Research gathered from the University of Rochester, Yonsei University College, and University of Innsbruck.
Get SmartResearchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria wanted to study how different meditation styles would affect automatic behaviors. They randomly assigned 73 adults to one of four groups for internally focused meditation, externally focused meditation, open monitoring meditation, or a waitlist control group. All meditation group participants were asked to attend two sessions per week of roughly 30 minutes each for four weeks. The internal meditation group focused on sensations related to breathing. The external meditation group paid attention to a candle flame. The open monitoring group observed sensations that arose while meditating. Before and after the four-week interval, all participants completed two cognitive tasks testing their ability to pay attention and to select an appropriate response. In general, those in the meditation groups were more accurate in their responses and better able to inhibit their automatic behaviors than those in the control group. This was particularly true for the open monitoring group, suggesting open monitoring may help reduce the tendency to over-rely on habitual behaviors.
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