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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Authentic Mindfulness Within Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study Of Participants' Experiences, Supakyada Sapthiang, Edo Shonin, Paul Barrows, William Van Gordon Jan 2023

Authentic Mindfulness Within Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study Of Participants' Experiences, Supakyada Sapthiang, Edo Shonin, Paul Barrows, William Van Gordon

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

There are concerns that participants of some modern mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are receiving a superficial form of mindfulness training. However, empirical investigation of this issue according to participants’ first-hand experiences has been limited. Thus, this qualitative study aimed to capture the first-hand perspectives relating to authentic mindfulness of participants who had recently attended an MBI in the UK. Ten adults completed a recorded, online semistructured interview. Based on a thematic analysis, the following four master themes were identified: (a) authentic mindfulness as a construct, (b) positive aspects of the training, (c) something missing, and (d) recommendations for authenticity. Although all …


Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, Richard Dixey, Ronald E. Purser Jan 2023

Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, Richard Dixey, Ronald E. Purser

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Mindfulness meditation can provide salutary therapeutic benefits, as well as lead advanced practitioners to states of calm and equanimity. In this paper, we argue that such forms of meditation may subtly entrap practitioners in circular, self-reflexive feedback loops. Because these meditation traps fail to clearly discern the operations of mind, they offer a temporary oasis of peace within an unaltered dualistic realm of mind that leaves the root delusion of self-identity intact. Drawing upon Tarthang Tulku’s seminal book Revelations of Mind, we present what he refers to as the “regime of mind,” the processes of cognition, identification and re-cognition in …


A Consideration Of Transpersonal Research Methods For Studying Yoga And Mindfulness In Schools, Bethany Butzer Dec 2021

A Consideration Of Transpersonal Research Methods For Studying Yoga And Mindfulness In Schools, Bethany Butzer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Over the past decade, interest in yoga and mindfulness in schools has grown tremendously, with preliminary research suggesting that these interventions may have a variety of positive effects on youth. However, some quantitative studies of school-based yoga and mindfulness have reported null and/or counterintuitive effects, such as increases in perceived stress, negative affect and psychological symptoms. In addition, some mixed-methods studies that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches have found inconsistent results, with the quantitative outcomes failing to show statistical significance, while students report benefits of yoga and mindfulness in qualitative interviews/focus groups. These inconsistent findings suggest that the field of …


Diverse Mindfulness Practices For Bipolar Recovery: Qualitative Study Results, Sasha Strong Sep 2020

Diverse Mindfulness Practices For Bipolar Recovery: Qualitative Study Results, Sasha Strong

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This study investigated the lived experience of Buddhist-informed mindfulness practice and its utilization in recovery from bipolar disorder (BD) in 9 adult participants. Established mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) decontextualize mindfulness practice from a Buddhist theory base, omitting conceptual frameworks that may have adaptive value in recovery from BD. In interviews, participants reported blending techniques learned from various Buddhist lineages throughout the course of their recovery, as well as a variety of other contemplative practices such as techniques to cultivate adaptive emotions, devotional practices, visualization practices, embodiment practices, investigative practices, and informal daily practice. Mindfulness practice for recovery from BD is …


Mindfulness Based Intervention For Needle Phobia: A Pilot Study Of Dissociated Ego State Resolution, Genine P. Smith, Glenn Hartelius Sep 2020

Mindfulness Based Intervention For Needle Phobia: A Pilot Study Of Dissociated Ego State Resolution, Genine P. Smith, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This pilot study was designed to investigate the efficacy of a mindfulness based intervention for the treatment of needle phobia. The research question was whether one session of the dissociated ego state [DES] trauma release intervention would result in significant and durable release of needle phobia. It was hypothesized that the process tested in this study may reduce needle phobia by locating, identifying, and engaging with a dissociated aspect of the psyche developed from earlier trauma. Six participants who self reported fear of needles and resulting avoidance of medical assistance completed one 60-minute, individual session of a mindfulness based protocol …


Diverse Mindfulness Practices For Bipolar Recovery: Qualitative Study Results, Sasha Strong Jan 2020

Diverse Mindfulness Practices For Bipolar Recovery: Qualitative Study Results, Sasha Strong

