Latest news with #Mindfulness-BasedStressReduction
Tom's Guide
08-05-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Trouble sleeping? Headspace's new insomnia-fighting course could get your rest back on track, study finds
New peer-reviewed research has found that a better sleep program from popular mindfulness app Headspace reduced symptoms of insomnia in 29% of participants with just 10 minutes daily practice. Getting better sleep at night also helped lower levels of depression among participants, leaving them feeling more rested and hopeful for the day ahead. Finding Your Best Sleep by Headspace is an 18-day self-guided program that incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) among other evidence-based techniques to help users reduce racing thoughts and restlessness at night, and build lasting better sleep hygiene habits. Around one in three adults in the US aren't sleeping enough and while Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) offers an evidence-based approach to better sleep, a lack of practicing therapists means it can be hard to access and expensive. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is an evidence-based approach that aims to reduce insomnia by changing the behaviors and thought patterns around sleep. During the course of the study, 132 adults with clinical insomnia were assigned to either the Headspace sleep program or a control group. Those in the sleep program followed "Finding Your Best Sleep"; an 18-day course that uses 10 minute daily sessions based on CBT-I to target insomnia Participants were required to report on their sleep and mood pre-intervention, during intervention and post-intervention. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Those in the Headspace group showed a 29% reduction in self-reported insomnia symptoms compared to those in the control group, as well as reporting an improvement in overall sleep quality. CBT-I is considered one of the most effective methods for reducing insomnia, but cost and accessibility means it isn't always an option for those struggling with their sleep. The Headspace app aims to offer a flexible and affordable approach to CBT-I, packaging the basic principals into a course you can complete on your own time. 'These compelling research findings represent a novel and scalable way to help individuals get the sleep they need,' says Dr. Aric Prather, Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Research Program at the University of California at San Francisco. 'With nearly 30% of adults reporting sleep difficulties, access to this new program could be game-changing.' Users who engaged with the Headspace Finding Your Best Sleep program didn't just report benefits to their sleep — they also found their mood improved. Participants reported reduced stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms while using Headspace, and these positive results were further observed during the three week follow-up. Sleep deprivation and insomnia are linked to anxiety, irritability and depression while those who experience long-term sleep deprivation often struggle to regular their emotions. Harvard Health even describes a good night's sleep as the "best way to improve your mood." While the Headspace sleep program takes 18 days to complete, this study indicates that the advantages might last well beyond that initial period. Three weeks post-intervention — after completing the program — participants were asked to report on their sleep and mental health. Users who had engaged with Finding Your Best Sleep continued to note improved sleep and mood compared to pre-intervention. Among the control group, who hadn't completed the course, little difference was observed. CBT-I aims to create a healthier attitude towards sleep, removing the pressure many of us feel to get a solid eight hours every night... and the disappointment when we inevitably fail to meet those targets. When successful, this can lead to a long-term reduction in insomnia. CBT-I focuses on your thoughts and behaviors around sleep, identifying issues that are contributing to your insomnia to restructure your approach to bedtime. This process will typically take place over several sessions, typically administered by a healthcare professional. However, currently only a small number of trained CBT-I therapists are operating in the US, which can make the treatment hard to access. If you are experiencing insomnia and think you might benefit from CBT-I, we recommend speaking to your doctor about available treatment plans. Mindfulness for better sleep helps you adjust your approach to rest. Instead of chasing unattainable perfection, you focus on practicing a healthy routine. Here are some methods to get started...
