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Meditation aside from being a Buddhist and Hindu practice, has gotten into the medical practice. It is now called Mindfulness-based Therapy (MBT) or Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). It is a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness Meditation (4). CBT helps people identify then change their maladaptive thinking, feelings, and behaviors into a more positive and adaptive one. While, Mindfulness Meditation involves a non-judgmental approach to thoughts coming out while meditating thereby being reflective of ones own thoughts rather than being reflexive (automatically responding to it) (1).

For anxiety and depression. On a research conducted by Hofman, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, it was found out that MBT was “moderately effective for improving anxiety... and mood symptoms from pre to posttreatment in the over-all sample” (3). The sample size was 1,104 participants which is significant in number. The particular mood symptom the study dealt with was depression.

For distress and disability. There is a similar therapy to MBT which is called MBSR - Mindfulness-based stress reduction. “Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a

structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic andpsychiatric disorders”(2). The more mindful a person is of his thoughts, the better his emotions are and his physical health. This study by Grossman et.al concludes that “mindfulness training might enhance general features of coping with distress and disability in everyday life, as well as under more extraordinary conditions of serious disorder or stress.”

This goes on to show how the mind is connected with the feelings and the physical body and how being non-judgmentally aware of one’s own thoughts can be crucial in creating positive thoughts and feelings for health and wellbeing. We can consider MBT/MBCT/MBSR as modern day tools using Mindfulness Meditation as a form of medical therapy.

References:

(1) Cognitive behavioral therapy (n.d.) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy

(2) Grossman P., Niemann, L., Schmidt S., & Walach H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefitsA meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57 (1), 35–43.

(3) Hofmann, S., Sawyer, A., Witt, A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78 (2), 169-183. doi: 10.1037/a0018555

(4) Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy(n.d.) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_cognitive_therapy