PsyBlog, Dr Jeremy Dean: Four central components of how mindfulness meditation works, psychological research finds.
With studies pouring in on the benefits of mindfulness, psychologists’ attention is turning to why mindfulness works, and the results are fascinating.
For example, mindfulness meditation has been shown to have therapeutic benefits in depression, anxiety, substance abuse, chronic pain and eating disorders.
Its benefits extend out to physical features like lower blood pressure and lower cortisol levels.
How is it that this type of practice can have these beneficial effects on such a broad range of conditions?
A recent study by Hölzel et al. (2011) finds four central …