Table of contents hide 1 Why does mindfulness work? 2 Experimental research on the effects of meditation 3 Neuropsychological mechanisms associated with meditation 4 Mindfulness: life in the forest of the mind

Mindfulness or mindfulness meditation offers a way to regulate our emotions and thoughts, with beneficial effects in terms of increasing subjective well-being and reducing symptoms related to depression or anxiety, among others. Its use has also extended to numerous areas, from clinical psychology, education or work psychology. However, its operating mechanisms are still largely unknown . Some contributions made from psychology and neurosciences suggest that this form of meditation favors a change of perspective when contemplating our mental life, whose substrate at the brain level may be traceable thanks to neuroimaging techniques.

Our brain is the " forest of neurons " that keeps "the secrets of mental life" ^(*) . The thoughts, emotions and sensations we experience, and even the very notion of who we are, sink their roots somewhere in their soil. In such a forest it is easy to get lost, get caught, or even have occasional disagreement with the various creatures that populate it. Sometimes, negative emotions hang from the branches of their trees as if they were snakes in the jungle, and some thoughts can be as disturbing as an owl in the middle of the night.

But our mind is also a majestic forest, full of safe and quiet roads through which reason walks, springs that inspire our creativity, or calm clearings in which to find a moment of calm and peace.

The problem is that, as the popular saying warns, sometimes trees don't let us see the forest. And, ultimately, this forest is within us, but we are also within it.

Psychology has been aware of this double perspective since the days of Williams James. In part we are the subject who knows and lives in the here and now ; and in part, when we reflect on our own experience, we are the known object, one more content of consciousness . James said that " whatever I may be thinking about, I am always at the same time more or less aware of myself, of my personal existence " ⁽¹⁾ (James, 1893, p. 176). However, his Vision is perhaps too optimistic.

On many occasions, we are not aware of the flow of thoughts, emotions, impressions and sensations that our mind produces or that reaches it; we simply get carried away by the current of this river. We merge with what we experience ... if I feel sadness, this emotion colors everything I do and think dark; if I feel anxiety, the world becomes a threatening place in which I try to take precautions; If I am in full routine, everything becomes boring.

Something similar happens with the thoughts we have about ourselves. We identify ourselves with the story we build on who and how we are, sometimes without looking beyond, reducing ourselves to the story we tell about ourselves. Meanwhile, the "I" of the "here and now" goes unnoticed, and with it the possibility of experiencing the world - and seeing ourselves - from a different, more open perspective. In an updated version of James's idea, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman has differentiated between the "me who experiences" and the "me who remembers." These are governed by different dynamics, and even "feel" differently, which has implications for our idea of ​​"happiness." As Kahneman suggests, being happy and happy in life is not the same as valuing your life as happy.

Recently, the use of mindfulness meditation techniques has tried to redirect the situation, contributing to the psychology toolkit instruments with which to promote a more m It is full and conscious. In essence, these techniques are based on the training of attention, either focusing on the external stimuli that surround us or on the flow of our thoughts and emotions, always remaining in The present moment. ^{(2. 3)}

Research on mindfulness has grown exponentially, with numerous studies that point to its effectiveness in the treatment of symptoms related to depression, anxiety or retardation of cognitive impairment, among other applications ^{(4, 5, 6)} . A quick search in some databases, such as Google Scholar, PsycInfo or PubMed, is enough to get an idea of ​​the volume of bibliography that mindfulness meditation has generated in the last d Each. But its relevance is not only quantitative. In qualitative terms, within the field of psychotherapies, mindfulness-based approaches are already known as third-generation thrapies A And it is certainly a perspective that is currently booming. Its use has extended even beyond clinical psychology, to the scope of health psychology ⁽⁷⁾, the psychology of work ^{(8 )}, or also, that of educational psychology ⁽⁹⁾ .

Why does mindfulness work?

Despite the rise of mindfulness techniques and the beneficial effects associated with it, the psychological and neuropsychological mechanisms through which they operate are largely unknown to them. n. Shauna Shapiro and his collaborators have put forward an interesting proposal in this regard ⁽³⁾ . According to these researchers, the three central components in mindfulness practice are intention, attention and attitude. At first glance, the most salient thing in this form of meditation is that it is based on the observation of internal and external experience, in the here and now, moment by moment, paying attention In the flow of stimuli that cross our mind. But equally important is why the intention and how the attitude with which this practice is carried out. The motivation to practice mindfulness seems to change with experience, ranging from the self-regulation of one's thoughts and emotions initially, through personal self-exploration, to self-liberation and the development of compassion, finally. As for the attitude with which it is carried out, meditation requires the contemplation of thoughts and emotions without interpreting, judging or evaluating them in any way. It implies a compassionate, curious and open look towards everything that crosses our field of consciousness, without interfering with it, simply by accepting it.

