Motivation and emotion/Book/2023/Meditation and mindfulness

Meditation and mindfulness:
How can meditation contribute to mindfulness?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

Figure 1. Being present in one's environment and taking in the surroundings

Being aware of ourselves and our emotions and behaviours is a shared experience many individuals feel on a daily basis. Some of these emotions and behaviours can be driven by stress and/or anxiety and make it hard to remain in the moment and be present. Mindfulness is a way of combating this and to remain aware of oneself.

Mindfulness has become increasingly popular as it can be a basic, cost-effective form of therapy or strategy available to everyone. Mindfulness allows us to be in tune with our senses and the environment around us, creating a grounding space for us to be present in.

Mindfulness can come in many shapes and forms allowing it to be accessible and self-paced for different individuals. Definitions and application of mindfulness can vary, with some versions of mindfulness adopting terminology and concepts from other thought sorting theories (Kudesia, 2019).

One form of mindfulness is meditation. Meditation is a common practice that also trains awareness of the body and oneself and how to understand our emotions and our environment. A specific type of meditation is focused attention meditation and this form of meditation will be addressed in this book chapter. Focused attention meditation allows an individual to focus on one sensation such as sound, smell or sight rather than trying to clear the mind of all thoughts completely (Yamaya et al, 2021). Focused attention meditation has becoming increasingly popular in many settings such as work, schools as it encourages attention to be applied to one object or task while drowning out distractions (Lippelt et al, 2014; Yamaya et al, 2021).

Throughout this chapter we will further explore what mindfulness and mediation is, and how attention focused mediation specifically can influence, contribute and improve mindfulness.

Focus questions: What is mindfulness? What is meditation? What is the relationship between mindfulness and meditation?

Definitions

Emotions

• What are emotions?
• Emotions are reactions triggered by different stimuli individuals are exposed to. Emotions are short lived and can be expressed by bodily arousal, facial expressions and subjective feelings.
• They are caused by significant life events and can be processed either by biological processes or cognitive processes.
• What types of emotions are there?
• Basic emotions; used to satisfied basic needs and respond to danger. Basic emotions include; fear, anger, disgust, sadness, interest and joy (Neill, 2023).
• Self-conscious; emotions used in response to social interactions. Self-conscious emotions include; shame, guilt, embarrassment, pride and triumph (Neill, 2023; Sznycer, 2018).
• Cognitively complex; envy, gratitude, disappointment, regret, hope, Schadenfreude, empathy and compassion (Neill, 2023).

Mindfulness

• What is mindfulness?
• Mindfulness is being fully present and aware of ones surroundings. This self awareness allows an individual to adapt the way they engage with themselves and others in a judgement free way (Nagy & Baer, 2017).
• Mindfulness has been shown to have many physical and mental benefits and has been used in both clinical and professional aspects (Choi et al, 2021).
• Mindfulness has a origin and connection to Buddhist religion (Choi et al, 2021; Patel, 2013) while western societies have adopted the practice in the interest of bettering oneself.

Meditation

• What is meditation?
• Meditation is a practice that originates from India, as well as origins in Chinese origins as both cultures have a spiritual connection to the practice to improve wellbeing by clearing the mind using physical and mental techniques (Wang et al, 2022).
• While the body is resting, the mind stays alert and aware of internal processes such as breathing, e.g., focusing on breath control, as well as external stimuli such as noise, e.g., tuning into a sound (Dudeja, 2017).
• Just like mindfulness, meditation is a popular practice due to its many physical and mental wellbeing benefits.

Focused attention meditation

• What is focused attention meditation?
• Focuses attention on an object rather than trying to clear the mind.
• It is one of the main classification categories for meditation (Ganesan et al, 2022).

What is the historical and cultural background of meditation?

What is the history of meditation?

