sh
In: Other
Theres a few “mechanisms of action” that the research on mindfulness looks into, to borrow a medical phrase.
1) emotion regulation. We know quite a bit about emotion regulation processes people can do and which tend (on average) to be adaptive or bad for your overall well-being. mindfulness in particular is like training yourself to do acceptance more often. Emotional acceptance is good for you when situations are out of your control or you tend to be anxious (perhaps overrespond emotionally). One of the problems with negative feelings is some people get trapped in a cycle of feeling bad about feeling bad.
2) cognitive reappraisal (also an emotion regulation strategy but not just that). Mindfulness can reorient the way you think about or prioritize the “self.” If stress is primarily about “you” it could help to reduce the relative importance of “you” as a solitary individual. This can happen in different ways. For example, one is through shared humanity (remembering you’re not alone in struggling often comforts people). Another is contextualizing challenges (how important is it really?).
3) Mindfulness promotes the prior kinds of things also by focusing attention on things not just about your future or past worries. Attention regulation itself is a pretty big ingredient in well being. E.g., how do I move from spending all this attention on feeling bad about myself to instead pay attention to things that make life worthwhile? Depressed people and anxious people and many others have biases in what they pay attention to (e.g., more likely to pay attention to signs of rejection or failure). Many mindfulness practices are specifically about redirecting your attention to the present moment or activity. It’s a genuine skill being able to do it. Practice via meditation can help.
There’s more. I’m sure. But these are the ones I know a little about.
Latest Answers