As a result, in some way the forest that resembles our subjective life becomes visible, in its richness, complexity and dynamism. The three components of mindfulness would favor a change of perspective . The mind, ceasing to be dragged by the flow of thoughts, emotions and impressions, would become aware of itself thanks to a progressive distancing from these contents of consciousness. As Shapiro et al., " The first thing that is recognized in meditation is that the phenomena that are contemplated are different from the mind that contemplates them " ⁽³⁾ . In short, it is possible to experience that one is more than his states of sadness, anxiety or pain, or that his negative thoughts, when he identifies and detaches himself from them.

Spring Light Meditation, by Hartwig HKD on flickr.com

Shapiro and his team also point to four additional mechanisms associated with this change in perspective. First, the practice of mindfulness would allow a greater degree of self-regulation to be achieved. By taking distance from emotional states, they become a valuable source of information when it comes to regulating our behavior and our thoughts, without being dragged by them. Greater self-awareness would also allow greater flexibility in thinking, emotion and behavior, once rigid and stereotyped automatic patterns are left behind. Being aware of the possibilities of action that open up before us implies, on the other hand, a reflection on the values ​​and meanings that are relevant to the person, thus emerging a certain ethical commitment towards what surrounds us. Finally, mindfulness is largely related to exposure or desensitization therapies, in which the person learns to respond to problematic thoughts and emotions in a dispassionate way or, at least, with less intensity.

Stefan G. Hofmann and Gordon Asmundson, for their part, have placed the emphasis on the acceptance component of the experience implicit in the practice of mindfulness ⁽¹⁰⁾ . The bibliography on emotional regulation has indicated that experiential avoidance techniques, such as the suppression of thoughts or emotions, or the escape of aversive stimuli, tend to be counterproductive, contributing to maintaining the negative subjective states that are tried to be avoided. Mindfulness training would counteract the use of such strategies, since it tries to make the person fully aware and accept without judging their thoughts and emotions, even if they are not pleasant. In this sense, as Shapiro et al., mindfulness promotes exposure to experience, as opposed to avoidance of it.

Other authors, such as Desbordes et al., have argued that the active components of mindfulness can be summed up in one concept: equanimity ⁽¹¹⁾ . This refers to a mental state of calm or a dispositional tendency towards all experiences or objects, regardless of whether their affective quality is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, and regardless of the source from which they come. Such a state of equanimity would entail an impartial behavior before the contents of conscience, which would not be repressed, denied, judged or feared, but simply accepted as presented.

Experimental research on the effects of meditation

Approaches like the previous ones are certainly suggestive, and from a phenomenological point of view, they seem to capture well the essence of mindfulness and its mechanisms of action. However, these are proposals that remain theoretically and therefore would require a certain degree of empirical endorsement. This deficiency can be filled, however, with some data from experimental research.

For example, in a recent study Troy et al. they have found differences in the ability of cognitive reworking when comparing a group of individuals with a history of mindfulness practice and two control groups, one of which was made up of people who had undergone cognitive-behavioral therapy and another for subjects without a history previous psychotherapy ⁽¹²⁾ . The ability to change the thoughts associated with a stimulus, and thus modify its emotional impact, was greater among those who had been in a therapy based on mindfulness training. According to these authors, when someone is aware of their thoughts, emotions and feelings at the present time, accepts them, and does not identify with them, it is easier for them to open up to new possibilities - perhaps more positive - when it comes to reinterpret reality, putting aside previously automated negative thoughts.

In another experiment Jazaieri et al. They analyzed the effects of a compassionate training program on measures related to mindfulness and happiness, comparing the people who participated in it with a waiting list control group ⁽¹³⁾ . The results showed that training in compassion increased levels of mindfulness, happiness, reduced concern and counteracted the tendency to emotional suppression as a regulation strategy. In short, a compassionate attitude, the practice of meditation and the proper handling of emotions and thoughts seem to go hand in hand.

