Prior findings suggest that college students (CS) are facing an acute mental health crisis. Rates of psychological disorders significantly increased in college students (CS) in the beginning months of the pandemic compared to the latter portion of 2019. Recent reports suggest that CS identifying as racial or ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to psychological health …
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Clearing the gates of perception: Examining the effects of Jhana meditation on sensory predictions in the predictive brain
Contemplative traditions and cognitive scientists have long been studying the mechanisms of attention and its effects on consciousness. Meditation is a practice through which agents can deliberately control attention and thus alter their experience of the surrounding world. Recent theoretical work has used predictive processing—a prominent and unifying theory of brain function—to explain this mechanism. …
Adherence in naturalistic use of digital meditation-based interventions
Daniel Goleman and Richie Davidson, two eminent contemplative scientists, propose that with meditation practice there is a “deep path” that involves intensive practice for self-transformation and a “wide path” that involves less intensive practice to support mental health and emotional resilience. The wide path, which is meant to reach large numbers of people, is increasingly …
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Feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted mindfulness-based intervention to reduce stress among Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Americans
Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (MENA) Americans experience elevated rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, and other health concerns such as cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders. At the same time, they lack access to culturally acceptable interventions that target underlying risk factors, such as stress. Further, Arab/MENA Americans are vulnerable to racial-ethnic stress, including discrimination …
Promoting critically compassionate reading comprehension using justice-oriented narrative texts in middle school
This study aims to develop a 4-week reading comprehension intervention, grounded in the practice of compassion, involving middle school students reading justice-oriented narrative texts. Compassion in this context is defined as a feeling (affective state) that arises in bearing witness to others’ suffering and an understanding (cognitive state) of the context from the perspective of …
Mindfulness Without Borders: Advancing mindfulness research across disciplines through interdisciplinary studies, an international consortium, and an open science database
Over the past four decades, research has shown that mindfulness brings substantial benefits for both mental and physical well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying these positive effects remain unclear and fragmented across different scientific domains. Psychologists study psychological processes impacted by mindfulness, neuroscientists explore brain changes, and molecular biologists focus on inflammation and genes. To truly …
Bridging minds and nature: Integrating contemplative wisdoms for enhancing nature-connectedness, pro-ecological behavior, and well-being
The intricate bond between nature and the human psyche plays a pivotal role in shaping human well-being and environmental health. Disconnection from nature poses substantial risks to both. Urgent global challenges, such as the climate emergency and biodiversity loss, underscore the need to restore this relationship. This research aims to investigate if integrating contemplative wisdom …
App-delivered breathwork for anxiety among BIPOC college students
Despite its promise in alleviating the adverse impacts of stress and anxiety, breathwork–deliberate, voluntary regulation of one’s breath through intentional breathing exercises–remains under-investigated, especially within digitally delivered interventions and for BIPOC young adults. Using a mixed-methods approach combining intensive longitudinal design and qualitative interviews, this study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone …
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Investigating the practices, benefits and neural correlates of Tibetan Dream Yoga
The proposed research combines the thorough behavioral investigation of Tibetan dreaming practices with a neuroscience perspective. Buddhist traditions have cultivated techniques to induce, enhance, and refine lucid dreaming—the ability to understand that one is dreaming amid a dream. Building on the ability to experience a lucid dream, one can then volitionally engage is specific practices …
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Mindfulness-based practices for healing intergenerational trauma among Vietnamese Americans
Intergenerational trauma occurs when the traumas that occurred to one generation have an impact on the health and wellbeing of future descendants. Despite its prevalence among Vietnamese Americans, no research has been done to explore interventions which could promote healing from intergenerational trauma and building resilience in this community. Ample evidence supports that intergenerational trauma …
