Empirical Mindfulness: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Mental Health in the Science and Religion Dialogue

As science and religion researchers begin to engage questions of mental health, mindfulness may prove to be a fruitful area of investigation. However, quantifying the physical effects of mindfulness on the brain is difficult because mindfulness deals with the problem of mental and physical interacti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Main Author: Atkins, William L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2018]
In: Zygon
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Chinese medicine / Mental health / Watchfulness / Medicine / Research / Religion
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AE Psychology of religion
BL Buddhism
ZD Psychology
Further subjects:B Chinese medicine
B Neuroscience
B Science and religion
B Mindfulness
B Traditional Chinese Medicine
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:As science and religion researchers begin to engage questions of mental health, mindfulness may prove to be a fruitful area of investigation. However, quantifying the physical effects of mindfulness on the brain is difficult because mindfulness deals with the problem of mental and physical interaction or, the mind/body problem. One system of understanding which may aid science and religion scholars in the pursuit of mindfulness is traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Within TCM, heart Qi manages the body's present connection to time and space. If the “being in the moment” is disrupted, then the heart Qi is blocked and mental illness or various neurological disorders occur. Succinctly, within TCM, mindfulness is understood as a nonphysical phenomenon (Qi) which directly affects physical systems, resulting in empirical data. This is tracked and treated through the TCM understanding of Qi. The TCM view of Qi in mental health may therefore provide a helpful new paradigm to investigations concerning mindfulness and the human brain.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12416