Another variable which seems to have a crucial effect on speaking anxiety is mindfulness which was originally practiced in Buddhism (Ludwig and Kabat-Zinn, 2008). Instructing mindfulness has been expanded into several studies such as medicine psychology, neuroscience, and education (Meiklejohn et al., 2012).
The prolific success rates of mindfulness-based therapeutic techniques among the body of evidence only highlights how we can further incorporate mindfulness into not only psychological treatments, but also into our daily lives as preventative measures against unnecessary distress. The cognitive perceptual and interpretive control afforded via mindfulness practices seems to influence the appraisal of the situation at hand affects our reaction and response to it. The advantageous ability to objectively reflect on an issue before responding is not confined only to the realm of treating psychological symptoms.
Murphy, M. (2006). Taming the anxious mind: An 8-week mindfulness meditation group at a university counseling center. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 21, 5-13.
The purpose of the literature review is to summarize the research findings that have been done in mindfulness that pertains to the task
These effects of mind wandering has been shown to be inefficient towards learning and this is due to the fact that while we are engaged in mind wandering our attention is on our internal thoughts and feelings therefore mind wandering impairs the ability to integrate any new information from the external environment (Smallwood et al., 2007). Relating this principle to myself it was clearly evident to me that meditation serves as an antidote for a wandering mind it is beneficial in gaining wisdom about oneself, experiencing positive emotions and improving day to day learning (Moneyham and Schooler, 2013).
The secret lies in being able to gain control over your thoughts. Mindfulness has been shown to lower anxiety and stress as well as the fatigue that it causes. Over time, it has also been shown to improve memory (which is often negatively affected by anxiety) and improve reaction times.
The third chapter of a Pocket Guide to Public Speaking is about anxiety in relations to
Bloomberg also reported a study by John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School showing that meditation also wards of diseases.7
The Study Anxiety Inventory (SAI), consisting of the factors of Anxiety and Public speaking, was developed to measure college students’ self-reported levels of anxiety while studying to speak in front of class mate. Data from 2015 undergraduate students from four colleges (Nursing and Sciences, Business) at a private university, Keiser University were used to evaluate the validity of the scores from the 16-item Study Anxiety Inventory. The preliminary PSCAS yielded an internal consistency of .85 using Cronbach's alpha coefficient when administered to 30 participants and was factor-analyzed to establish the construct and the final version.
For instance, Davidson and colleagues (2003) conducted a study in which subjects perform mindfulness meditation for eight weeks; right after they were vaccinated with the influenza vaccine. Results show significant increases in left-side brain activation (in charge of positive affect). They also found significant increases in antibody titers among those in the meditation group compared to the control group. Moreover, they found that the increments of activation of the left-side of the brain were able to predict the amount of antibodies created in the body of those in the mindfulness meditation group. They conclude that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces noticeable effects on brain and immune function. Their findings suggest that meditation may change the brain and immune function
Recently, studies on mindfulness have increased, and it has been paid attention to in both clinical and empirical spheres.
This study elaborates on how mindfulness meditation can be used to sooth anxiety. “Mindfulness meditation is premised on stabilizing attention, acknowledging discursive sensory events as ‘momentary’ and ‘releasing’ them without affective reaction” (Zeidan, Martucci, Kraft & Coghill, 2014). For this study specific participants were selected to go through a process form results for the existing hypothesis. Zeidan et al. (2014) “We hypothesized that mindfulness meditation would be more effective at reducing anxiety than simply attending to the breath (ATB) because mindfulness meditation wold recruit mechanisms associated with cognitive control and emotion regulation.”
The implications of meditation have long been controversial and abundant research studies have been done in support of meditations potential to change the brain and body. The results within this research paper center on main changes in the brain such as reducing depression, effecting levels of cognitive flexibility, and creativity due to meditation. The research also focuses on variations within the body as well as changes that may be included in both topics of brain and body relating to stress regulation, heart rate variability, and emotional responses. This research paper examines these articles and their studies in order to support the argument that meditation encourages positive changes
read about how mindfulness mediation can improve mood, quality of life, and attention for those adults who struggle with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). What they were trying to discover was ways to alleviate the signs or impairments that can occur with an individual with affective problems or impaired attention. Most adults with ADHD have a hard time with staying alert and attentive to their surroundings. In the study, all participants in the treatment group received an 8 week course where they were taught meditation techniques and those in the control group did not receive any sort of meditation techniques but instead were prescribed an ADHD medication to take. The medication obviously helped those not receiving the meditation
Meditation means to concentrate and connect with ones’ own mind, to explore identity and emotions in order to be aware of conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious thoughts. Meditation originates and has been has been practiced in Asia for thousands of years for different reasons such as increasing concentration abilities, religious purposes and also to train the mind. This essay will focus on how meditation affects brain plasticity (ability to change), emotionally and intellectually, leading to better performance and coping abilities in stressful situations. Things like attention span, memory functions and complexity of emotions will be further explored and may interest the reader since meditation can answer many questions on improving mental health that affects almost everyone. I will make the claim that meditation practice needs to be introduced early into educational institutions such as schools. Because evidence suggests that that meditation increases the volume of the cortex in the brain, leading to a higher and more powerful emotional intellect and cognition that improves things like memory, attention and emotional control. It is logical to assume that in order to alter thickness of cortex, mental thought functions and emotional strength, meditation should be introduced to children early in school for greater performance.
Mindfulness meditation consists of skills and methods to unplug from the busy world around you and from the busy 'monkey brain ' so often experienced in today 's life and particularly in ADHD, anxiety and depression. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness meditation trains and reinforces the ability to pay attention to the present moment, on purpose which helps to increase concentration, decrease anxiety, improve sleep, improve mood, decrease the stress response, and improve physical and emotional health. The studies are compelling about the health benefits of mindfulness meditation. In fact, studies show that mindfulness meditation actually changes the brain in positive ways. The cortex of the brain is thicker in certain areas of the brain in those who practice mindfulness meditation. And brainwave patterns are changed in healthy ways as well.