard of care, (2) evaluate improvements in coping self-efficacy skills, and (3) demonstrate the intervention's impact on menopausal symptoms. Twenty women participated in a short meditation intervention at a micro practice in Oregon from January to May 2022 and continued an 8-week home practice. Self-reported measures of menopausal symptoms, coping self-efficacy, and demographic data were collected pre- and pos-tprogram. A percentage of women determined improvements, and t tests evaluated differences between pre-and postintervention assessments. Pearson correlation coefficients identified associations between the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), its subscales, and the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) postintervention. The women showed 78% improved coping self-efficacy and 89% alleviated menopausal symptoms. The t test revealed a statistically significant change between pre- and post-CSES scores (t17 = 4.19, P < .001) and MRS scores (t17 = 4.78, P < .001). The post-MRS total score was significantly negatively correlated with the post-CSES score (r = -0.49, P = .039), indicating that symptoms decreased as self-efficacy improved. The outcomes of this project show that menopausal women can cope and alleviate their symptoms with an easy and feasible mindfulness-based meditation intervention.

HRVEST: a novel data solution for using wearable smart technology to measure physiologic stress variables during a randomized clinical trial

The purpose of this study was to address the logistical and data challenges of using wearable technologies in the context of a clinical trial to measure heart rate variability (HRV) as a marker of physiologic stress in emergency healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. When using these wearable smart garments, the dilemma is two-fold: (1) the volume of raw physiological data produced is enormous and is recorded in formats not easily portable in standard analytic software, and (2) the commensurate data analysis often requires proprietary software. Our team iteratively developed a novel algorithm called HRVEST that can successfully process enormous volumes of physiologic raw data generated by wearable smart garments and meet the specific needs of HRV analyses. HRVEST is a noise-filtering and data-processing algorithm that allows the precise measurements of heart rate variability (HRV) of clinicians working in an Emergency Department (ED). HRVEST automatically processed the biometric data derived from 413 electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings in just over 15 min. Furthermore, throughout this study, we identified unique challenges of working with these technologies and proposed solutions that may facilitate future use in broader contexts. With HRVEST, using wearable smart garments to monitor HRV over long periods of time becomes logistically and feasibly viable for future studies. We also see the potential for real-time feedback to prophylactically reduce emergency physician stress, like informing optimal break-taking or short meditation sessions to lower heart rate. This could improve emotional wellbeing and, subsequently, clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

The Effectiveness of Short Meditation on Attentional Performance: A Quick Classroom Activity

The Effectiveness of Short Meditation on Attentional Performance: A Quick Classroom Activity

In the Shadow of the Palms: The Selected Works of David Eugene Smith

In the Shadow of the Palms: The Selected Works of David Eugene Smith

Animal History; Animal Future?

Through three short meditations that range from border crossing between the United States and Canada to a Beyoncé song, the author considers responses from Kedon Willis, Rajiv Mohabir, and Michelle V. Rowley to his 2021 book Nature’s Wild: Love, Sex, and Law in the Caribbean. The essay revisits and further advances the central thesis of Nature’s Wild, which recalls the work and multiple legacies of racialized animalization during and after European colonization of the Caribbean, and weighs the possibilities of embracing animality.

Eight meditations on musical signification

In this article I offer eight short meditations (or perhaps provocations) on the theme of musical signification. They each cover a different theme—composition, rehearsal, sung and spoken words, writing about music, improvisation, cultural politics, technology, and listening to music—with the aim of evoking a rich and multidimensional sense of musical meaning. Their form and style are influenced by my reading of the diffractive philosophy of Karen Barad and are meant to invite a creative reading of the eight sections through one another.

Im/mobility

In Baudelaire and Freud (1977), Leo Bersani posits that psychoanalysis offers a way of understanding sexuality as characterized by the mobility of fantasy, rather than by the content of fetishes or sexual identities, and that this mobility offers the “potential for explosive displacements.” This short meditation explores how mobility as a concept, understood in Bersani’s sense, helps us think beyond some of the paradoxes, redundancies, and aporias in both psy science and queer theoretical models of sexuality. The essay closes by showing how Bersani returned to “mobility” in Homos (1995) and argues that, via this concept, he suggests ways that queer theory itself can avoid becoming a “new normativity.”

Deep Canine Topography: Captive-Zombies or Free-Flowing Relational Bodies?

