RESEARCH AND ACADEMIA

• Introduction
• Research conducted and in progress
• Empirical measurements
• Oxigeme Process Protocol
• Methodologies
• Training process
• Guidance Bibliography

 

Introduction

The process of research and academia in the Oxigeme Process has been going on for several decades with results that depend on the difficulty to empirically translate the findings, a fact that concerns the nature of the psychological fact. Therefore, research with important results continues and will continue its course.

Psychology has been confronted since its beginnings with a certain tendency to reduce the psychological fact to a biological “model” fact, which endangers its own essence, although in reality the mind-body correspondence is fundamental without detriment to one of these binomials. The different monistic, dualistic and multiple models have made this clear. Today, already at the level of international research concern, we join the opening to Consciousness as a still unknown capacity on how the human being faces his highest evolutionary capacities. Hence the need to live empirically the research fact in first and third person, as an element that can provide us with “scientific evidence” in which sometimes the economic budget is more important than the truth. Obtaining funds for research in psychology is not easy.

Today this research on Consciousness has its highest aim insilence as a fundamental core in meditation-mindfulness and spirituality as a healing process. That is why for more than thirty years we have been proposing methods of meditative essence, static and dynamic, to reach the longed-for peace of mind, especially in times of anxiety and pandemics.

At present our research trend is taking shape at national and international levels in line with the proposals that in the sixties of the last century were proposed in California. Among them, mindfulness meditation as a key in psychology (MacDonald and Almendro, 2021).

Today the literature on mindfulness is very extensive (Santed and Segovia, 2018).

And in this introduction we must highlight the recent work of Professors Gallifa and Sangrà, (2021) after a book-call to the decisive transformations that the university requires spurred by the pandemic of COVID-19. Transformations at organizational levels, resource needs, following a model that integrates the new perspectives. This work is therefore an essential synthesis based on numerous opinions collected on the five continents.

We propose a FIRST CYCLE of psychological work on biographical processes (psycho-bio-socio-corporal) at individual and group therapy levels.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

In the conferences held at the UCM we exposed that:

 

Towards a 21st century psychology?

The unification/integration of schools of psychology – taking into account the multitude of methods in psychotherapy – is a purpose maintained by researchers in professional and academic contexts interested in an advanced Psychology. The synthesis-meeting between science and ancient/timeless wisdom is in the vertigo of innovation to try to give an answer to our convulsive world at individual and social levels.

Psychology as a science can be key in empirical measurements that involve the researcher in both first and third person. Meditation-mindfulness develops (beyond fashion) this methodology.

Good Science. An order explainable through Chaos Theories: enactive processes-dissipative processes.

We only mention the first vortex: Sensitivity-Instability-Bifurcation.

The <<Sensitivity >> is the quality of living systems (Lorentz, 1995;Prigogine and Stengers 1994),

Chaos: Differences that engender differences. No prediction of probabilities.

Sensitivity enables the emergent that breaks the linear and opens the door to differentiation and evolution. Even metaphorically we express the idea of a psychological DNA that would crystallize the processes of inheritance (Almendro, 2012, Almendro, 2002, Almendro and Weber 2013, Almendro, López-Suárez-Horrillo, 2020).

The symptom: Emergent Crisis is the way in which the symptom -which breaks the order of the patient’s ‘normality’- is understood from the positivization of the pathological since the symptom is not an enemy of mental health (Mahoney and Moes, 1997; Pinillos,2003 Almendro, 2002; Almendro and Weber, 2013). The emerging crisis, when respected, brings with it an evolutionary transformation in the patient in the sense of reaching a re-organizing process as a healing key.

SECOND CYCLE

Meditative Processes – Clinical Application of Silence.

Oxigeme-Zen Focal Line.

Non-linear-complex and open systems.

Meditative Practice (MP), Clinical Practice (CP) and Scientific Research (SR). From here a new way of categorizing states of consciousness during meditative practice is developed. Relevance of the Default Mode Network (DMN), stressfully caught between anticipatory thinking about the future and refractory thinking about the past. The wandering mind (Almendro, 2009b)

We have established a questionnaire, the VEEC (Valuation of Expanded States of Consciousness) designed by Manuel Almendro and developed from work done with patients and students over several decades on how states of consciousness manifest themselves and how to identify and measure them. This questionnaire is currently in the process of validation. Preliminary results, from the sample collected to date, show adequate reliability (a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.97 was obtained).

 

Investigations: Pervasive awareness and Gamma effects. EEG

Ventral Breathing (V.R. Why): Through nearly four decades of meditative practice in our work we have found that focal meditation on hara, ventral breathing, helps to be able to stop the mental flow by focusing that mind on a physical point in the belly as the Japanese ZEN line tradition points out.

