{"id":82,"date":"2020-03-18T19:23:47","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T23:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/?page_id=82"},"modified":"2020-03-18T19:23:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T23:23:47","slug":"benefits-of-practicing-mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/benefits-of-practicing-mindfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why\nPractice It?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Studies have shown\nthat practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring a variety of\nphysical, psychological, and social benefits. Here are some of these benefits,\nwhich extend across many different settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Mindfulness is good for our bodies: A\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/12883106\">seminal study<\/a>\u00a0found that, after just eight weeks of training, practicing mindfulness meditation boosts our\u00a0system\u2019s ability to fight off illness. Practicing mindfulness may also improve\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/how_mindfulness_improves_sleep\">sleep quality<\/a>.<\/li><li>Mindfulness is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/images\/uploads\/Keng_Review_of_studies_on_mindfulness.pdf\">good for our minds<\/a>: Several studies have found that mindfulness increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/images\/uploads\/Weinstein-MindfulnessStress.pdf\">stress<\/a>. Indeed, at least one study suggests it may be as good as antidepressants in fighting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/research_digest\/is_mindfulness_as_good_as_antidepressants#mindfulness_and_antidepressants\">depression<\/a>\u00a0and preventing relapse.<\/li><li>Mindfulness\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/video\/item\/how_to_change_your_brain\">changes our brains<\/a>: Research has found that it\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/a_little_meditation_goes_a_long_way\/\">increases density of gray matter<\/a>\u00a0in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Mindfulness helps us\nfocus: Studies suggest that mindfulness helps us&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/research_digest\/how_meditation_is_good_for_mind_and_body#how_mindfulness_helps_our_brains_focus\">tune out distractions<\/a>&nbsp;and improves our&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/20363650\">memory<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/22363278\">attention skills<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/can_mindfulness_improve_decision_making\">decision-making<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Mindfulness fosters\ncompassion and altruism: Research suggests mindfulness training makes us&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/meditation_causes_compassionate_action\">more likely to help someone in need<\/a>&nbsp;and increases activity in neural\nnetworks involved in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/how_to_train_the_compassionate_brain\">understanding the suffering of others<\/a>&nbsp;and regulating emotions. Evidence\nsuggests it might&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/does_mindfulness_make_you_compassionate\">boost&nbsp;<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/video\/item\/how_does_mindfulness_help_cultivate_self_compassion\">self-compassion<\/a>&nbsp;as well.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Practice It? Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits. Here are some of these benefits, which extend across many different settings. Mindfulness is good for our bodies: A\u00a0seminal study\u00a0found that, after just eight weeks of training, practicing mindfulness meditation boosts our\u00a0system\u2019s ability to fight off illness. Practicing mindfulness may also improve\u00a0sleep quality. Mindfulness is\u00a0good for our minds: Several studies have found that mindfulness increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions and\u00a0stress. Indeed, at least one study suggests it may be as good as antidepressants in fighting\u00a0depression\u00a0and preventing relapse. Mindfulness\u00a0changes our brains: Research has found that it\u00a0increases density of gray matter\u00a0in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy. Mindfulness helps us focus: Studies suggest that mindfulness helps us&nbsp;tune out distractions&nbsp;and improves our&nbsp;memory,&nbsp;attention skills, and&nbsp;decision-making. Mindfulness fosters compassion and altruism: Research suggests mindfulness training makes us&nbsp;more likely to help someone in need&nbsp;and increases activity in neural networks involved in&nbsp;understanding the suffering of others&nbsp;and regulating emotions. Evidence suggests it might&nbsp;boost&nbsp;self-compassion&nbsp;as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1675,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-82","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/souweiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}