Mindfulness Research Paper

Originally rooted in Buddhist philosophy, the concept of mindfulness is defined as “the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present [nonjudgmentally]” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p.822). In other words, essential to the development of mindfulness is the simultaneous cultivation of self-acceptance and nonjudgement. Based on the premise that the mind and body are intimately interconnected, mindfulness practice is aimed at optimizing this relationship for improved psychological health and wellbeing. The past years have seen a steady increase in the implementation of mindfulness practice to support both clinical and healthy populations alike. In fact, an empirical review by Keng, Smoski and Robins (2011) drew a conclusion …show more content…
While several activities known to cultivate mindfulness include yoga and tai chi, research has largely focused on the impact of mindfulness that is developed through mindfulness meditation (Davis & Hayes, 2011). According to Pettinger (2007), it is the “elusive inner peace” associated with meditation that attracts many to this practice.
One of the positive outcomes of mindfulness meditation is attributed to decreased mental chatter and rumination, the act of dwelling on the past and worrying about the future. This was depicted in a study by Ramel, Goldin, Carmona and McQuaid (2004) on a clinical sample, where patients with a history of depression learned mindfulness meditation techniques. These techniques involved breath and body sensations to develop nonjudgmental, moment-to-moment awareness. Within Ramel et al.’s (2004) study, participants in mindfulness meditation learnt to acknowledge thoughts and feelings without becoming overly occupied or obsessed with them. As a result, statistical analyses found significantly greater reductions in ruminative tendencies for the mindfulness meditation group compared to those of the matched waitlist sample (Ramel et al., 2004). Furthermore, an important pattern emerged during follow-up assessment, that is, the more mindfulness meditation practiced, …show more content…
Using a Stroop task where the color in which words were printed had to be named rather than the word itself, Moore and Malinowski (2009) observed the abilities of experienced mindfulness meditators versus non-meditators to focus and suppress distracting information. As predicted, high levels of mindfulness as a result of mindfulness meditation “correlated with […] good attentional and inhibitory control” (Moore & Malinowski, 2009, p.180). Since mindfulness practice involves directing one’s attention to the present moment, it is only natural that the experienced mindfulness meditators displayed greater sustained attention and in turn, greater Stroop task

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