As discussed above meditation is the practice of being aware of the self and surroundings and has expensive history and connections to Asian cultures, but in particular mediation has historical and cultural connections and roots in Buddhism (Patel, 2013). Evidence of meditation in Buddhism has been attributed to writings in Indian that date back 1500 BCE, but researchers have also addressed how this practice could have been taught and recorded orally (Sharma, 2015).

Although mediation practices have a long history, during the 1950's and 1960's the practice started gaining mass popularity in Western societies and this is when psychological studies of meditations first started (Loizzo, 2013). With the emergence of advancing neuroscience research and the use of mindfulness in clinical settings, mediation has become increasingly popularised. Loizzo (2013) addresses this in his research and discusses the importance of the history of meditation needing to be honoured.

One of the many forms of mediation to be popularised is mindfulness meditation (Sharma, 2015). Sharma (2015) addresses this popularisation in the form of breath control/ breathing focused exercises and yoga, all having a connection to Buddhist practices.

Figure 2. Manuscript painting of meditation

What is the cultural impact of meditation?

Although meditation is prevalent in Buddhism, other cultures and religions such as Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity have adopted the concept. Each religion have differing meanings of mediation and what mediation looks like and how meditation is practiced.

Deleanu (2020) discuss the three forms of training for meditation in Buddhism and the traditional names that accompany each respective form and their importance to defining meditation. These forms are: moral cultivation (adhiśīlaṃ śikṣā), training the mind (adhicittaṃ śikṣā), and developing wisdom (adhiprajñaṃ śikṣā). By achieving these forms, spiritual awakening can be achieved which is highlighted as an important part in Buddhist culture (Deleanu, 2020). This development of oneself can also be seen as self-actualisation, which can motivate an individuals behaviour to change and become better.

Keeping in mind the popularisation of meditation in Western societies, Goldberg et al (2023) have attributed meditation to the development to third-wave therapies, e.g., cognitive behavioural therapy as patients are encouraged to address and accept negative emotions and thoughts rather than ignoring them.

Figure 3. Meditation across different cultural settings and what it may have looked like.

Quiz

1 Meditation has both cultural and historical roots in which religion?

	Buddhism
	Christianity

2 Psychological studies of meditation first started in the 1950's and 1960's

	True
	False

What is focused attention meditation and what are the benefits?

What is focused attention meditation?

Focused attention meditation is the practice of focusing on an object whether its a visual, auditory or tactile sensation and maintain this concentration on the object{example}}. It is often the first style of meditation learnt as it can assist in learning other meditation practices (Ganesan et al, 2022). By maintaining focus on an object, internal stimuli and sensations, such as random thoughts, can be filtered through and ignored. External stimuli and sensations, such as tactile sensations can also be disregarded. By doing so, an individual can engage and disengage with internal and external stimuli when appropriate (Ganesan et al, 2022). The more frequently this style of meditation is practiced, the more subconscious the process becomes to the individual, meaning they can engage in attention focused meditation without actively reciting each step (Ganesan et al, 2022). By doing so, concentration can be expanded upon and can lead into more complex techniques of meditation (Lippelt et al, 2014). Based on the above information a connection to the humanistic perspective can be made to understand the connection of attention focused meditation and theoretical frameworks in psychological studies (Bland & DeRobertis, 2020). According to the humanistic perspective an individual is responsible for their own wellbeing and self image and their behaviour is motivated by this. If an individual starts practicing focused attention meditation, wellbeing can improve thus encouraging the individual to continue to engage in attention focused meditation and develop their practice (Bland & DeRobertis, 2020).

What are the benefits?