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This study investigated the lived experience of Buddhist-informed mindfulness practice and its utilization in recovery from bipolar disorder (BD) in 9 adult participants. Established mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) decontextualize mindfulness practice from a Buddhist theory base, omitting conceptual frameworks that may have adaptive value in recovery from BD. In interviews, participants reported blending techniques learned from various Buddhist lineages throughout the course of their recovery, as well as a variety of other contemplative practices such as techniques to cultivate adaptive emotions, devotional practices, visualization practices, embodiment practices, investigative practices, and informal daily practice. Mindfulness practice for recovery from BD is …


Presence And The Paradox Of Love, Joanne Burtch Mar 2016

Presence And The Paradox Of Love, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Spiritual experiences often seem unrelated to the intellectual orientation of science. However, some discussion of the laboratory study of spiritual practice does attempt to include the mystery and the human experience in its dialogue. An exploration of the paradox of love demonstrates how it might be possible to find a relationship between the scientific understanding of spirituality and the profundity of spiritual experience.


The Effect Of Internally Versus Externally Focused Balance Training On Mindfulness, Kathleen J. Pantano, Jeremy E. C. Genovese Jan 2016

The Effect Of Internally Versus Externally Focused Balance Training On Mindfulness, Kathleen J. Pantano, Jeremy E. C. Genovese

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine how alternative types of instruction provided during a 6-week balance exercise program affect mindfulness. A sample of 63 college students was recruited for the study. Group 1 (N = 33) received a 6-week balance exercise intervention instructed with an internal focus of attention (IFA). Group 2 (N = 30) received the same intervention, but exercises were instructed with an external focus of attention (EFA). Mindfulness was measured at baseline and at 6 weeks using the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Baseline FMI scores between groups were similar (Group 1: 41.6; Group 2: 41.3), …


The Art Of Observation And Experience, Andrée Salom Jan 2015

The Art Of Observation And Experience, Andrée Salom

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Mindfulness practices aim to develop intentional awareness of the present moment. This paper touches on two of the difficulties that may arise in the course of such practice. On the one hand, the present moment may be overwhelming if there is an over-identification with the content that the practices uncover. On the other hand, the present moment may seem excessively foreign if there is an over-identification with the witnessing of such content. Art can prevent an over-identification on both poles of this equation by acting as a container for content, a source of somatic discharge, and a facilitator for observing …


Musical Creativity And Mindfulness Meditation: Can The Practice Of Mindfulness Meditation Enhance Perceived Musical Creativity?, John Z. Newton Jan 2015

Musical Creativity And Mindfulness Meditation: Can The Practice Of Mindfulness Meditation Enhance Perceived Musical Creativity?, John Z. Newton

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The relationship between musical creativity and mindfulness meditation is explored through a qualitative study of three composers’ individual experiences of musical creativity and participation in eight guided mindfulness meditation sessions. Through qualitative interviews conducted before and after completion of a mindfulness course, data was analyzed and categorized into themes in order to identify whether the practice of mindfulness meditation had enhanced participants’ perceived musical creativity. Themes from the first set of interviews (Expression, Harmony, Intuition) represent the participants’ subjective experience of musical creativity, while themes from the second set (Enhanced focus and awareness, Nonstriving) outline subjective changes reported by each …


A Brief History Of Mind-Body Medicine, Elliot S. Dacher Jan 2014

A Brief History Of Mind-Body Medicine, Elliot S. Dacher

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

From its earliest sources the medical tradition has recognized the causal role of the interface of mind and body in health and disease. Cultural and historical circumstances have determined the degree to which each of these two key factors are emphasized. In modern times we are emerging from an exclusive materialistic emphasis on biology to a renewed acceptance and understanding of the role of the mind and consciousness in health and disease. This re-balancing of the two great forces of healing can be traced to a progressive expansion of knowledge in the fields of stress, past-traumatic stress, biofeedback, cognitive and …


Ciis Today, Spring 2009 Issue, Ciis Apr 2009

Ciis Today, Spring 2009 Issue, Ciis

CIIS Today

This volume is the Spring 2009 issue of CIIS Today, the Magazine of the California Institute of Integral Studies.