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
There is much more to mindfulness than the popular media hype
Mindfulness is seemingly everywhere these days. A Google search I conducted in January 2022 for the term 'mindfulness' resulted in almost 3 billion hits. The practice is now routinely offered in workplaces, schools, psychologists' offices and hospitals all across the country. Most of the public enthusiasm for mindfulness stems from the reputation it has for reducing stress. But scholars and researchers who work on mindfulness, and the Buddhist tradition itself, paint a more complex picture than does the popular media. Mindfulness originated in the Buddhist practice of 'anapana-sati,' a Sanskrit phrase that means 'awareness of breath.' Buddhist historian Erik Braun has traced the origins of the contemporary popularity of meditation to colonial Burma – modern-day Myanmar – in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Meditation, which was practiced almost exclusively inside monasteries until then, was introduced to the general public in a simplified format that was easier to learn. The gradual spread of meditation from that time to the present is a surprisingly complex story. In the U.S., meditation first started to be practiced among diverse communities of spiritual seekers as early as the 19th century. It was adopted by professional psychotherapists in the early 20th century. By the 21st century, it had become a mass-marketing phenomenon promoted by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra and Gwyneth Paltrow. The process of translating the Buddhist practice of meditation across cultural divides transformed the practice in significant ways. Modern meditation often has different goals and priorities than traditional Buddhist meditation. It tends to focus on stress reduction, mental health or concrete benefits in daily life instead of spiritual development, liberation or enlightenment. A pivotal moment in this transformation was the creation of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) protocol by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in 1979. The stress reduction program introduced a standardized way of teaching meditation to patients so that its health benefits could be more rigorously measured by scientists. Research on this new kind of 'medicalized' mindfulness began to gather steam in the past two decades. As of today there are over 21,000 research articles on mindfulness in the National Library of Medicine's online database — two and a half times as many articles as have been published on yoga, tai chi and reiki combined. Medical researchers themselves have had a far more measured opinion about the benefits of meditation than the popular press. For example, a 2019 meta-analysis, which is a review of many individual scientific studies, pointed out that the evidence for the benefits of mindfulness and other meditation-based interventions has 'significant limitations' and that the research has 'methodological shortcomings.' Based on their review of the scientific literature, the authors warned against falling prey to 'mindfulness hype.' On the positive side, they found various forms of meditation to be more or less comparable to the conventional therapies currently used to treat depression, anxiety, chronic pain and substance use. On the other hand, they concluded that more evidence is needed before any strong claims can be made regarding treatment of conditions such as attention disorders, PTSD, dysregulated eating or serious mental illnesses. More troubling, some researchers are even beginning to suggest that a certain percentage of patients may experience negative side effects from the practice of meditation, including increased anxiety, depression or, in extreme cases, even psychosis. While the causes of these side effects are not yet fully understood, it is evident that for some patients, therapeutic meditation is far from the panacea it is often made out to be. As a historian of the relationship between Buddhism and medicine, I argue that mindfulness can be a beneficial practice for many people, but that we should understand the broader context in which it developed and has been practiced for centuries. Mindfulness is one small part of a diverse range of healing techniques and perspectives the Buddhist tradition has developed and maintained over many centuries. In a recent book, I have traced the global history of the many ways that the religion has contributed to the development of medicine over the past 2,400 years or so. Buddhist tradition advocates countless contemplations, devotional practices, herbal remedies, dietary advice and ways of synchronizing the human body with the environment and the seasons, all of which are related to healing. These ideas and practices are enormously influential around the world as well as in Buddhist communities in the U.S. Such interventions have been particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic – for example, through the medical charity of major international Buddhist organizations as well as through health advice given by high-profile monastics such as the Dalai Lama. Buddhism has always had a lot to say about health. But perhaps the most significant of its many contributions is its teaching that our physical and mental well-being are intricately intertwined – not only with each other, but also with the health and vitality of all living beings. Medicalized meditation is now a self-help commodity that generates over US$1 billion per year, leading some critics to label it 'McMindfulness.' But placing mindfulness back into a Buddhist ethical context shows that it is not enough to simply meditate to reduce our own stress or to more effectively navigate the challenges of the modern world. As I argue in my most recent book, Buddhist ethics asks us to look up from our meditation cushions and to look out beyond our individual selves. It asks us to appreciate how everything is interconnected and how our actions and choices influence our lives, our society and the environment. The emphasis, even while healing ourselves, is always on becoming agents of compassion, healing and well-being for the whole. [This Week in Religion, a global roundup each Thursday. Sign up.] This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Pierce Salguero, Penn State Read more: Mindfulness meditation can make some Americans more selfish and less generous In times of stress, turning to contemplation can be helpful – here's why religions emphasize rest How kids can benefit from mindfulness training Pierce Salguero does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