There are many physical and mental benefits to practicing focused attention meditation. Lenhart et al (2020) discuss the interest of meditation in connection to neuropsychology and how focused attention meditation can have clinical applications. Mental disorders such as anxiety and depression have been shown to improve when individuals meditate, as well as improved emotional regulation and executive control. Extended engagement in focused attention meditation has also shown to have the ability to manipulate structures of the brain such as the hippocampus and basal ganglia (Lenhart et al, 2020). As the name of the style of meditation, focused attention meditation has been showed to improve sustained attention. This improvement in attention accompanies focusing on one form of stimuli as well as being able to focus or juggle multiple stimuli (Sumantry & Stewart, 2021). By supporting self-regulation, levels of stress have been demonstrated to decrease (Sampaoi, Lima & Ladeia, 2017). This decrease in stress levels can have lasting effects on mental and physical health. One way focused attention meditation can have lasting effects on physical health is the improvement of cardiovascular health (Schnaubelt et al, 2019). Schnaubelt et al (2019) suggest that there is a potential influence on cardiovascular disease and explain that the practice is cost effective and non-invasive. Further research into disease and the benefits of meditation has been suggested, and this suggestion should be applied to other areas to improve not only physical, but emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. By engaging in focused attention meditation emotional stability can be achieved, emotions such as joy and compassion, as well as anger and sadness can be regulated and improve resilience in an individual (Ganesan et al, 2022).

How and when can I apply focused attention meditation?

When practicing focused attention meditation for the first time, an individual needs to be in an environment where they can focus clearly and have little to no distractions as they are still developing the skill set to focus attention on one object or stimuli. Once this skill set is built upon, the individual can apply it in different environments as the use of an object is no longer an anchor and the ability to focus and be aware becomes second nature (Ganesan et al, 2022). Because of this, focused attention mediation can be practiced in nearly any space at any time. It can be used to combat a stressful situation, or to simply be in the moment and ground oneself. Because of the nature of focused attention meditation it can be applied in clinical settings with a psychologist and patient, or can be applied by an individual to themselves or a group (Lenhart et al, 2020). While the application of focused attention meditation is often the psychologist guiding the patient, individual applications can be administered in a range of ways. It can be via listening to an audio/meditation app, by a teacher in a class/group setting, or by one individual guiding/ teaching another individual the practice, e.g., friends sharing this skill (Ganesan et al, 2022).

Figure 4. Meditation can be practice anywhere and either individually or with others.

After establishing who/how it is going to administered, an individual can go through the steps of focused attention mediation in their chosen environment. The first step is to pick something to focused attention on, often an object is selected to focus on but sensations such as breathing can also be the main focal point for a mediation session (Nagy & Baer, 2017). After selecting an object, this will be the main focal point for the mind to come back to. It idea of focused attention mediation is to not ignore all distractions but rather acknowledge them and then return to the focal point. For example, if breath is chosen as an object/focal point an individual should maintain focus on breath control, how the breath is moving in, around and out of the body and coming back to this if the individual gets distracted at any point (Nagy & Baer, 2017). Focused attention meditation can occur for as long as the individual needs, but a starting point for a mediation session is 5-10 minutes. This style can be practiced whenever the individual need and as frequently as they need.

What is the importance and impact of focused attention meditation on mindfulness and wellbeing?

Focused attention meditation is important as it can be used as a combative measurement to maintain wellbeing and prevent declines in mental health. It can be used to combat negative thoughts and feelings, and bring an individual back to how they feel and what emotions are flowing through and out of the body. Focused attention meditation can also be used to improve memory and mood which can increase wellbeing (Eisenbeck et al, 2018). With brain functionality being improved, problem-solving skills and other cognitive processes can be improved due to using focused attention meditation. By doing this, an individual can further interact and understand the world around them as their ability to process stimuli and information can be enhanced (Lenhart et al, 2020). All these positive attributions and benefits of focused attention meditation has demonstrated the ability to improve wellbeing and mental health, this is an important skill set to have to accommodate for the ongoing mental health crisis seen around the world (Marazziti et al, 2021). While wellbeing and mental health can be affected by social, economical, physical and several other factors as well as personal experiences, it is important for individuals to have a way to regulate their emotions (Bower et al, 2021). Due to the nature of focused attention meditation and the readily available content surrounding it, the style of meditation is easily accessible, cost effective to conduct and adjustable and accommodating for all individuals.