Our research, using VR the aforementioned -ventral breathing- has studied the neuroelectrical correlates in the three processes that we have established in the mindfulness meditation process: Mind One (MU), Mind in Silence (MS) and Penetrating Consciousness (PC). Using electroencephalogram techniques -EEG in the three mentioned states. In the experiment, carried out in the laboratory, the subjective data provided by the subjects about their state (MU, MS, PC) and their EEG activity are analyzed jointly.

We thus provide a new categorization of states of consciousness during meditative practice: Mind One (MU), Mind in Silence (MS) and Pervasive Consciousness (PC). In Mind One  (MU) there are some cognitive-affective processes – thoughts, emotions, resistances – typical of the beginning of the process. In the next state, Silent Mind (SM) thoughts almost disappear. And in Pervasive Consciousness (PC) the great silence occurs.

The results show that in PC there is more activity of faster waves in parietal-occipital areas (especially in the gamma frequency), and less in slower waves (theta) in some posterior areas, and in frontal beta1. The higher posterior gamma activity indicates that deeper states are accompanied by better and more integrated sensory perception. In summary, in CP there is a greater perceptual capacity, without judgment and with more presence. Thus, a new hierarchy appears.We understand that this preliminary evidence constitutes a solid basis for further consolidating the study of these three proposed states.

Let us point out that the research collects the EEG activity of 12 subjects with different levels of experience in meditative practice during a period of 5 minutes (baseline) and during a meditation session of 20 minutes (Hara-Ventral Respiration, H-RV).  Therefore the research jointly analyzes EEG activity data from the three states (MU,MS,CP) and three bell sounds are used to analyze the microstates prior to the bells. Data were collected with a 64-channel system (BrainAmp, Brainproducts, Munich, Germany) according to the international 10-20 system, with a frequency of 500 Hz, applying low-pass and high-pass filters of 0.5Hz and 50 Hz respectively, and a notch filter of 60 Hz. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was applied to each of the segments.

The electrodes were grouped into the following brain areas: Anterior-Frontal (AF), Frontal-Central (FC), Central-Parietal (CP) and Parieto-Occipital (PO); each divided into Left (I) Right (D) and Medial (M) giving rise to 12 brain regions. At the end of the 20-minute period, the subject leaves the experimental room and is asked in which states (MU, MS,CP) he/she was just before the three bell sounds occurred. Empirical evidence has been provided about the neurological characterization of the aforementioned states (MU, MS, CP). It should be emphasized that in our research we highlight the value of integrating SNLs (Nonlinear Systems) with the first/third person perspective, as advocated by the neurophenomenological approach (Varela and cls.1992, Almendro, 2002, Almendro 2012; López-Suárez, 2016; Almendro and López-Suárez, 2016; Almendro and López-Suárez, 2017; Almendro, López-Suárez, Horrillo, 2020).

In 2018, we conducted another empirical study with the aim of analyzing the effects of training for 8 weeks in Ventral Breathing -Hara Puro- in general population, on the variable ability to remain attentive and aware in the experience of the present moment. The design of the training program was based on the psychotherapeutic context of the Oxygeme Process (Almendro, 2012; Almendro& López-Suárez, 2016). For this purpose, volunteers (N=80) were randomly divided into two groups; the experimental group (N=47), with 40 women and 7 men (age; M= 26.30 and SD= 10.94) and the wait-list control group (N=33), with 28 women and 5 men (age; M=23.52 and SD= 6.49). (Horrillo, 2019; Horrillo, Marín, Abuín,2019).

To measure the effects on this variable, the Mindfulness Attention and Awareness in the Present Moment Scale was applied before and after the 8 weeks of training. (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, MAAS), in its Spanish adapted version (Soler et al., 2012), extracted from the original version by Brown and Ryan (2003). The scale assesses in a global way, the dispositional capacity of the individual to be attentive and aware of the experience of the present moment in daily life, with a view of the mindfulness construct focused on the attention/awareness variable. Its internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) is 0.89 (0.88 for this sample).

The results of the mixed ANOVA indicated a statistically significant “interaction” effect between the 8 weeks of training and the group, F (2, 156) = 14.30, p .001, 2 partial = .155, which indicated that the group that practiced Ventral Breathing, significantly increased their ability to remain mindful and aware in the present moment, versus the wait-list control group.

 

New research programmed. Sabadell Hospital, 2022.

Manuel Almendro and rheumatologist Noemí Navarro, Oxigeme scholar.

