Examining The Content and Context of Meditation

Studies have primarily examined meditation's effects as a self regulation strategy for stress management. Fewer studies have examined its utility as a self exploration strategy for enhancing psychological health in psychotherapy and behavior change. And, few studies have examined meditation's effect regarding its original religious purpose as a self liberation strategy to enhance spiritual growth and wisdom, and cultivate compassionate service. This article examines the reasons underlying this differential proportion of studies on each of the above variables and details the merits and limitations of research that attempted to remove the religious and philosophical context of meditation in order to focus on its content. The article then examines why it has been necessary to reintroduce the context of meditation as a variable, whether that context be stress management, psychotherapy, or a religious perspective. Finally, based on the mentalist and cognitive revolution, this article asks: "Is God always a confounding variable in meditation research?"

If the only research tool a person has is a hammer, then all questions begin to look like the head of an undriven nail.

-Abraham Maslow

When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he sees are pockets.

Anonymous

Steps toward a cognitive-behavioral model of relaxation

The prevailing model of relaxation posits a generalized state of reduced arousal, a position inconsistent with much relaxation research and clinical practice. This paper proposes an alternative model based on cognitive-behavioral principles. It hypothesizes that relaxation training has three effects: (a) reduced arousal, (b) development of cognitive skills of focusing, passivity, and receptivity, and (c) acquisition of increasingly abstract and differentiated cognitive structures supportive of relaxation. According to this perspective, different approaches to relaxation are not interchangeable but have quite different effects. Clinical implications are discussed.