Mind-Body Practices in Integrative Medicine

Abstract

Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic mirror image of psychosomatic medicine, where psychophysiological and health consequences of specific psychological states are studied, such as stress arousal, psychological trauma or depression. This contribution examines the empirical evidence of the most common mind-body techniques with regard to their salutogenetic potential. We concisely discuss some aspects of the mind-body problem, before we consider some historical aspects and achievements of psychosomatic medicine. We then turn to some prominent mind-body practices and their application, as well as the empirical database for them.

Achtsamkeit und achtsamkeitsbasierte Interventionen

“…Während Bewusstseinskultivierung in den spirituellen Traditionen durch Einüben von meditativen und kontemplativen Praktiken und Techniken erreicht wird, hat sich im Zusammenhang mit säkularisierten Ansätzen zunehmend der im Kontext der integrativen Medizin häufig verwendete angloamerikanische Terminus "Mind-Body-Practices" -darunter fällt z.B. Qi-Gong, Thai-Chi oder körperorientierte Psychotherapie -eingebürgert (Kohls 2004;Walach et al 2012).…”

Mindful in a random forest: Assessing the validity of mindfulness items using random forests methods

“…Two characteristics of mind-wandering are that they are (a) either past-or future-centered, and correspondingly not anchored in the experience of the present moment, and (b) invoke some kind of predominantly negative emotional reaction such as displeasure or distress. By contrast, mindfulness can be conceived as a mental state in which attention is systematically focused in the present moment with a stance of equanimity such as openness, curiosity, and nonjudgmental awareness (Walach, Ferrari, Sauer, & Kohls, 2012).…”

Mindfulness Meditation and Fantasy Relaxation in a Group Setting Leads to a Diminished Sense of Self and an Increased Present Orientation

“…In the last decades, mindfulness-meditation techniques (MMT), as well as mind-body interventions (MBI), have become a focus of attention in the clinical and health sciences [1]. MMTs and MBIs focus on the relationships among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, and their effect on health and disease [2].…”