Mindfulness and Mental Health in different cultures

Through the readings in this class we have learned a lot about the use of mindfulness in

health and wellness, nutrition and general happiness. But for this project we have chosen

to work on mindfulness and mental health. We have read articles on how

mindfulness helps depression, anxiety and PTSD. We decided to look

at mindfulness and mental health in countries around the world.

One interesting place we discovered was an organization in London called Floatworks. Floatworks has created a technique that uses floating in sensory deprivation tanks to “achieve calm, relieve stress and heal, both mentally and physically.” The founders of Floatworks have found that using this ancient Eastern tradition is an excellent

way to remove daily distraction and better create improved mental health. 

We also looked at a scholarly study about African college students, mindfulness and mental health.

In all of the scholarly articles we have read in this class we have learned that more data is needed because mindfulness

is such a new practice in Western cultures.

Scientists created a questionnaire to test mindfulness and mental health.

The results showed that mindfulness could be used to better

understand emotional distress in various interpersonal situations in African college students. 

All major religions practice some sort of meditation or mindfulness. The most obvious is the Eastern religions like

Hinduism and Buddhism where mindfulness is a major component to all aspects of life.

In Judaism, those who practice Kabbalah experience a more philosophical kinds of mindfulness and in

Christianity many of the writings, prayers and hymns serve the same purpose. Finally,

in the Islamic tradition, mindfulness and meditation is combined with

mysticism and can take the form of the sacred arts such as calligraphy and architecture.