Meditation has been characterized in many ways in the scientific literature and there is no consensus definition of meditation. This diversity in definitions reflects the complex nature of the practice of meditation and the coexistence of a variety of perspectives that have been adopted to describe and explain the characteristics of the practice. Therefore, we recognize that any single definition limits the practice artificially and fails to account for important nuances that distinguish one type of meditation from another.
Cardoso ET AL. Developed a detailed operational definition of meditation broad enough to include traditional belief-based practices and those that have been developed specifically for use in clinical settings. Using a systematic approach based on consensus techniques, they defined any practice as meditation if it (1) utilizes a specific and clearly defined technique, (2) involves muscle relaxation somewhere during the process, (3) involves logic relaxation (i.e., not “to intend” to analyze the possible psycho physical effects, not “to intend” to judge the possible results, not “to intend” to create any type of expectation regarding the process), (4) a self-induced state, and (5) the use of a self-focus skill or “anchor” for attention. From a cognitive and psychological perspective, Walsh ET AL. Defined meditation as a family of self-regulation practices that aim to bring mental processes under voluntary control through focusing attention and awareness.
Other behavioral descriptions emphasize certain components such as relaxation, concentration, an altered state of awareness, suspension of logical thought processes, and maintenance of self-observing attitude. From a more general perspective, Manichean described meditation as a discrete and well-defined experience of a state of “thoughtless awareness” or mental silence, in which the activity of the mind is minimized without reducing the level of alertness. Meditation also has been defined as a self-experience and self-realization exercise.
Despite the lack of consensus in the scientific literature on a definition of meditation, most investigators would agree that meditation implies a form of mental training that requires either stilling or emptying the mind, and that has as its goal a state of “detached observation” in which practitioners are aware of their environment, but do not become involved in thinking about it. All types of meditation practices seem to be based on the concept of self-observation of immediate psychic activity, training one’s level of awareness, and cultivating an attitude of acceptance of process rather than content.
Meditation is an umbrella term that encompasses a family of practices that share some distinctive features, but that vary in important ways in their purpose and practice. This lack of specificity of the concept of meditation precludes developing an exhaustive taxonomy of meditation practices. However, in order to systematically address the question of the state of research of meditation practices in healthcare, we must attempt to identify the components that are common to the many practices that are claimed to be meditation or that incorporate a meditative component, and also clearly distinguish meditation practices from other therapeutic and self-regulation strategies such as self-hypnosis or visualization and from other relaxation techniques that do not contain a meditative component.
Meditation practices may be classified according to certain phenomenological characteristics: the primary goal of practice (therapeutic or spiritual), the direction of the attention (mindfulness, concentration, and practices that shift between the field or background perception and experience and an object within the field3,14), the kind of anchor employed (a word, breath, sound, object or sensation715,16), and according to the posture used (motionless sitting or moving).7 Like other complex and multifaceted therapeutic interventions, meditation practices involve a mixture of specific and vaguely defined characteristics, and they can be practiced on their own or in conjunction with other therapies. As pointed out by many authors, any attempt to create taxonomy of meditation only approximates the multidimensional experience of the practices.17
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