A limitation in mindfulness research is that many times it seems to employ somewhat ethereal concepts, difficult to operationalize, and far from the usual language of psychology. Concepts such as "equanimity, " "compassion, " "detachment, " etc. They are hard to grasp. That is why a study carried out from a perspective closer to the tradition of cognitive psychology is remarkable. Amishi Jha and his collaborators have analyzed the impact of a mindfulness training program on the capacity of working memory and emotional experience ⁽¹⁴⁾ . The functioning of working memory is key in coping with situations of high cognitive demand - as in stress - and in the regulation of emotions. But, since it has a limited capacity, the emotional regulation effort can deplete it, producing inadequate responses. The study by Jha et al. He found that the beneficial effects of mindfulness on the regulation of negative emotions were precisely mediated by changes in working memory that were associated with the practice of mindfulness. The use of this technique improved the capacity of working memory, which in turn explained the lower level of negative affect present among the participants who had been trained in it.

Neuropsychological mechanisms associated with meditation

Also from the neurosciences interesting contributions have been made that try to explain the mechanisms through which mindfulness produces its effects. In particular, neuroimaging studies have marked a remarkable advance in the analysis of the neurological correlates of meditation.

In this sense, the literature seems to establish in a consistent way that the regulation of emotions occurs thanks to the action of a circuit that, from the medial and ventrolateral regions of the prefrontal cortex, exercises control over the areas where our emotions are processed and activated, as the tonsil ⁽¹⁵⁾ . In the case of the practice of mindfulness, which is definitely a technique of emotional regulation, this mechanism would also be present.

Thus, Herwig et al. they found that the activity of the amygdala was attenuated when the experimental subjects of their study carried out a task in which they had to become aware of their emotional states. This arousal attenuation and emotional intensity could well be one of the biological correlates of some of the subjective sensations - calm, emotion control, detachment, etc. - that many subjects report when practicing mindfulness. A fact in this line is provided by research on the influence of meditation on the regulation of anxiety . For example, Ives-Deliperi et al. they have found that mindfulness training produces decreases in anxiety experienced by people with bipolar disorder, which would correspond to greater activation of some areas of the medial prefrontal cortex ⁽¹⁶⁾ . In a similar vein, other researchers have found that the relief of anxiety resulting from the practice of meditation would be connected with activations in the anterior cingulate cortex, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula ⁽¹⁷⁾ .

One of the ways in which mindfulness promotes awareness and distancing from aversive emotional states is simply labeling them. Naming an emotion is already a step to manage it. An interesting study has analyzed how the brain of people with high and low levels of mindfulness behaves when faced with the task of labeling images that represent negative emotional states . David Creswell and his team found that in the participants with high levels of mindfulness a strong inverse association was observed between the activation of some areas of the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala during the emotional labeling task, which was not observed in those with low levels of mindfulness ⁽¹⁸⁾ . This result would indicate that mindfulness is associated with greater efficacy in controlling the activity of the tonsil by the prefrontal cortex when the subject develops a task of identifying emotions.

Source: Dr. Michael Baime This is your brain on mindfulness

Neuropsychological research on mindfulness is achieving promising results; However, there are still numerous limitations - methodological and conceptual - that it has to face. Future lines of study may not be limited to identifying which brain areas are activated or deactivated with the practice of mindfulness, but possibly give us a more dynamic image of the neuronal forest in action. In this sense, for example, studies are already available that - using the magnetic resonance image of functional connectivity (fcMRI) - have found that as a result of the practice of mindfulness there are some changes in the functional organization of the brain ⁽¹⁹⁾ . And obviously, the explanation of the effects of mindfulness will also not be complete if we forget to include in it the analysis of neurobiological mechanisms such as neurotransmission and hormonal activity. Some studies also point to changes in the levels of dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, cortisol and norepinephrine that would be associated with meditation ⁽²⁰⁾ .

In short, mindfulness is a way of approaching our own mind, of walking through it, of looking at and taking pictures of what is in this forest in an open, curious, almost naive way. The result can be highly beneficial in terms of subjective well-being, leading us to a fuller life centered on the here and now. In a way, this practice is a way to free ourselves from the anxieties of the future and the melancholy with which sometimes we look at the past, while helping us to experience the present in a conscious way, fostering values ​​such as compassion, opening, or tolerance. And perhaps, when we enter our mental life and investigate about it, whether as scientists or not, once again we must follow Cajal's advice ...

“ The forest of numbed brain neurons must be shaken vigorously; it is necessary to make them vibrate with the emotion of the new and infuse them with noble and high concerns. “ ⁽²¹⁾

Gratitude:

Thanks to Sara Revilla Romero (@revilla_sara), from the Distance University of Madrid (UDIMA), for reviewing this article.

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Note: ^(*) The two expressions in quotes come from two famous phrases by Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Source: http://www.investigacionyciencia.es

Mindfulness: life in the forest of the mind