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Imagination-based loving-kindness meditation (ibLKM), a new method that combines blessing and imagination developed from the scriptures of Zhiyi, has recently been proposed. The current study aims to examine one of the possible effects of this method through an empirical research approach: the enhancement of responses to pain. In the present study, 59 participants in three groups practiced ibLKM, focused attention meditation (FAM), and watched an unrelated video, respectively. Electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded from participants who were presented with painful and non-painful pictures before and after meditation practices. Participants were asked to judge whether the stimulus was a painful picture or a non-painful picture. Event-related potential (ERP) analyses revealed that the LPP amplitudes over the central-parietal area elicited by the painful pictures were significantly more positive than those before the meditation practices in the ibLKM and FAM groups. The P3 amplitudes over the central-parietal area were significantly more positive in the posttest than in the pretest when viewing painful pictures in the FAM group. In contrast, in the ibLKM, the P3 amplitudes were not significantly different in the pretest and posttest when viewing painful pictures. These results suggested that ibLKM and FAM temporarily enhance responses to pain in different ways., Author(s): Junyi Hao [sup.1] , Chang Liu [sup.1] , Shaozhen Feng [sup.1] , Jing Luo [sup.2] , Jun Ding [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/036trcv74, grid.260474.3, 0000 0001 0089 5711, Jiangsu [...]

Author(s): Antonio-José Silvestre-López [sup.1] , Daniel Pinazo [sup.2] , Alfonso Barrós-Lorcertales [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.9612.c, 0000 0001 1957 9153, Department of English Studies, Universitat Jaume I, , Av. de [...], Inducing a state of meditation through conceptual metaphors used in the language of guided meditation instructions can have distinctive effects on well-being and meta-thinking. We hypothesized that the use of novel deliberate metaphor in the instructions of a guided meditation in which participants are invited to pay attention to thoughts would help novice meditators increase their meta-thinking activity and change their affective state during a guided meditation session. We conducted a study to test this hypothesis, using four experimental conditions (novel deliberate metaphor, conventional deliberate metaphor, non-metaphorical, silence) in micromeditation sessions with 324 university students. Results validate the instructions exploiting novel deliberate metaphor to activate meta-thinking activity and improve the affective state. These findings enhance our understanding of the short-term effects of guided meditation instructions, particularly regarding how the use of conceptual metaphor in the language of instructions can influence the meta-cognitive and affective levels of meditators, and open new directions both in applied metaphor studies and meditation research.

Increased attention is being placed on improving psychological well-being and academic achievement in school students. Prior research on meditation provides support for student improvement in these important educational areas. As part of a 9th grade Quiet Time school program, 98 students were randomly assigned either to learn the Transcendent Meditation (TM) program or to engage in sustained silent reading twice daily during school time at a West Coast public high school. Students were measured on overall emotional stress symptoms (p=.030), anger (p=.027), and fatigue (p=.083), and improvements in quality of sleep (p=.013) and English Language Arts (ELA) academic achievement (p=.079). Both groups were baseline tested prior to intervention in the fall semester and posttested at the end of the spring semester. Results for the meditation group compared to silent reading controls indicated significant reductions in overall emotional stress symptoms, anger, and fatigue, and improvements in quality of sleep and English Language Arts (ELA) academic achievement. Taking into account students below ELA proficiency at baseline, 69% of the meditation students improved at least one performance level at posttest compared to 33% of the control students (p=.033). These findings indicate the value of implementing a school-based TM program to improve well-being and academic performance in high school students. Future larger-scale research is encouraged. Keywords: meditation, academic performance, absenteeism, stress, Transcendental Meditation, Student emotional wellbeing is a concern both in the U.S. and worldwide (Verger et al. 2009; Dyrbye, Thomas, & Shanafelt 2006; Blanco et al. 2008). Psychological distress factors are associated [...]

Author(s): Kyusic Hwang [sup.1] , Aeran Kwon [sup.2] , Changhee Hong [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Neuropsychiatry, Wonkwang University Hospital, 0000 0004 0647 2826, grid.413112.4, , Iksan, Republic of [...], The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of new Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) - NeuroFeedBack-aided meditation therapy (NFB meditation therapy) and modified Positive Psychotherapy (mPPT). For NFB meditation therapy, it includes using NFB apparatus that can effectively lead to and monitor meditation state depending on brain waves. For mPPT, we modified original PPT because a number of new single positive psychology exercises can make original PPT more robust than before. The dependent variables used in this study were psychosocial flourishing (The Flourishing Scale, FS) and affect (The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience, SPANE). They were measured at baseline, post-test, and follow-up test. Finally, total twenty-four participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: no treatment (n = 8), NFB meditation therapy (n = 8), and mPPT group (n = 8). At post-test, both treatment groups showed significant positive effects on psychosocial flourishing (for NFB meditation therapy, F(1, 14) = 4.33, p < .10, [eta].sup.2 = .24; for mPPT, F(1, 14) = 6.94, p < .05, [eta].sup.2 = .33)), positive affect (for NFB meditation therapy, F(1, 14) = 2.18; for mPPT, F(1, 14) = 2.00, p < .10, [eta].sup.2 = .13), and negative affect (for NFB meditation therapy, F(1, 14) = 5.97, p < .05, [eta].sup.2 = .30; for mPPT, F(1, 14) = 7.95, p < .01, [eta].sup.2 = .36) compared to the no treatment group. At follow-up study, both treatment groups still showed significant positive effects on psychosocial flourishing and affect compared to the baseline condition. The NFB meditation therapy showed a greater increase in subjective well-being compared to the mPPT, while the mPPT showed a greater increase in psychosocial well-being compared to the NFB meditation therapy. As a preliminary study, it is expected that our findings could help future research to design better PPIs for human well-being.