Does mindfulness make you kinder? Basic studies about what we know (and don’t know yet).

Do concerned people feel better about their bodies? Does mindfulness make you kinder? Researchers dig deeper into these questions and uncover the benefits of mindfulness.

People come to mindfulness practice for many reasons. They may need support in dealing with stress, or want an easy way to help improve their sleep. There are also many questions such as: What does the research say about mindfulness and physical health? Does it really matter how often you meditate? Does mindfulness really make you kinder, or is that mostly just what people say?

While studies are numerous and ongoing, and of course not every question can be answered definitively – we can take a look at some of the research collected from… Greater Good Science Center At the University of California at Berkeley, Center for healthy minds At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mindfulness Center at UMass Medical School and the American Association for Mindfulness Research, to help explore some of these questions more deeply.

Feels good in your skin

Do concerned people feel better about their bodies? Researchers It asked 115 female college students about their level of mindfulness, body responsiveness, body shame, and overall health. Women who reported greater awareness and tended to be non-judgmental and non-reactive—basic mindfulness skills—had less body shame, were more in tune with their bodies, and were healthier overall. Researchers say it is not yet clear whether mindfulness increases body satisfaction or vice versa.

Build your meditation muscles

In a comparison of adults who listened to either guided meditation or podcasts daily for 13 minutes, Researchers found Meditators reaped more benefits. For example, after eight weeks meditators felt less anxiety They reported fewer negative moods. Their performance on a battery of computerized tests showed that they developed better attention and memory skills than podcast listeners.

The brain networks that work to keep us in the present moment and remember information are like mental muscles: they need exercise to keep them sharp and working well, and meditation may provide that exercise. The study also found that people in the meditation group were better at regulating their emotions, which was linked to having fewer negative moods.

But before you think this was a quick fix, think again. When the researchers checked to see if these benefits could be detected after four weeks, they came up empty-handed. Most gains did not appear until after eight weeks of consistent training. As with physical muscle training, it takes time, patience, and repetition for the change to take effect.

Does mindfulness make you kinder to yourself and others?

Self-compassion may make aging easier A Research review showed that adults over 65 who practiced self-compassion tended to be less anxious and depressed, and felt a greater sense of well-being, than those who did not. (Tip: It probably doesn’t hurt to start exercising when you’re young.)

Conscious menopause

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota Surveyed The study was conducted on nearly 1,800 women between the ages of 40 and 65 to see if those with a more mindful disposition might have fewer difficulties with menopause. In fact, those who scored higher on mindfulness were less stressed and had fewer symptoms such as mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia, and fatigue, which are encouraging results for the millions of women going through this midlife phase.

Thoughtful waves

Does mindfulness make you kinder? That’s the question researchers asked when reviewing 31 studies on mindfulness and prosocial behavior. They found that people who enjoy mindfulness and those who have completed some form of mindfulness training tend to be more compassionate and helpful. Non-judgementalism, empathy, a positive outlook on life, and knowing how to regulate emotions also increase behavior that benefits others.

There were a few catches. Adults tended to be more prosocial than teens, and people who rated themselves higher in mindfulness were more helpful to people they knew than to strangers.

But this does not apply to those who have attended formal mindfulness training. They were just as kind to people they didn’t know as to people they were familiar with. One of the big surprises was that people who received mindfulness training and those who received empathy-focused instruction were equally socialized, debunking the myth that the benefits of mindfulness are limited only to the individual. In other words, just being mindful may be enough to increase your kindness quotient.