Towards a new brain fitness culture: The mainstreaming of mindfulness meditation

The main­stream­ing of mind­ful­ness med­i­ta­tion (The Week):

“Sci­en­tif­ic research has shown that mind­ful­ness appears to make peo­ple both hap­pi­er and health­i­er. Reg­u­lar med­i­ta­tion can low­er a per­son­’s blood pres­sure and their lev­els of cor­ti­sol, a stress hor­mone pro­duced by the adren­al gland and close­ly asso­ci­at­ed with anx­i­ety. Med­i­ta­tion can also increase the body’s immune response, improve a per­son­’s emo­tion­al sta­bil­i­ty and sleep qual­i­ty, and even enhance cre­ativ­i­ty. When com­bin­ing mind­ful­ness with tra­di­tion­al forms of cog­ni­tive behav­ioral ther­a­py, patients in one study saw a 10 to 20 per­cent improve­ment in the mild symp­toms of their depres­sion — the same progress pro­duced by antidepressants.”

Relat­ed articles:

• How does mind­ful­ness improve self-con­trol and exec­u­tive functioning?
• Mind­ful­ness and Med­i­ta­tion in Schools: Mind­ful Kids, Peace­ful Schools