Application of the Oxigeme process, static and dynamic meditation-mindfulness in patients with fibromyalgia.

 

Notes on these processes.

The teaching/transmission of silence today under the prism of therapeutic interest has become a premise of our time and Psychology responds with its research. Millions of people and the East-West encounter follow this path. (Prieto, 2007, 2009; Wenger and Prieto, 2007).

But it is essential to know in the international panorama which is the language that dominates the scene. There are those who argue the relationship between “spirituality and religion” as a new way of promoting health, for example division 36 of the APA -The American Psychological Association- and in Spain the SECPA -Sociedad Española de CuidadosPaliativos-, or spirituality as the “fifth factor” of personality (MacDonald, 2000). Some propose complex models such as the bio-psycho-psycho-socio-spiritual; or multi-perspectives, whether multi-dimensional, multi-theoretical, multi-methodological. From Cognitive Psychology there are propositions such as the “spiritual self schema therapy” (Avants and Margolin, 2004). That is to say, the ontology and epistemology of this maremagnun are at stake. And in this case, our colleague Douglas MacDonald proposes to measure the spirituality factor in healing keys (MacDonald). There is a very extensive collaboration on this subject (MacDonald and Almendro, 2021).

 

TRAINING FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS, MEDICAL DOCTORS AND STUDENTS OF BOTH CAREERS.

Synthesis of various schools of psychology currently present in academia and in the Oxigeme Process.

Behaviorism, cognitive-behavioral, psychoanalytic theories, the five Freudian cases, Malan’s brief psychoanalytic therapy, Palo Alto Brief Therapy, crisis and disaster intervention, family therapy (Haly), humanism. Our line is marked towards a psychology for possible integration that includes the new tendencies towards mental silence as a healing process for which there is already scientific evidence. We are in contact with schools that are proposing spirituality as a fifth personality factor (MacDonald, 2000; Macdonald & Almendro2021).

Following this line Oxigeme is in relation with important schools of universities such as Detroit, University of Southern California, Ramon LLul University, Comillas University, UCM, constituting doctoral thesis tribunals, among others, and that can be seen in publications carried out by us.

 

Methodologies

1º Didactic therapy process. Focused on the problem and then on the person.

Verbal processes: It consists of twelve to fourteen sessions that involve a protocol with a verbal part: to know (fractals) patterns and vital events present in the person and in the family/genealogy. The concepts we use are fractals, dissipative routes, shells and traumatic processes.

Experiential processes: introduction to meditation/mindfulness in a passive and dynamic way. Processes centered on focal mindfulness, ventral breathing and self-observation of mental processes without judgment. This procedure has been demonstrated in national and international publications, as well as in doctoral theses and books. In other words, full self-perception without judgment, the cessation of the reactive mind, constitutes the matrix of meditation that makes new findings possible. We have recognized this peace of mind since 1975 when we initiated the meditative process in Zen meditation schools.

The protocol is for the exclusive use of Oxigeme-trained professionals so that they do not fall into the hands of pseudo-therapeutic opportunism.

 

Training

It consists of 24 seminars, each lasting fifteen hours, in which the aforementioned schools are studied in depth.

Practical exercises of the mentioned schools are carried out and practices with clinical analogues are produced.

Clinical cases are presented by psychologists and physicians already trained in previous promotions.

Measurement systems are studied.

Exclusively practical seminars in meditation-mindfulness are held and the results are evaluated.

In the SECOP, on the occasion of Manuel Almendro’s application for the EUROPSY title, there is an extensive copy of the training process with each seminar.

Oxigeme Process Advisory Lines.

1. The publications in the bibliography are highlighted, as well as the contacts with various national and international institutions in progress with a view to creating parallel processes.

2.         Contacts with methodologists to advise us on present and future procedures, since Oxigeme publications via media are being shared by more than one hundred thousand people.

3.         Contacts with psychology professors to advise us in the academic line, since we are being requested by universities to be part of doctoral thesis tribunals.

4.         Contact with legal advisors who can represent us in cases of plagiarism and fraud of Oxigeme’s trademarks (registered in the ministry).

5.         We will continue to apply questionnaires for the validation of the VEEC together with a battery of internationally validated questionnaires, and at the same time we are following up patients who have gone through Oxigeme.

