Brief Mindfulness: Does It Actually Work?
Mindfulness has received a tremendous surge in popularity in the last decade!
Whilst originating from Buddhist traditions circa 5th century BCE, the concepts underlying mindfulness have also been studied, both from and independently of the eastern philosophical approach, over the past few decades.
At BrainFirst we tackle mindfulness from a secular, neuro-scientific perspective both in the meditative and non-meditative form (the latter being useful for those with no interest in formal meditation).
Research has shown that cultivating a mindful disposition is advantageous across many facets of life.
Given that emotional stress has been linked to the six leading causes of death1, and mindfulness has demonstrated time and again that it is effective in stress reduction2, interventions that can reduce life-stressors quickly and easily will, of course, be incredibly beneficial.
One such practice may be brief-mindfulness!
However, before we begin spouting the benefits of “7-minute abs mindfulness”... one of the factors that we need to consider is the role that belief plays when it comes to adopting a new practice.
The placebo-effect is a well-documented phenomenon. Suggestions that we might benefit from a type of intervention can result in pain reduction, problems resolving themselves, decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety and more - regardless of the therapeutic approach being utilized.
In other words, simply the belief that something will be beneficial can result in positive change.
However, to examine the effectiveness of an intervention in comparison to (or beyond) the change that belief may bring, we need to adopt a method of inquiry that helps rule out this effect. This is going to be particularly important when looking at the effects of a brief intervention or practice.
A 2010 study looked at the effectiveness of brief-mindfulness meditation, specifically 3 consecutive days of 20 minutes.3
They investigated the effect on various cardiovascular measures, mood states, and state and trait-level anxiety.
What the study found was that the brief-mindfulness intervention was more effective in decreasing negative mood, depression, fatigue, confusion, and heart rate compared to the control-group (who believed they were going to participate in mindfulness meditation, but were simply instructed to sit in a chair).
Moreover, the brief-mindfulness intervention was also more effective than the sham-mindfulness intervention (where participants were told they were practicing mindfulness meditation, but instead were instructed to perform a basic breathing meditation).
In short, brief-mindfulness meditation appears to be more effective than a breathing meditation for many conditions, even when those participants believed they were practicing mindfulness meditation.
Whilst other research shows that "acceptance" appears to be the facet of mindfulness most effective for stress reduction, this raises the question of which facet/s of mindfulness are at work here.
Belief is a powerful force, and can bring many positive changes. Having said that, knowing the extent to which the placebo-effect works can help us make more informed decisions about which interventions to adopt or utilize.
1 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341916/
2 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15256293
3 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20666590
