Christian Mindfulness and Mental Health: Coping through Sacred Traditions and Embodied Awareness

Timbers, Veronica L.; Hollenberger, Jennifer

doi:10.3390/rel13010062

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…These factors are responsible for enhancing emotional wellbeing and mental health in individuals, particularly during crisis periods ( Pirutinsky et al, 2020 ). Besides spiritual practices embed the mindfulness elements which help people to deal with apprehensions, nervousness and other anxiety symptoms experienced by individuals due to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Timbers and Hollenberger, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, coping during the COVID-19 pandemic was determined by a myriad of social, economic, cultural, and religious factors which need to be understood in more depth. Despite, few studies attempted to assess the role of faith in coping during the COVID-19 pandemic in non-Muslim ( Timbers and Hollenberger, 2022 ), and Muslim communities ( Bisri, 2020 ), currently there are many gaps that are recommended to be appropriately addressed in the future research priorities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety were pervasive among the masses due to high morbidity and mortality. Besides the fear of coronavirus was also particularly driven by social media. Many people started to look for faith and spiritual connections to gain comfort. The role of spiritual ties and religious beliefs in relation to coping with pandemic stress has acquired the attention of researchers in some parts of the world. This cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the intensity of stress and anxiety symptoms experienced by people and how much they were alleviated by employing spiritual connections. The study sample comprises 795 respondents with 52% males and 48% females living in Saudi Arabia. The brief online study questionnaire collected data about background variables, anxiety and stress scale from DASS-21, and items from the WHOQOL (SRBP) instrument assessed the use of spiritual beliefs to cope. Multiple regression models were tested to determine the role of spiritual connections after adjusting demographic variables. Results illustrated that after adjusting for gender and age, participants’ anxiety symptoms decreased by (β = −0.27; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in the use of spiritual connections, and participants’ stress symptoms reduce by (β = −0.36; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in coping with spirituality. Additionally, females’ risk to experience anxiety and stress symptoms was more than males [(β = 0.88; p = 0.01) and (β = 0.92; p = 0.000)], respectively. An increase in age decreases the likelihood of experiencing anxiety symptoms and stress symptoms by (β = −0.75; p = 0.02) and (β = −0.11; p = 0.000) units, respectively. Findings support the protective role of spiritual connections despite small beta coefficients. The social and cultural context in Saudi Arabia favors deep-rooted connections with spirituality and faith. Our findings support the fact that the reliance on spiritual connections helped older people to deal with exaggerated fear during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduces the risk of experiencing anxiety and stress symptoms. Females and younger participants were relatively vulnerable to developing these symptoms. We discussed these findings considering some recent studies that reported similar relationships and made recommendations for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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“…Mindfulness meditation is defined as awareness of the events taking place, while refraining from judging them [49]. This concept has its roots in the Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and Judaic religions [50][51][52]. A fundamental aspect of mindfulness meditation is non-interference in cognitive processes.…”

Section: Mindfulnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness in the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction Symptoms: Does Neuroplasticity Play a Role?

Chmiel,

Malinowska,

Rybakowski

et al. 2024

Brain Sciences

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Introduction: Methamphetamine is a highly stimulating psychoactive drug that causes life-threatening addictions and affects millions of people around the world. Its effects on the brain are complex and include disturbances in the neurotransmitter systems and neurotoxicity. There are several known treatment methods, but their effectiveness is moderate. It must be emphasised that no drugs have been approved for treatment. For this reason, there is an urgent need to develop new, effective, and safe treatments for methamphetamine. One of the potential treatments is mindfulness meditation. In recent years, this technique has been researched extensively in the context of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Methods: This review explores the use of mindfulness in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Searches were conducted in the PubMed/Medline, Research Gate, and Cochrane databases. Results: Seven studies were identified that used mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. The results show that mindfulness is an effective form of reducing hunger, risk of relapses, stress indicators, depression, and aggression, alone or in combination with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Mindfulness also improved the cognitive function in addicts. The included studies used only behavioural measures. The potential mechanisms of mindfulness in addiction were explained, and it was proposed that it can induce neuroplasticity, alleviating the symptoms of addiction. Conclusions: Evidence from the studies suggest that mindfulness may be an effective treatment option for methamphetamine addiction, used alone or in combination with tDCS. However, further high-quality research is required to establish the role of this treatment option in this field. The use of neuroimaging and neurophysiological measures is fundamental to understand the mechanisms of mindfulness.

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“…Previ ous scholarship in this area has especially focused on the particular strategies that Christians who engage in such practices tend to employ as part of their efforts to reconcile their Christian beliefs and commitments with various non-Christian notions prevalent in broader holistic milieu as well as those that still remain associated with internationally widespread practices such as yoga and mindfulness (e.g. Versteeg 2006;Klassen 2011;Brown 2010Brown , 2012Brown , 2013Brown , 2014Brown , 2018Utriainen 2017;Timbers and Hollenberger 2022). Overall, these strategies have mirrored a particular type of 'appropriation logic' that evangelical Protestants developed and refined already in the 1960s (for more detailed discussions, see Smith 1999;Hendershot 2004;Brown 2013Brown , 2018.…”

Section: The Appropriation Of Mindfulness In Protestant Christian Set...mentioning

confidence: 99%

appropriation of mindfulness in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Moberg,

Ramstedt

2023

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Mindfulness has gained increasing popularity across Western societies over the past couple of decades, although mainly in forms that have been stripped of all religious content. During this period, the practice has also attracted the interest of mainstream Christian churches, which has precipitated the development of distinctively ‘Christian’ forms of mindfulness. Based on a critical discussion of the concept of appropriation in the sphere of religion, this article explores the particular logic whereby mindfulness has been appropriated within the particular ecclesiastical context of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) in light of debates in church-connected media and the content of two Finnish BA theses on pastoral care that argue for the adoption of the practice. In light of this data, the article illustrates how ELCF discourse on mindfulness has been marked by four closely interlinked requirements for the appropriation of the practice: 1. that the practice has already been thoroughly stripped of any overt religious content; 2. that it has become sufficiently scientifically validated; 3. that there is wider social and cultural interest in the practice; 4. and that the practice does not stand in opposition to the teachings of the church.

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Christian Mindfulness and Mental Health: Coping through Sacred Traditions and Embodied Awareness

Cited by 9 publications

References 34 publications

Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness in the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction Symptoms: Does Neuroplasticity Play a Role?

appropriation of mindfulness in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

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