 

 

Bibliography

Almendro, M. (2002). Psicología del caos. Vitoria: La Llave

Almendro, M.(Ed.) (2009a).Krisis. Vitoria: La Llave

Almendro, M. (2009b). Crisis Emergente. En M. Almendro (Ed.), Krisispp 27-72 Barcelona: La Llave

Almendro, M. (Ed.) (2012). Qué es la curación. Barcelona: Kairós

Almendro, M. (2018). No pienso luego existo. Un reto para la nueva buena ciencia.Éndoxa, (42), 309-342

Almendro, M. and López-Suárez, E. (2016). Beyond frontiers: Meditative practice, clinical practice and scientific research. Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 6(5), 2161-0487. doi: 10.4172/2161-0487.1000281. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/beyond-frontiers-meditative-practice-clinical-practice-and-scientific-research-2161-0487-1000281.php?aid=80273

Almendro, M. y López-Suárez, E. (2017). Más allá de las fronteras. Práctica meditativa, Práctica clínica e Investigación. Infocop. Recuperado de

http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp?id=6643 HYPERLINK “http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp?id=6643&cat=47″& HYPERLINK “http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp?id=6643&cat=47″cat=47  13-10-2019

Almendro, M. (2013). Chaos psychology and psychotherapy. Houston, Texas: The writen spiral. Lantia publishing

Almendro, M. y Weber, D. (2012). Dissipative processes in psychology: From the psyche to totality. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 31(2), 1-22

Almendro, M.; López-Suárez, E.; Horrillo, B. (2020) Aplicación Clínica del Silencio. En Prieto JM y Santed MA. Meditación, psicología, espiritualidad. EOS: Madrid

Avants, K., & Margolin, A. (2004, September). Development of Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) Therapy for the TreatmenofAdddictive and HIV Risk Behaviour: A Convergence of Cognitive and Buddhistic Psychology. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 14(3), pp. 253-289.

Brown, K. W. y Ryan, R. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well- being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822-848. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822

Cardeña, E., Lynn, S. y Krippner, S. (2014). Varieties of anomalous experiences: Examining the scientific evidences.Washingthon, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chalmers David. J. (1999). La MenteConsciente. Barcelona: Gedisa

Dhiravamsa, V.R. (1999). Cómo terminar con el sufrimiento. En M. Almendro (Ed.), La consciencia transpersonal (faltan las páginas pp.421-438). Barcelona: Kairós

Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and Punish: the birth of a prison. London, Penguin. London: Penguins

Gallifa, J.: Sangrà, A. (2021) Transformar la Universidad. Desafíos, oportunidades y propuestas desde una mirada global. Barcelona: FUOC

Horrillo, B., Marín, C. y Abuín, M. R. (2019). La Adherencia al Entrenamiento en Meditación Mindfulness con Registro en Papel y en Aplicación Móvil. Clínica y Salud, 30, 99 – 108. https://doi.org/10.5093/clysa2019a15

Horrillo, B. (2019). Efectos de un programa de entrenamiento en meditación mindfulness sobre la atención y conciencia, el afecto y el estrés. Evaluación de la adherencia al entrenamiento. Tesis doctoral. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España.

Jäguer, W.(2009) Crisis espirituales. EnAlmendro, M.(Ed.) (2009a).Krisis. Vitoria: La Llave

James, W.(1994) Las variedades de la experiencia religiosa. Barcelona: Península

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). La práctica de la atención plena. Barcelona: Kairós

López-Suárez, E. (2016). Estados de consciencia durante la práctica meditativa: un estudio neurofenomenológico (Tesis doctoral). Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid. https://repositorio.comillas.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11531/11710/TD00213.pdf?sequence=1 Elena López

Lorenz E. (1995). La esencia del caos. Barcelona: Debate

MacDonald, D. (2000). Spirituality: Description, measurement, and relation to the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Personality, 68(1), 153-197

Mayor-Zaragoza, F.(2009)Crisis: el hombre desde la cornisa. EnAlmendro, M.(Ed.) (2009a).Krisis. Vitoria: La Llave

Pániker, A. (2018) Las tres joyas. Barcelona: Kairós

Pinillos, J.L. (1999). El Corazón del Laberinto. Madrid: Espasa Calpe

Pinillos, J.L. (2003). Nuevas fronteras de las ciencias sociales. En Anticipaciones Académicas del Siglo XXI. Salustiano del campo (Ed) Madrid: Instituto de España

Popper, K (1994, 1956) El universo abierto. Madrid: Tecnos

Prieto, J.M. ( 2007). Haiku a la hora en punto. Madrid: Ediciones Vitrubio

Prieto, J.M. ( 2009). Tanka a trancas y barrancas. Madrid: Ediciones Vitrubio

Prigogine I., y Stengers, I. (1994). La Nueva Alianza. Madrid: Alianza

Progrof, I. (1963) Thesymbolic&the real. New York: McGraw-Hill

Robles Sánchez, JI; Medina Amor, JL (2015) Intervención Psicológica en Catástrofes. Madrid: Síntesis