For the last three years I have been making walks with my canine companion as part of an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded fine art practice-based PhD at Nottingham Trent University, UK, which considers walking art as a shared human–canine practice. In this paper I reflect upon the doings of deep canine topography as a practice, with particular attention to the ethical questions raised. In the short meditation on the ethics of human animal artistic collaboration that follows, I will wander through the complex web of human–canine kinship, explored through art practice. Joining us on our walk through this tricky landscape are Rosi Braidotti, Jack Halberstam, Dona Haraway, Ron Broglio, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, and a host of other actors whose concepts and theories provide a rich source of ethical discussion, which fellow artists might find helpful.

Editorial Board Reflections on Formative Books and Other Media

Reading Characters, People, and PropertiesIn this piece, I reflect on superhero comic books I read in my childhood and adolescence, noting that as I collected and read stories featuring the character known as the Silver Surfer, I slowly began to realize that the character’s traits, as established in the first comic in which he appeared, seemed to change in comics published later. In searching for explanations for these changes, I began to pay attention to a comic’s credits, recognizing that different writers and artists understood the character in different ways and often felt no obligation to maintain a consistent approach. I eventually realized that a comic’s credits sometimes misrepresented the labor invested by each of the story’s creators. This long process led to an ongoing interest—in both my writing and teaching—in the ways that our interpretation of a story and its characters can be enriched by understanding the conditions under which it was produced.Books of the HeartWhat might reflecting on favorite books from our childhood tell us about our past and current selves? This short meditation on that question first considers reading memoirs and experiments in rereading, and then reviews some favorite books from the author’s own childhood, speculating on their appeal and potential significance for identity consolidation.The Fantasy of the Boy Scout HandbookBorn and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, I opened my new Boy Scouts of America Handbook for Boys in the summer of 1956, at age 11, in anticipation of moving from the Cub Scouts to the Boy Scouts that fall. I found in those pages a fantasy that moved me deeply, a romantic fantasy of hiking and camping in the wilderness with a band of boy buddies. That fantasy has deep roots in fiction for boys and in books like the Handbook, appealing to the boy’s desire to escape the surveillance and control of adults and to fashion a community of “lost boys” in a wilderness setting ideal for strong male bonding in friendship.“I Never Had Any Friends Later on Like the Ones I Had When I Was Twelve. Jesus, Does Anyone?”: Reflections on Learning about Boyhood through Stand by MeThis piece offers reflections on the 1986 movie Stand by Me, drawing on some of the main themes and contextualizing them in relation to my own childhood as a girl growing up in the 1990s. I reflect on how in my rewatch of the movie, I was struck by the ways that the class positions of the boys echoed my own experiences of transition and liberation through education. I also reflect on the significance of seeing boys cry and be scared—feelings that the boys at my school were policed out of performing in public.Boy Genius: Reflections on Reading The Great BrainBased on reflection and analysis of a formative childhood text, this essay disentangles the relationship between reading, intelligence, and masculinity. The author argues that although reading fiction appears to encourage empathy, books written specifically for boys may contain detrimental messages about masculinity. The analysis reveals that the popular Great Brain series reinforces notions of whiteness, ableism, and masculine superiority. These messages are reinforced by the books’ emphasis on pragmatic “genius” and the savior trope in boyhood.

Sea Dreams: On Adam Blum’s “How to Surf the Oceanic Feeling”

ABSTRACT This essay is a series of short meditations on Adam Blum’s “How to surf the oceanic feeling.” Working in identification with Blum, and through the heaping up of associations to theory and literature, it considers (among other things) the “unintended story” of the group implicit in Blum’s poetic paper.

Short Mindfulness Meditation Increases Help-Giving Intention Towards a Stranger in Distress.

ObjectivesMindfulness practice increases personal well-being, yet its effect on prosocial behaviors is not well-established. Initial studies suggest that an 8-week mindfulness program has a positive effect on help-giving towards a stranger in distress and that a short meditation promotes care towards an ostracized member. This research aims at examining whether a short mindfulness intervention promotes help-giving intention towards a stranger in distress and to understand the role of empathy in this effect.MethodsA total of 210 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two sessions of mindfulness practice, music, or lecture control conditions. Participants then listened to a sham interview with a student dealing with a chronic illness and were surveyed on their willingness to volunteer in an organization helping such students. Baseline dispositional empathy and consequent empathic care scales were completed to determine their effect.ResultsA significantly higher percentage of participants were willing to provide help in the mindfulness condition (50.8%), as compared to the music (31.2%) and the lecture (31%) conditions, χ2 (2, N = 189) = 9.51, p = .009. A significantly positive effect of dispositional empathy on empathic care was found in the mindfulness group (b = 1.40, SE = .31, p < .001), but not in the control groups.ConclusionsThis study showed that short mindfulness practice increases help-giving intention as compared to active control groups and moderates the association between dispositional empathy and empathic care. Future research including long-term follow-up will strengthen these findings.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-022-01963-y.

