“Improved self-regulation, better attentional skills, and enhanced situational awareness; The ability to engage in abstract problem-solving and counterfactual thinking; Better attentional skills, abstract problem-solving skills, and general fluid intelligence (that is, the ability to use rather than simply know facts).”

​Mind fitness: Improving operational effectiveness and building warrior resilience
Amishi P. Jha, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania; Elizabeth A. Stanley, Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government.
 

“In sum, a review of the literature on Working Memory Capacity (WMC) suggests many compelling links with mindfulness training. First, processes sensitive to WMC are also sensitive to mindfulness training, including attentional orienting (Unsworth et at., 2004; Jha et aI., 2007), conflict monitoring (Redick & Engle, 2006; Chan' & Woollacott, 2007), and the attentional blink (Coizato, Spape, Pannebakker, & Hommel, 2007; Slagter et aI., 2007). Second, both WMC (Schmeichel, 2007) and mindfulness training (Carmody & Baer, 2008) correspond to the ability to bolster both cold cognitive performance on these attention tasks and hot emotion regulation processes.”

Illuminating the Theory & Practice of Change , RUTH A. BAER, PH.D.
Professor at University of Kentucky, Department of Psychology
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 10, no. 2 (2003), 125–143

 

“Experiencing the world through the direct experience network allows you to get closer to the reality of any event. You perceive more information about events occurring around you, as well as more accurate information about these events. Noticing more real-time information makes you more flexible in how you respond to the world. You also become less imprisoned by the past, your habits, expectations or assumptions, and more able to respond to events as they unfold.”

“In the Farb experiment, people who regularly practiced noticing the narrative and direct experience paths, such as regular meditators, had stronger differentiation between the two paths. They knew which path they were on at any time, and could switch between them more easily.”

“This isn't just a theory. A study by Kirk Brown found that people high on a mindfulness scale were more aware of their unconscious processes.”

From an article in Psychology Today on ‘Your Brain At Work’, a book by Dr David Rock

 

“Mindfulness is associated with enhanced self-awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behaviour and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress.”The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being.
Kirk Warren Brown and Richard M. Ryan
Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester

 

“Among the main state effects (immediate changes) of meditation are physiological relaxation and slowed metabolism, a heightened self-awareness, and feelings of calm. Among the main trait effects (changes that endure over time) are improved concentration, empathy, perceptual acuity, a drop in anxiety and stress symptoms, and more effective performance in a broad of domains from sports and academic test taking to creativity (for a summary see e.g., Murphy, Donovan, & Taylor,1997).”

“What has been best documented is that contemplation of this nature affects physiology. We also know that physiology affects emotional response, cognition, and learning.”

“Correlates of physiological coherence include a regular heart rhythm, decreased sympathetic nervous system activation and increased parasympathetic activity, and increased heart-brain synchronization (the brain’s alpha rhythms become more synchronized to the heartbeat) (Schoner & Kelso, 1988; Tiller, McCraty, & Atkinson, 1996). These physiological changes appear to result in a highly efficient state in which the body, brain, and nervous system function with increased synchronization and harmony. Recent studies in school settings suggest that increasing physiological coherence improves cognitive performance.”

“The standardized measures included such areas as the ability to reason in novel situations, speed of information processing, creative thinking, and anxiety level (So & Orme-Johnson, 2001).”

“For example, in a recent study involving the effects of a meditation practice on 45 inner-city African American adolescents, the meditating group was found to have significantly fewer rule infractions, a decrease in absenteeism, and fewer suspensions (Barnes, Bauza, & Treiber, 2003).”
“Being aware of the content of our consciousness is not only an important element in emotional maturity but also a marker of deepened cognitive functioning—a developmental step beyond basic abstraction. Self-observation and reflection help to expose and deconstruct positions of role, belief, culture, and so forth to see more deeply or from multiple perspectives. This allows students the conceptual flexibility to see beyond the information given and beyond their own presuppositions.”

Contemplation, Thinking, and Learning
Tobin Hart, Associate professor of psychology at the State University of West Georgia

 

“One of the central purposes of mindfulness meditation practices, in behavioural medicine, is to become a detached observer of one's own mental activity, so that one thereby may identify its habits and distortions.”

Mindfulness and Acceptance: Expanding the Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition
Hayes, Stephen, Victoria Follette, and Marsha Linehan, . New York: Guilford Press, 2004.

 

“A working hypothesis for ongoing investigation in human neurophysiology, based on a significant body of preliminary data, is that the mental action of mindful awareness specifically modulates the activity of the prefrontal cortex. Because of the well established role of this cortical area in the planning and willful selection of self-initiated responses (Spence & Frith 1999; Schwartz & Begley 2002).”

On the Neuroscience of Leadership
David Rock & Jeffrey Schwartz

 

“Cognitive and Academic Performance
• Mindfulness meditation may improve ability to maintain preparedness and orient attention.
• Mindfulness meditation may improve ability to process information quickly and accurately.
• Concentration-based meditation, practiced over a long-term, may have a positive impact on academic achievement.
Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being
• Mindfulness meditation may decrease stress, anxiety, and depression.
• Mindfulness meditation supports better regulation of emotional reactions and the cultivation of positive psychological states.
Development of the Whole Person
• Meditation can support the development of creativity.
• Meditation supports and enhances the development of skills needed for interpersonal relationships.
• Empathetic responses are increased with meditation and mindfulness practices.
• Meditation may help to cultivate self-compassion.”

Key Research Findings from ‘Mindfulness Meditation and Higher Education’
A Review of Research from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
Shauna L. Shapiro, Santa Clara University; Kirk Warren Brown, Virginia Commonwealth University; John A. Astin, California Pacific Medical Center, - October 2008

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