Mindful Empiricism...

A new meta-study released today reports the difficulty in drawing conclusions about the efficacy of meditation practices, inlcluding mindfulness.

With the headline of "Meditation Won't Boost Health: Study," the media immediately gets it wrong. Scientific research cannot say something "can't" be done; good research reports that there is no strong connection between two factors.

The meta-study, conducted by Maria Ospina and Kenneth Bond of the University of Alberta/Capital Health Evidence-based Practice Centre, in Edmonton reviewed a number of studies into meditation and took other researchers to task for essentially designing flawed studies.

Personally, I am convinced of the importance of meditation training. While it certainly is not a magical cure-all, I am certain that once meditation is studied under rigorous scientific conditions, it's impact will be validated.

I applaud the Evidence-based Practice Centre for pushing the boundaries of scientific studies forward!