Psychologists and neuroscientists from Oxford University and University College London plan unprecedented trial of how mindfulness affects mental health, The Guardian newspaper has reported.
Teenagehood can be filled with angst, confusion, and stress, which is why it’s a perfect time to introduce mindfulness. A 7-year study, planned by psychologists and neuroscientists from Oxford University and University College London, will explore how mindfulness affects mental health for 7,000 students aged 11 to 16.
Psychologists and neuroscientists from Oxford University and University College London announced on Wednesday they plan to recruit children aged 11 to 16 from 76 secondary schools as part of a seven-year study. They said it would be the largest trial of its kind ever conducted and it would test some of the increasingly ambitious claims about the power of mindfulness meditation to tackle illnesses such as depression and anxiety.
The practice emerged in the 1970s from ancient Buddhist meditation and essentially involves observing your thoughts as they pass through your mind and actively choosing whether to get caught up in them or not. It has boomed among adults in the UK and US.
The practice emerged in the 1970s from ancient Buddhist meditation and essentially involves observing your thoughts as they pass through your mind and actively choosing whether to get caught up in them or not. It has boomed among adults in the UK and US.
About 2,200 people have trained as mindfulness teachers in the UK, enough to teach 200,000 people a year, and there are over 100,000 subscribers to a smart-phone app which helps people meditate, called TinyRelax (formely Peace Starter Meditation).
The Wellcome Trust is funding the £6.4m study into the effect on teenagers to find out if enthusiasm for mindfulness has outstripped the science.
Continue to read on BayArt's Mindfulness & Meditation Blog
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