Making peace with disliked others: the effects of a short loving-kindness meditation on implicit and explicit emotional evaluations

BackgroundThe main goal of the study was to investigate the effects of a short loving-kindness meditation (LKM) on explicit and implicit evaluations of oneself and disliked public persons. We expected a more positive explicit and implicit evaluation of oneself and a disliked public person after the LKM and a mood improvement.MethodsBefore and after the implementation of a short LKM vs. imagery task, mood, explicit and implicit evaluations were analyzed in 69 students.ResultsOur results demonstrated only a reduction in negative and positive mood in both groups and regarding the explicit and implicit tasks, only a significant main effect of picture and a trend for the time*group interaction for mood, implicit and explicit attitudes with medium effect-sizes.ConclusionsA possible influence of a short intervention on emotional evaluations should be treated with caution. The claim that a short loving-kindness meditation enhances social connectedness might awake false hopes. This study suggests being careful with the interpretation of single meditation effects and future studies should examine the effects of a long-lasting meditation training on explicit and implicit evaluations of the self and disliked politicians as well as the sustainability of those effects.

The song of Samsu Tabriz in Ronggasasmita’s "Suluk Acih"

The article contributes an excerpt from the Karaton Surakarta poet Ronggasasmita’s Suluk Kutub (also known as Suluk Samsu Tabriz ) along with an annotated translation of the text into English. Suluk Kutub is one of the metaphysical poems that belong to this Sufi poet’s Suluk Acih , a text that he compiled in Aceh in 1815. The poem is a Javanese rendition of the meeting of Jalaluddin Rumi (Jav. Mulana Amir Kaji Rum) with his beloved, Shamsuddin Tabrizi (Jav. Samsu Tabriz). The commentary forms a short meditation on, and guide to, the specific practices of translating Javanese poetry into English – performed in part in dialogue with Ronggasasmita.

Ostatnie dni Plotyna: pandemia i filozofia

The traditional view of the cause of Plotinus’ death was leprosy. The analysis of the biographical sources, however, point to another hypothesis, that of „Cyprian’s plague”. The last months of Plotinus life and work coincided with the end of this great ancient pandemic and he produced four treatises, focused primarily on ethical problems. The last treatise, On the primal Good (1.7) is a short and concentrated meditation on the First Principle and the soul’s ascent to it.

Role of Joining Religious Groups or Spiritual Groups on Spiritual Quotient of Middle Aged Adults

People join Spiritual or Religious groups to work on a common objective collectively, while others don’t join any groups to consciously work towards their own spirituality or becoming religious. Previously, few researches were conducted on impact of spirituality or religiosity on various parameters of mental health. Furthermore, few researches measured neurological or psychological benefits through tests before and after short meditation programs. The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of joining a spiritual/ religious group on Spiritual Quotient (SQ) of a middle aged individual aged 35-65 years. The objective is to understand whether being a regular member of religious or spiritual group is better for SQ of a person than a non member. For this study, a total sample population of 75 people were taken for the study, out of which 60 were selected using purposive sampling to obtain the data in each group of 30; matched by membership with group and educational qualification. In total sample size of 60, 30 people belonged to age category of early middle age (35-45) and 30 belonged to age category of late middle age (45-65). The findings revealed a significant difference in SQ of spiritual/ religious group members and the non members. SQ of members was found to be higher than non members.

A Publishing History of A Discourse of Life and Death, Translated by the Countess of Pembroke

Abstract The short meditation, A discourse of life and death was translated by Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke in 1590 from Excellent discours de la vie et de la mort by Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis-Marly. This article presents the publishing history of Herbert’s translation and how it was adapted twice in the seventeenth century. First, it is found as an incomplete manuscript by ‘T. H. Gent.’ (BL MS Sloane 1037). The manuscript has the correct licence to print, but the wrong author, and was used as setting copy in the print shop of George Eld and Miles Flesher in early 1624. All copies of that edition are now lost. In 1697 Herbert’s translation was revised again as the ‘contemplations’ of Sir John Fenwick before his execution for treason.