With all of this evidence supporting the beneficial factors of focused attention meditation, it is still a newly developed area of research so only a small pool of studies, analyses and reviews have been conducted. Because of this many studies have suggested further investigation and research be applied to the application of focused attention meditation, its relationship with mindfulness and its impact of wellbeing. Brown et al (2022) found that focused attention meditation by itself, and combined with other programs such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy were successful in altering emotional regulation and reactivity compared to other therapy programs. However, a limitation of generalisability was addressed as the research conducted could not be applied to every individual or group. Not only did Brown et al (2022) address the limitations of study relating to focused attention meditation, but Ganesan et al (2022) also address potential limitations. A major limitation was sample size and due to this a complete and reliable meta-analysis could not be formed. Both of the limitations addressed can be corrected by doing further research, the more traction focused attention mediation and its benefits gains, the more likely researcher will be inclined to investigate and invest. Despite these limitations, the current available research still acknowledges the importance of focused attention meditation and explains how this style of meditation is an influence on positive wellbeing and mental health.

The importance and impact of focused attention meditation can be applied to different psychological theories. While there are many different theories focused attention mediation can fall under, two prominent theories can be linked; cognitive and humanistic. Focused attention meditation can influence and adapt cognitive processes such as attention and problem-solving and due to this perfectly accommodate what cognitive theory proposes (Richards et al, 2020). This theory explains how information is processed and how it affects emotional regulation and expression. While humanistic theory addresses the desire to achieve ones needs, inclusive of wellbeing and focused attention mediation attends to the need of self-actualisation but benefits positive mental health and wellbeing along the way (Mele, 2016). Both of these theories create an understanding of how focused attention meditation can be applied to current and future psychological studies and practices.

Conclusion

Throughout this chapter an understanding of meditation and mindfulness is established. Emotions, mindfulness and meditation all have a relationship to one another and often emotions are what regulate and dictate what state or mood an individual is in and this mood/state can be altered by mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness is allowing the self to be fully present and meditation is the practice of applying this self awareness. After establishing an understanding of the two, focused attention mediation was introduced. This form of meditation allows an individual to focus on an object or stimuli while allowing for distractions to be present but not invasive. This form of mediation has be beneficial in improving mental health and wellbeing, addresses aspects of cognitive function such as attention and memory, emotional aspects such as emotional regulation and reactivity, as well as physical aspect of health. This chapter also discusses how focused attention meditation can be applied and when as it is a simple practice and can be used virtually anywhere at any time by any individual making it very effective. The importance of focused attention meditation and impact it has on mindfulness and wellbeing was argued. Because of the many benefits of this form of meditation it makes for simple yet successful application for the self or group when addresses wellbeing and combating the mental health crisis. The addition of relevancy to psychological theories was conveyed throughout the chapter but highlighted in the importance and impact of focused attention meditation as it provides further structure to application of this meditation form to current and future psychological research. Overall meditation can contribute positively to mindfulness.

See also

• Mindfulness (Wikiversity)
• Meditation (Wikiversity)
• Humanistic perspective (Wikipedia)
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (Wikipedia)

References

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External links

• Focused meditation: How to start a practice https://www.verywellmind.com/practice-focused-meditation-3144785
• Emotions and types of emotional responses. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-emotions-2795178
• The 6 types of basic emotions and their effect on human behaviour. https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-the-types-of-emotions-4163976
• What is mindfulness? https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/
• Meditation. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17906-meditation
• Focused attention meditation: its benefits and how to get started. https://choosemuse.com/blogs/news/focused-attention-meditation-its-benefits-how-to-get-started
• Focused Meditation: How to start a practice
• Emotions and types of emotional responses
• The 6 types of basic emotions and their effect on human behaviour
• What is mindfulness?
• Meditation
• Focused attention meditation: its benefits and how to get started.