<p>This two-year longitudinal study investigated the effect of participation in a special university curriculum, whose principal innovative feature is twice-daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi program, on performance on Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) and Hick's reaction time. These measures are known to be correlated with general intelligence. One hundred college men and women were the subjects—45 from Maharishi International University (MIU) and 55 from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The experimental group (MIU) improved significantly on the CFIT (t=2.79, P<0.005); choice reaction time (t=9.10, P<0.0001); SD of choice reaction time (t=11.39, P<0.0001), and simple reaction time (t=2.11, P<0.025) over two years compared to the control group, which showed no improvement. Possible confounds of subject's age, education level, level of interest in meditation, father's education level, and father's annual income were controlled for using analysis of covariance and stepwise regression. The results replicate the findings of previous longitudinal studies on intelligence test scores at MIU, and indicate that participation in the MIU curriculum results in improvements in measures related to general intelligence.</p>
Zotero Collections:
- Practices of Hindu Contemplation,
- Contemplation by Applied Subject,
- Contemplation by Tradition,
- Scientific Studies of Transcendental Meditation,
- Transcendental Meditation (TM),
- Theories of Learning and Contemplation,
- Higher Education and Contemplation,
- Education and Contemplation,
- Hindu Contemplation
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the use of formative research to adapt, develop, and pretest a mindful yoga curriculum for high-risk youth attending a nontraditional high school. The formative work was conducted in the first year of a larger project to test the efficacy of a mindful yoga program through a randomized controlled trial. The formative work included focus groups with: (1) an Advisory Board of experts in preventive interventions with high-risk youth, yoga and mindfulness and (2) students in the target population. Major themes emerging from the Advisory Board included youths' preconceptions about yoga, desirable characteristics in a yoga teacher, racial/ethnic differences in yoga participation, gender differences, and youths' likely motivations for participation. Additional themes reported by the student focus group participants included perceived motivations for participation, likely benefits of yoga, perceptions of yoga, yoga experience, and peer opinions. Additional results pertained to important logistical considerations when implementing school-based yoga programs. The formative work resulted in a 20-session, manualized curriculum that was pretested with students. Pretesting indicated that the intervention was feasible and enjoyable. In a focus group following the intervention, students reported improved mood and a high degree of satisfaction with the intervention. Implementation challenges included logistics within a school setting, recruitment and consenting, gender considerations, and developmental issues.
BackgroundThe primary objective of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to establish the effectiveness of a novel online quality of life (QoL) intervention tailored for people with late stage (≥ 10 episodes) bipolar disorder (BD) compared with psychoeducation. Relative to early stage individuals, this late stage group may not benefit as much from existing psychosocial treatments. The intervention is a guided self-help, mindfulness based intervention (MBI) developed in consultation with consumers, designed specifically for web-based delivery, with email coaching support.
Methods/design
This international RCT will involve a comparison of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two 5-week adjunctive online self-management interventions: Mindfulness for Bipolar 2.0 and an active control (Psychoeducation for Bipolar). A total of 300 participants will be recruited primarily via social media channels. Main inclusion criteria are: a diagnosis of BD (confirmed via a phone-administered structured diagnostic interview), no current mood episode, history of 10 or more mood episodes, no current psychotic features or active suicidality, under the care of a medical practitioner. Block randomisation will be used for allocation to the interventions, and participants will retain access to the program for 6 months. Evaluations will be conducted at pre- and post- treatment, and at 3- and 6- months follow-up. The primary outcome measure will be the Brief Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder Scale (Brief QoL.BD), collected immediately post-intervention at 5 weeks (T1). Secondary measures include BD-related symptoms (mania, depression, anxiety, stress), time to first relapse, functioning, sleep quality, social rhythm stability and resource use. Measurements will be collected online and via telephone assessments at baseline (T0), 5 weeks (T1), three months (T2) and six months (T3). Candidate moderators (diagnosis, anxiety or substance comorbidities, demographics and current treatments) will be investigated as will putative therapeutic mechanisms including mindfulness, emotion regulation and self-compassion. A cost-effectiveness analysis will be conducted. Acceptability and any unwanted events (including adverse treatment reactions) will be documented and explored.
Discussion
This definitive trial will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a novel QoL focused, mindfulness based, online guided self-help intervention for late stage BD, and investigate its putative mechanisms of therapeutic action.
Teach your kids about yoga and mindfulness with this mindful yoga activity book with more than 50 poses and activities. Yoga is a great way to teach children about relaxation, meditation, and peace - while having fun at the same time.This book includes yoga activities for kids and mindful games - they can stretch into tree pose, bend into butterfly pose, learn how to make a mindfulness jar, and find out why and how we should stretch through a series of fun yoga poses and sequences.
Written by Children's Yoga Expert Susannah Hoffman, with a foreword by Oscar winner Patricia Arquette, Yoga for Kids guides children through each pose, to make sure they achieve maximum fun and mindfulness in their yoga practice. Parents are given notes on each pose, to let them know what benefits it brings and how to stay safe.
Yoga for Kids shows that supporting a child's positive mental health doesn't need to be expensive, time-consuming, or difficult. Poses and activities help children to de-stress, focus, and get moving while having fun.
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