Mindfulness meditation: An integration of perspectives from Buddhism, science and clinical psychology.

摘要

Mindfulness meditation is a two-and-a-half millennia-old Buddhist spiritual practice that focuses on the development of introspective consciousness. The present research provides a comprehensive, multi-perspective overview and synthesis of the applications and effects of mindfulness meditation. The need for the current study is significant given that recently in the West mindfulness meditation has increasingly been a subject for empirical investigation, as well as a clinical intervention for a wide variety of medical illnesses and psychiatric disorders. The objective of the current study was thus to integrate the traditional Buddhist aspects of mindfulness with findings from contemporary empirical research.;In conducting this integration, the theory, application, and effects of mindfulness meditation as described in early Buddhist psychology was reviewed. A comprehensive literature review of the past 50 years of health-related studies was then undertaken to determine the physiological, neurological, and psychological effects of mindfulness meditation, as well as its efficacy as a treatment protocol in a clinical context.;The specific areas of focus for the literature review included meditation, concentration, mindfulness meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), attentional control, insight meditation, Buddhist meditation, vipassana, and mind/body medicine. Publications of theoretical nature, single case studies, clinical trials, meta-analyses, existing reviews of the literature and scholarly books in the areas of focus were included.;In this review significant neuro-biological and clinical evidence to suggest that mindfulness meditation is an effective treatment for a wide range of medical and mental health issues was found and discussed, including points of convergence and mutual relevance between these current Western applications and traditional Buddhist perspectives.;It was concluded that there is a need for a greater number of full-scale clinical trials regarding the effects of mindfulness meditation in the clinical context, with an emphasis on more rigorous methodological standards. In addition, it was concluded that Buddhist theory and applications of mindfulness meditation have yet to be sufficiently analyzed and synthesized into Western applications in health-related contexts.