Introduction

Abstract The all-too-common refrain “I can’t breathe,” in response to obscene incidents of police brutality and the murder of Black people in America, has haunted us through this time where breath is not only dangerous and necessary but also, in this nation, hyperpoliticized at a number of flash points. The widespread refusal to wear a mask is effectively an insistence on breathing together, even if it marks the condition of one’s own last breath—or that of someone else, who may or may not have consented to sharing potentially deadly aerosol particles. Once a concern largely restricted to those with respiratory health conditions, breathing has now become a central preoccupation of the world. This special dossier, “Breath,” considers the politics, history, geography, and conditions of breathing from a moment of respiratory crisis amid a respiratory pandemic, the ecological crisis of California’s increasing wildfires and unbreathable air, and the brutal policing of Black American life. The short meditations in this dossier, from academics in various fields as well as creative writers, are responses to our current moment’s heightened awareness of the complexities of one of the most fundamental requirements for life.

Pain regulation during mindfulness meditation: Phenomenological fingerprints in novices and experts practitioners

The way people respond to pain is based on psychological mechanisms, beliefs and expectations. Mindfulness meditation (MM) has been shown to regulate pain and mental suffering through different mechanisms such as positive reappraisal, attentional and emotional regulation. Yet, subjective experience and meaning of pain in connection with MM are still largely unexplored. The present mixed-methods study combined an interpretative-phenomenological qualitative approach with an experimental thermal pain paradigm to explore and compare the meaning of experiencing pain in 32 novices who received short meditation training and 30 experts in meditation practice (more than 10, 000hr in life). We collected the qualitative data during in-depth semi-structured interviews where we probed participants' response strategies. During the pain task, we collected self-reports of intensity and unpleasantness, while after the task we collected self-reports of avoidance, openness, vividness and blissfulness. Five phenomenological clusters (PhC) emerged from the interviews, including three which described pain as an unpleasant sensation calling for: (1) experiential avoidance-suppression, (2) volitional agency-distanciation, or (3) a positive cognitive reappraisal and flexibility. Two additional clusters (4-5), containing mostly expert meditators, thematized pain sensation as an opportunity to gain metacognitive insights about mental processes, and to deconstruct one's suffering through these insights. PhC5 further integrates these insights with the recognition that suffering is part of the shared human experience and with the aspiration to relieve others from suffering. Each PhC was correlated to a unique profile of self-reports during the pain paradigm. These findings need to be replicated in patients and practicing MM. They also warrant the integration of this mixed-method approach with brain imaging data to refine the experiential neuroscience of pain. We compared the meaning of experiencing and regulating pain in novices and expert meditators using qualitative interviews. We identified five phenomenological clusters describing relevant features implicated in pain response strategies and meditation. These clusters were organized along a pseudo-gradient, which captured meditation expertise and predicted self-reports related to a pain paradigm and psychometric scales associated with pain and its regulation. These findings advance our understanding of the metacognitive mechanisms and beliefs underlying mindfulness meditation and can inform pain treatment strategies.

Mindfulness and false memories: state and dispositional mindfulness does not increase false memories for naturalistic scenes presented in a virtual environment

Mindfulness attracted increased research interests in the last decade, reporting an overall beneficial effect of this practice on cognitive performances. Nevertheless, recently a possible detrimental impact of mindfulness has been underlined. While the effect of mindfulness on memory remains under-explored, recent studies have observed an increased false-memory susceptibility after mindfulness practice. A possible explanatory mechanism has been suggested, related to the nature of the studied material. For semantically related information, mindfulness would increase false memories; however, the addition of rich perceptual information could prevent this detrimental effect. The present study aimed to verify this hypothesis by testing the impact of state mindfulness induced by a short meditation session, and dispositional mindfulness on the production of false memory for pictorial material presented in a complex virtual environment. We employed a virtual reality version of the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm (DRM), a classical protocol to induce false memories. Contrary to previous studies, we did not observe any effect of mindfulness on false or correct memories (free recall and recognition) after a short mindfulness practice session compared to a control condition. Nonetheless, we found a beneficial effect of mindfulness practice on memory sensitivity. Additionally, we reported a positive and negative effect of dispositional mindfulness on memory outcomes. While the Non-Reactivity facet was associated with overall better memory performances, we observed an association between the Acting with Awareness facet and an increased recollection of lures. We discuss these findings in line with a recent proposal on the link between mindfulness and episodic memory.