Experimental Approaches to Loving-Kindness Meditation and Mindfulness That Bridge the Gap Between Clinicians and Researchers

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation (MM) and loving-kindness meditation (LKM) are two broad types of meditation stemming from the Buddhist tradition. MM has numerous salutary effects in both clinical and non-clinical populations. Increasingly, researchers are also investigating kindness-based meditations. MM and LKM emphasize different psychological domains. Mindfulness practice cultivates attention, typically to the breath, with an awareness of phenomena arising in the body, mind, and environment. Loving-kindness meditation cultivates the affective domain as the practitioner directs heartfelt intentions to others. Because psychiatric conditions, such as depressive and anxiety disorders, involve both attention and affect, mindfulness and loving-kindness meditations may provide complimentary therapeutic interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)