Mind-Body Practices in Integrative Medicine

Religions

Harald Walach³  Marie-Louise Gander Ferrari¹  Sebastian Sauer² 

[1] Department of General Internal Medicine, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland;;Generation Research Program, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Prof.-Max-Lange-Platz 11, 83646 Bad Tölz, GermanyInstitute of Transcultural Health Studies, European University Viadrina, Postfach 1786, D-15207 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany;

关键词: integrative medicine;    behavioral medicine;    psychosomatics;    mind-body problem;    mind-body techniques;    consciousness;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rel3010050

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic mirror image of psychosomatic medicine, where psychophysiological and health consequences of specific psychological states are studied, such as stress arousal, psychological trauma or depression. This contribution examines the empirical evidence of the most common mind-body techniques with regard to their salutogenetic potential. We concisely discuss some aspects of the mind-body problem, before we consider some historical aspects and achievements of psychosomatic medicine. We then turn to some prominent mind-body practices and their application, as well as the empirical database for them.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.