The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Memory for Positively and Negatively Valenced Stimuli

A core component of mindfulness is non-judgmental observation of internal and external stimuli. The present study investigated the effect of mindfulness on memory for emotional stimuli. Participants were exposed to a brief mindfulness intervention and subsequently performed a verbal learning test consisting of positive, neutral, and negative words. Control participants received no intervention and directly performed the verbal learning test. After 20 min, participants recalled as many words as possible. Participants in the mindfulness condition remembered a significantly lower proportion of negative words compared to control participants. No differences between both groups were observed for the proportion of remembered positive words. These findings suggest that memory processes may be a potential mechanism underlying the link between mindfulness and subjective well-being

Intervenciones psicológicas basadas en mindfulness y sus beneficios: estado actual de la cuestión

Las intervenciones basadas en mindfulness (IBM) se fundamentan en antiguas prácticas del budismo, actualizadas y adaptadas al contexto occidental. En la presente revisión se describirán las técnicas más usadas, para a continuación analizar los mecanismos de acción que el mindfulness (i.e., atención plena) parece activar como intervención psicológica. En la segunda parte se revisarán los estudios de tipo aplicado. Se comenzará analizando los ensayos clínicos y metaanálisis relativos a las intervenciones sobre problemas mentales. En un segundo momento se analizarán los estudios de eficacia y metaanálisis relativos a los problemas de salud física. En la parte final se tratan algunos temas importantes, como los posibles efectos adversos o los perfiles más adecuados a este tipo de intervención, y se revisan los temas que requieren de más investigación, como la eficacia comparada con otras técnicas de intervención ya validadas. La conclusión global en función de la investigación revisada es que las IBM son técnicas de gran versatilidad, ideales para contextos de atención primaria o similares y que logran sus mayores tasas de eficacia en pacientes con sintomatología de estrés, ansiedad o depresión

The Effects of Relaxation Exercises and Park Walks During Workplace Lunch Breaks on Physiological Recovery

Considering the increasing demands of various occupational interventions, this study aimed at examining the impact of relaxation exercises and park walks during lunch breaks on physiological recovery (i.e., on changes in cortisol excretion and blood pressure). In a four-week randomized controlled trial, 153 knowledge workers in seven companies were allocated to one of three groups: relaxation, park walk, or control. Both intervention groups were required to undertake either a lunchtime relaxation exercise or a park walk on each working day for two consecutive weeks. Data were collected at baseline, during the two-week intervention period, and in the week after the intervention. Mixed-design analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. No beneficial intervention effects were observed in cortisol awakening response (CARi) or cortisol decline during the day (CDD). Blood pressure decreased significantly in the afternoon at work in each group. This decrease was more pronounced in the park walk group (d = .51–.58) than in the relaxation (d = .18–.28) and control (d = .31–.41) groups. Our study showed that changing knowledge workers’ lunch routines for a short period of time does not affect cortisol excretion, but may lower blood pressure at the end of the working day. This lowered blood pressure also seemed to occur among the controls, suggesting that measuring and keeping track of blood pressure may serve as an intervention. However, longer interventions are needed to achieve stronger and long lasting physiological recovery effects