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San Juan de la Cruz  (1999). Obras Completas. Madrid: Alianza

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Santed, M.A. y Segovia, S. (Coord.). (2018). Mindfulness: Fundamentos y aplicaciones. Madrid: Paraninfo

Schlütter, A.M. (2012). Zen y curación. En M. Almendro. (Ed.), Qué es la curación (pp. 21-50).Barcelona: Kairós

Soler, J., Tejedor, R., Feliu-Sol A., Pascual, J. C., Cebolla, A., Soriano, J., … Pérez, V. (2012). Propiedades psicométricas de la versiónespañola de la escala MindfulAttentionAwarenessScale (MAAS). Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría, 40(1), 18-25

Varela, F., Thomson, E. y Rosch, E. (1992). De Cuerpo Presente. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Walach, H. (2018). Science Beyond a Materialist Worldview – Towards a Post-materialist Science. UK: Scientific and Medical Network

Walsh, R.N. (1999). Dos psicologías asiáticas y sus implicaciones para los psicoterapeutas occidentales. En M. Almendro. (Ed., 3ª Edición), La consciencia transpersonal (pp. 399-

Wenger M.D. y Prieto J.M. (2007). Penetrante compasión: cincuenta koans contemporáneos.

 

Out of the process Oxígeme, we understand that research is a basic pillar in the therapeutical process, a constant interaction, and feedback with clinical work and the training activities. Because of this, activities in the academic and scientific world have been and always will be a keystone in Oxígeme.

The Oxígeme research committee was created out of a clear scientific vision. The theoretical and methodological basis, on which our investigations rely, have been gathered in different publications of Manuel Almendro in which books in both the Spanish and English language as well as articles in indexed journals are included. Oxígeme is a Journal of Transpersonal Research collaborating institution, with two members in their editorial board. Furthermore, Manuel Almendro is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies. For that matter, the scientific production, already present related to Oxígeme, guarantees the knowledge and accumulated experience of over more than thirty years of clinical practice of the Process.

In this line of promoting academic research and collaboration with various academic institutions, the Oxigeme Research Commission is integrated by professionals who are pursuing different Postgraduate (MAs) and Doctoral studies, integrated or in collaboration with different institution, such as the Comillas University at Madrid, the UNED, and the University of Detroit Mercy. Therefore, our research work is mainly carried out with an academic scope.

Currently, the Oxígeme Research Committee is completing a range of actions to validate a variety of therapeutic interventions.

Among these interventions are included, Induced Vibration, meditation/mindfulness (Hara), therapeutical group sessions and the Crisol seminar. The investigations are carried out following experimental ad hoc designs, in accordance with the characteristics of each of the interventions and following the efficiency of the methodological evaluations of the psychological treatments. Therefore, the basic procedure to validate the Oxígeme Process is supported by the methods of experimental designs, adapted to satisfy the requirements of therapeutical interventions.

For the most part, these methodologies include the application of the measuring instruments to the experimental group together with a comparable control group. The designs include a pre and post treatment application along longitudinal studies at different times. The measurings of the dependent variables are based on the application of different measuring instruments of the changes of the relevant variables. Between these instruments properly validated psychometrical proofs are included. In other words, new neuro-phenomenological views are established, integrating measuring procedures of the neurophysiological activity like the use of EEG techniques. The selection of the variables and/or procedures is according to the characteristics of the interventionunder research.

The validation process of Oxígeme includes not only the evaluation of the changes in the variables of the state that can appear in determined experiences but also – with growing importance-  the effects of those experiences/states of consciousness on the characteristical variables. In other words, we are not only interested in the investigation of what happens during the therapeutical sessions, but above all in the evaluation of the long-term changes that therapy produces in thepsychological function of the individual in their daily lives.

Together with these tasks an adaptation of psychometrical instruments which measure interesting research constructs but haven´t been validated for the Spanish population is being carried out.The adaptation of the ESI-R is an example of this. Some of the current projects

• Validation of the VEEC questionnaire (Validation of experiences of expanded states of consciousness), designed by Manuel Almendro. The questionnaire has already been registered in the registry of intellectual property.
• Spanish adaptation of the SELF-questionnaire (Self-Expansiveness Level Form) in coordination with the original English version (Doctor Harris Friedman).

Finally, among our future research lines, we found the promising advances in the fields of neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology and psychoneuroendocrinology of special interest. The development of investigations which study the effects of the therapeutical interventions following these techniques is still taking its first steps with in the scientific community.