Handbook of Mindfulness-Based Programmes

Ivtzan, Itai  (ed.) Handbook of Mindfulness-Based Programmes: Mindfulness Interventions from Education to Health and Therapy.  Routledge, 2019. 448 p. ISBN 9781138240940

Publisher description

“[This book] offers the first comprehensive guide to all prominent, evidence-based mindfulness programmes available in the West.

The rapid growth of mindfulness in the Western world has given rise to an unprecedented wave of creative mindfulness programmes, offering tailor-made mindfulness practices for school teachers, students, parents, nurses, yoga teachers, athletes, pregnant women, therapists, care-takers, coaches, organisational leaders and lawyers. This book offers an in-depth engagement with these different programmes, emphasising not only the theory and research but also the practice. Exercises and activities are provided to enable the reader to first understand the programme and then experience its unique approach and benefits.

Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators

Schlosser, Marco et. al. Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0216643

Publisher (Open Access)

“So far, the large and expanding body of research on meditation has mostly focussed on the putative benefits of meditation on health and well-being. However, a growing number of reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant experiences can occur in the context of meditation practice. Very little is known about the prevalence and potential causes of these experiences. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences in a large international sample of regular meditators, and to explore the association of these experiences with demographic characteristics, meditation practice, repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion.

Altered Traits

Goleman, Daniel and Richard Davidson. Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body. Penguin Random House, 2017. 336 p. ISBN 978-0-7352-2031-7

Publisher | Google Books

“In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. Unveiling here the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, as well as exactly how to get the most out of it.

Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers’ eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result. But short daily doses will not get us to the highest level of lasting positive change—even if we continue for years—without specific additions. More than sheer hours, we need smart practice, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, all of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson’s own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how we can derive the greatest benefits from the practice.”

Holdings: Worldcat