The Social Aspect of Mindfulness

Much mindfulness research has focused on the effects of mindfulness on the self - how mindfulness relates to our emotions, our body, our brains, and our wellbeing. In addition to how mindfulness impacts our individual selves, mindfulness can also impact our relationships and how we interact with others.

A series of studies published in the Journal of Personality ad Social Psychology propose the concept of social mindfulness, which they describe as both the skill and motivation to make other-regarding choices. Their first series of studies found that people with more other-oriented mindsets acted more prosocially, measured by their likelihood of leaving others with more choices, and thus with more personal control over their situation. Further studies discovered that people who were more socially mindful were viewed more favorably by others, and that people displayed more social mindfulness to strangers with more trustworthy faces. The trait of social mindfulness was also related to other personality traits, including Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness, Empathy, and prosocial value orientation.

Keryn Breiterman-Loader

Mindfulness Associated with Decreased Levels of Stress Hormone

Many of us experience chronic stress, whereby even at the end of the day when we are resting and ready for bed, we are still ramped up from the day. Scientists measure this resting level of stress by looking at the level of a stress hormone called cortisol, measured in the evening before bed when we are presumably not in the middle of a major stressful event. Cortisol is generally released as a part of our natural fight/flight/freeze response intended to help our bodies deal with threatening situations. Because in the modern day we tend to encounter (or think about) mildly stressful events all day, we tend to have constant, low levels of cortisol in our bodies all the time. This can hinder our body’s natural rest and recovery.

A new study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that increases in mindfulness are associated with decreases in resting cortisol levels. The study looked at people who went to a 3-month long meditation retreat. Researchers found that both before and after the retreat, the higher an individual’s mindfulness score, the lower their cortisol level.  Further, those who experienced an increase in mindfulness after the retreat also experienced a decrease in their resting levels of cortisol.

Keryn Breiterman-Loader

The Science of Mind Wandering

It is the mind's nature to wander.  Anyone who has practiced mindfulness meditation has no doubt quickly realized this truth. According to some studies, as much as 50% of our waking hours are spent in some form of mind-wandering. And though the practice of mindfulness encourages a returning of the wandering mind to the original object of attention, research is beginning to explore the nature of mind wandering and the costs and benefits it has in store for us.

In an overview on research into mind-wandering was published in the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, Jonathan Schooler and Benjamin Mooneyham, of the University of California at Santa Barbara, discuss the costs involved with mind-wandering and how it affects performance on different cognitive tasks. They also assess the potential benefits of mind-wandering.