Yoga-based practices (YBP) typically involve a combination of movement sequences, conscious regulation of the breath, and techniques to engage attention. However, little is known about whether effects of YBP result from the synergistic combination of these components, or whether a subset may yield similar effects. In this study we compared the effect of two 8-week …
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Effects of yogic breathing on sleep and well-being in college students: Exploration of psychophysiological mechanisms
Insomnia is a prevalent health concern in older adults with numerous adverse consequences. Prior research suggests that the sleep disturbance and related complaints are driven by physiological hyperarousal and deficiencies in the autonomic nervous system, particularly parasympathetic activity, that inhibit healthy sleep-wake regulation. Pharmacological treatments are not viable long-term, and current behavioral and contemplative interventions …
African Contemplative Practices for Healing the Past, for Transforming the Present and for Future Flourishing
There is an urgent need for a rigorous empirical qualitative description of African contemplative practices in terms of the current science and Buddhist frameworks, in order to bring the African academic community into the global research efforts to alleviate suffering and enhance human flourishing. The discussion over the 3-day retreat will center on defining contemplative …
Embodiment, Contemplative Practice, and Equality: Developing a Programmatic and Research Agenda for Reducing Ingroup Bias through Embodied Inquiry and Contemplative Practice
Prejudice and discrimination have destructive consequences in contemporary society. Discrimination based on social categorization (e.g., by gender, age or ethnicity) is thought to stem from implicit and explicit expression of in-group bias, a preference for others who belong to one’s own salient social categories. Existing theories are limited in explaining how to limit the effects …
Differential effects of mindfulness and yogic breathing on cognitive and emotional processes
Skill and competency in emotion regulation are crucial to well-being and mental health. Research has shown that contemplative practices like meditation may help people decrease stress and increase well-being. However, few studies have examined the impact of such practices on the ability to regulate emotion. Moreover, certain practices may be more suited for some people …
Focused attention versus open monitoring meditation and self-referential brain processing
The present study assesses the effects on brain processing of a well-characterized self-referential paradigm involving the brain response to hearing self vs. other names in advanced practitioners from meditative traditions towards the ends of the two poles on the meditative spectrum. The assessed practitioners will be from the Himalayan Yoga tradition utilizing focused attention techniques …
Effects of mind-body interventions in cancer supportive care: Oxytocin as a biological correlate of wellbeing and connectedness
This pilot project evaluates the neuropeptide oxytocin as a potentially useful biological indicator of changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and well-being in two different randomized clinical studies investigating the effects of mind-body interventions in post-treatment cancer survivors. One study, targeting sleep disturbance, compares 3 sessions (one per week) of Mind-Body Bridging and Mindfulness …
Mindfulness training for parents and children
This project will examine how mindfulness training affects dispositional mindfulness, parental monitoring, a child’s effortful control of attention, and the quality of the parent-child relationship. In addition to how changes in these variables are related to changes in problem behavior. Forty families (with children ages 10-12) will be recruited from a Northwestern city, and half …
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A randomized controlled single-blinded pilot trial to compare effects of concentrative sitting meditation to moving meditation (tai chi) training on attentional network efficiency
Meditation training has been shown to positively affect executive attention function. Moderate aerobic exercise has also been shown to improve executive attention function. Tai Chi requires moderate aerobic exertion, is considered a form of moving meditation, and requires motor learning. Motor learning engages executive function. Thus, Tai Chi can be expected to positively affect executive …
The dissolution of self during rhythmic motor behavior
Rhythmic drumming is a common method to induce trance states of consciousness in many cultures around the world. The techniques and drum tempi are highly similar across cultures, and likely developed independently (convergent evolution). In order to study the rhythmic induction of trance, shamanic practitioners with extensive experience using drums to alter consciousness, traveled to …
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