Understanding Engagement in and Affective Experiences During Physical Activity: The Role of Meditation Interventions

Does shared positivity make life more meaningful? Perceived positivity resonance is uniquely associated with perceived meaning in life

Pleasantness and meaningfulness are sometimes seen as opposing pursuits. Yet past research has found that the pursuit of meaning often leads to pleasure. In four longitudinal studies-three observational, one experimental, ranging from 5 weeks to 18 months-we investigated an inverse process, whereby specific kinds of pleasant states can foster a sense of meaning in life. We hypothesized that perceptions of positivity resonance, a form of coexperienced positive affect characterized by mutual care and synchrony, are experienced as particularly meaningful in the moment and, over time, build social resources (e.g., supportive relationships and communities) that foster an enduring sense of meaning in life. Results indicate that perceived positivity resonance is associated with perceived meaning both between- and within-persons, links that emerge independently of overall pleasant emotion and social interaction quantity. Perceived social resources mediate between-persons links, and changes in perceived social resources mediate longitudinal links. Overall, these findings suggest that coexperienced, caring, and synchronous pleasant states may be uniquely suited to cultivating a person's sense that life is meaningful. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of mindfulness tendency and physical activity on brain-gut interactions

BACKGROUND

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of brain-gut interactions characterized by abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction. Exercise and mindfulness have been reported to be effective on IBS, but there has been no study of their interaction. In this study, we hypothesized that exercise and mindfulness interactively affect the severity of IBS symptoms.

METHODS

Subjects were 703 adolescents with 590 women and 113 men. Their IBS status was evaluated with Rome III Diagnostic Questionnaire and IBS Severity Index (IBS-SI). They also fulfilled past exercise experience, athletic performance and exercise enthusiasm, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Kessler 6 Scale (K6), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v25.

RESULTS

In this population, 184 (158 women and 26 men, 14.1%) subjects had Rome III IBS symptoms. IBS subjects scored significantly less in exercise enthusiasm at high school (p = 0.017) and MAAS (p < 0.001) and significantly more K6 (p < 0.001) and PSS (p < 0.001) than non-IBS. The two-way ANOVA on IBS-SI showed a significant main effect of MAAS (p < 0.001) and interaction between MAAS and IPAQ (p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION

It is suggested that mindfulness per se decreases IBS severity, but that mindfulness and physical activity interactively affect the severity. Further studies on how to design interventional trials for IBS patients with mindfulness and physical exercise are warranted.

Exercising body but not mind: A qualitative exploration of attitudes to combining physical activity and mindfulness practice for mental health promotion

Background

Physical activity and mindfulness meditation can be effective for maintaining good mental wellbeing, with early-stage research suggesting even greater effectiveness in tandem. Literature is lacking on the perceptions and acceptability of these practices, particularly in a preventative context. The study aimed to explore attitudes toward mental health and its maintenance through physical activity and mindfulness meditation in the university student population.

Methods

Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 16 students from 10 United Kingdom universities (M _age = 23 years, SD = 3.22) recruited through social media and stratified to have varied wellbeing symptoms, physical activity levels, and experience with mindfulness meditation. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to elicit meaning from the data.

Results

Four main themes were constructed. Participants held a "Dualist view of health," in which mental and physical aspects were seen as distinct but connected, and prioritized physical health maintenance. The "Low-point paradox," where engagement is most difficult during the time of greatest need, was identified as a crucial psychological barrier across health behaviors. "Unfamiliarity with mindfulness practice" was common, as were misconceptions inhibiting practice. Finally, participants were intrigued by combining physical activity and mindfulness, supposing that "Whole is greater than the sum of its parts," with mutual reinforcement of the two techniques cited as biggest motivating factor.

Conclusion

Effective preventative mental health strategies for adults, including university students, should accommodate for common psychological barriers and facilitators to health maintenance behaviors, including misconceptions surrounding mindfulness, to increase acceptability. Combining physical activity and mindfulness meditation is one promising preventative approach that warrants further investigation.

Contemplative Practices Behavior Is Positively Associated with Well-Being in Three Global Multi-Regional Stanford WELL for Life Cohorts

Positive associations between well-being and a single contemplative practice (e.g., mindfulness meditation) are well documented, yet prior work may have underestimated the strength of the association by omitting consideration of multiple and/or alternative contemplative practices. Moreover, little is known about how contemplative practice behavior (CPB) impacts different dimensions of well-being. This study investigates the relationship of CPB, consisting of four discrete practices (embodied somatic-observing, non-reactive mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion for others), with multiple dimensions of well-being. As with other canonical lifestyle behaviors, multiple contemplative practices can be integrated into one's daily routine. Thus, it is critical to holistically consider these behaviors, extending them beyond a simple uni-dimensional measure (e.g., daily mindfulness meditation practice). We developed an integrative measure of four types of contemplative practice and found it to be significantly associated with a multi-dimensional measure of well-being. Importantly, our findings were from three large global multi-regional cohorts and compared against better-understood lifestyle behaviors (physical activity). Data were drawn from California/San Francisco Bay Area, (n = 6442), Hangzhou City (n = 10,268), and New Taipei City (n = 3033). In all three cohorts, we found statistically significant (p < 0.05) positive associations between CPB and well-being, both overall and with all of the constituent domains of well-being, comparable to or stronger than the relationship with physical activity across most well-being outcomes. These findings provide robust and cross-cultural evidence for a positive association between CPB and well-being, illuminate dimensions of well-being that could be most influenced by CPB, and suggest CPB may be useful to include as part of fundamental lifestyle recommendations for health and well-being.

Harnessing Life's Slings and Arrows: The Science and Opportunities for Mindfulness Meditation During a Global Pandemic and Beyond

ABSTRACT

We are at a difficult time in history with societal increases in stress, loneliness, and psychopathology, along with high rates of obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and chronic pain. Mindfulness interventions offer promise to address these societal issues. However, in order to make best use of the opportunities revealed by our current challenges, we must: (1) tackle these issues head-on with inclusive, innovative, and creative experimental designs and interventions, and (2) collectively adhere to rigorous, high quality methods so as to provide an evidence-based integration of mindfulness interventions into mainstream medicine and public health.We find there are several areas for which important advances are happening, including sampling socially diverse populations, examining mechanisms of action, pain management, and health behaviors. Furthermore, rigorous methods, including measurement, causal inference from control groups, delivery and scalability of mindfulness interventions, and effect modifiers to determine who mindfulness programs work best for are also gaining traction. This special issue on Mindfulness: Biobehavioral Mechanisms and Health Outcomes attends to many of these issues, several of which are highlighted in this editorial perspective.