Mindfulness as a Long-Game Strategy
Just a few weeks ago, Becoming Jackson Whole’s chief science advisor, Dr. Amishi Jha, and several colleagues released a breakthrough meta-analysis of mindfulness research, analyzing the long-term impact of mindfulness practice on mind-wandering, or experiencing frequent, off-task thoughts.
“Does practicing mindfulness actually change how much our minds wander?” they asked. “And, do the benefits stick?”
The answer, friends, is, “Yes.”
By comparing and carefully combining the findings of five real-world research projects, Dr. Jha (a neuroscientist at the University of Miami) and others report strong results indicating that people who learn and practice attention-based mindfulness training see two long-term benefits.
They report less mind-wandering and more accuracy in focused tasks as a direct result of mindfulness training, when compared to participants without mindfulness training.
And, people who learn mindfulness maintain this reduced mind-wandering and more accurate task response months after their initial training.
Mind-wandering is a marker for depressive thinking, rumination, worsened mood, and stress—all predictors of the onset of psychological distress, according to broader research. If mindfulness training can protect against increases in mind wandering, Dr. Jha and others conclude, it may also protect against psychological health challenges.
Wow, and wow.
But here at Becoming Jackson Whole we’re most proud of the fact that our very own, first-of-kind community research, conducted by Dr. Jha just after the pandemic, was one of the real-world studies that contributed to this finding! (If you’re a numbers nerd, we are “Study 4” in the analysis.)
Our study—involving businesspeople, first responders, and organization leaders (you know who you are—thank you!)—drew praise in this combined analysis for testing mindfulness practice outside the lab, incorporating the everyday challenges of real people, trying to show up as their best selves in their real jobs.
And this is only the beginning. These findings support bigger, broader studies of mindfulness as a community resource.
THIS is why Becoming Jackson Whole is here: Together, we’re building mindful awareness and abilities, and together, we’re contributing to the neuroscience that is moving mindfulness “off the cushion” and into our everyday work and well-being.
THANK YOU. Really. We’re doing it.
More from Dr. Amishi jha at Healthy Minds Innovations
Try a variety of new (FREE!) micro-lessons and guided meditations on awareness, designed by Dr. Jha for Healthy Minds, a research collaboration and app at the University of Wisconsin.