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A Pilot Study Using Mindfulness-Guided-Relaxation & Biofeedback To Alleviate Stress In A Group

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Abstract

The following study investigated the efficacy of a mindfulness intervention to reduce staff stress at a university in Melbourne that was undergoing a restructure and relocation. Using mindfulness guided-relaxation that incorporated positive emotions, controlled breathing and biofeedback monitors, 13 university staff recorded their sympathetic and parasympathetic activity over a four week period. They also supplied qualitative reflections of their experience. After one session of guided-relaxation and biofeedback there were significant increases in parasympathetic activity. For those people that continued practicing guided-relaxation by listening to a digital recording of the session, these gains continued to increase.

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... Stephen Theiler (2015), realizó un estudio piloto u lizando meditación Guided-Relajación y Biofeedback para aliviar el estrés en un grupo. El presente estudio trata sobre la eficacia de la meditación e intervención para reducir el estrés del personal en una universidad, el cual consis ó en el uso de la atención consciente que incorporaba emociones posi vas, respiración controlada y monitores de biofeedback. ...
... During PMR, a participant is asked to increase muscle tension and then relax this tension for separate muscles of body parts and in the face. Sakakibara et al. (1994) showed that a single session of PMR can have a measurable effect on the parasympathetic modulation of the heart rate variability (HRV) and later studies replicated this finding (Nolan et al., 2010;Sakakibara et al., 1994;Theiler, 2015;Wilk & Turkoski, 2001). ...
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MS related fatigue might be related to autonomous nervous system (ANS) dysfunctions or to inflammation related vagal (hyper-) activation. Consequently, influencing ANS status may lead to relieve of fatigue. We used two opposite biofeedback interventions to either increase sympathetic (“self-alert training”, SAT) or parasympathetic activation (“progressive muscle relaxation”, PMR). We recorded fatigue status of patients before and after a challenging vigilance task, their behavioural performance on this task, their skin conductance response (SCR), and parameters indicating parasympathetic activity concerning heart rate variability (HRV). We repeated these recordings after the biofeedback training sessions. Patients of the SAT group were able to learn to increase their SCR voluntarily. Patients of the PMR group showed increasing parameters indicating parasympathetic modulation of the HRV. The vigilance task increased their feeling of fatigue. However, there was no effect of biofeedback training on either fatigue status or performance on the vigilance task. Our results show that MS patients can learn to change voluntarily their ANS activity using biofeedback instructions based on SCR and this can be used in future studies to test the postulated link between ANS and fatigue. However, in this experimental intervention we were unable to document a relation between ANS activity and fatigue. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03268187.
... McGrady (1994) found that in individuals with hypertension, temperature biofeedback administered over eight group sessions positively impacted blood pressure, muscle tension, finger temperature, depression, and anxiety. Two other studies demonstrated that in non-clinical populations, as little as one group biofeedback intervention reduced sympathetic activity (Theiler 2015), increased skin temperature, increased perceived relaxation, and lowered perceived intensity of tension (Brennan et al. 2012). Positive outcomes from these initial studies suggest that biofeedback may continue to have efficacy when administered 1 3 in a group setting; however, the dearth of research in this area suggests that this treatment modality may not be commonly utilized. ...
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Biofeedback has been shown to have some level of efficacy for the treatment of a number of chronic medical conditions; however, individualized biofeedback treatment is not always feasible. While group- based interventions are growing in practice due to numerous advantages, the dearth of research examining the efficacy of Group Biofeedback (GBF) suggests that this treatment modality may not be commonly utilized. Thus, the current paper highlights some advantages and constructively addresses potential challenges of utilizing GBF. Obstacles specific to GBF include equipment for participants, need for support staffing, and billing. However, the potential benefits are numerous, and pertain to cost-effectiveness, improved patient access, and additive benefits specific to group-based treatment. We offer a six-session GBF protocol to be used to guide future clinical work in this area. We hope that through the ideas and protocol presented in this paper, biofeedback practitioners will be more inclined to implement GBF.
... As an example, Theiler (2015) gave report of a first pilot study where mindfulness-based relaxation practices was coupled with biofeedback recordings based on heart-rate variability and used to reduce staff stress during restructure and relocation of a university in Melbourne. The analyses of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity and subjective reports on participants' experience over a 4-week intervention period highlighted positive feelings toward practice and a significant increase in parasympathetic activity since the first session and at the end of the intervention. ...
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Mindfulness meditation is at present deemed also as form of mental training that may allow for empowering focusing, attention regulation, and executive control skills. Nonetheless, the potential of traditional mindfulness practice for improving cognitive and neural efficiency is affected by two critical requirements—intensity of exercise and perseverance to practice—which represent a known limitation of accessibility to meditation practices. It has been suggested that the impact of such limitations might be reduced thanks to the support of external devices. The present study aims at testing the efficacy of an intensive technology-mediated intervention based on mindful practices and supported by a brain-sensing device to optimize cognitive performance and neural efficiency. Forty participants took part in the study and were randomly divided in an active control and an experimental group. Both groups were involved in a structured intervention, which lasted 4 weeks and was constituted by brief daily activities. The experimental group, differently from the active control, underwent mindfulness-based practices with the support of a dedicated device. Analyses highlighted increased electrophysiological responsiveness indices at rest and frequency profiles consistent with a relaxed mindset in the experimental group. Participants in the experimental group also showed improved electrophysiological markers of attention regulation and improved cognitive performance, as measured by a complex reaction times task. Findings hint at the potential of the investigated technology-mediated mindfulness practice for enhancing cognitive performance and for inducing consistent modulations of neural efficiency markers.