| dc.description.abstract | Meditation is a mind-body practice that involves turning one’s attention inwards to anchor one’s attention to still the mind and relax the body. Rooted in Indian yoga and Buddhist contemplative traditions, meditation has now been adopted across various cultures and contexts for holistic health, healing, and spiritual well-being by reducing stress and increasing a sense of well-being. Mindfulness is a type of meditation practice that involves nonjudgmental awareness in the present moment. This practice that involves focusing on the body, breath, mind, and emotions without labeling them as pleasant or unpleasant is known to increase self-compassion, reduce reactivity to external challenges, and help reduce mind-body illnesses such as lower back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, acid reflux, and blood pressure. Lovingkindness meditation is another form of meditation that is especially helpful in increasing compassion and empathy. Trauma-informed approaches to yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are especially beneficial for trauma-survivors in terms of reducing PTSD and providing cognitive flexibility to reframe trauma experiences. They also help healthcare clinicians to reduce compassion fatigue and burnout. Mindfulness in communication contexts have been applied to interpersonal and mediated contexts. It is often understood as thoughtful and flexible responses to specific discursive contexts rather than based on stereotypical mental models. They have also been applied to academic resilience, texting-while-driving, and media multitasking. | en |
