Brain Benefits of Mindful Moments

By Makena Wood, BSc Neuroscience student

Have you ever felt overwhelmed in the middle of your day, had a hard time falling asleep, or experienced difficulty expressing your emotions? If so, you may benefit from learning about mindfulness and taking time for a mindful moment the next time you experience one of these common issues. Mindfulness refers to the practice of activities that help individuals to gain awareness of their internal thoughts and feelings, as well as their physical state, by both focusing attention and refraining from judgment (Arora & Neelakantan, 2024). Mindfulness practice is intended to reduce stress and anxiety by exercising an individual’s emotional regulation skills, and has also been shown to have positive health outcomes (Arora and Neelakantan, 2024). If you’ve ever heard of meditation, or practiced it yourself, then you are already familiar with mindfulness. So, if you find yourself in a state of heightened arousal that leads you to feel overhwelmed, or prevents you from taking care of your physical health, a mindful moment can help you return to a comfortable physical and emotional state.

How does mindfulness work?

Arora and Neelakantan (2024):

There are a few relevant theories that address why mindfulness can work so well to address emotional arousal:

1.      Perceived stress and well-being:

-          Stress can be something we feel physically as our body’s natural response to arousal in an effort to regain balance. However, perceived stress is the subjective experience that can arise as a result of stress and causes an individual to feel overwhelmed and potentially incapable of continuing to meet demands. Well-being can also be a subjective experience and refers to the quality of a person’s physical, emotional, and mental health.  

2.      Cognitive theory:

-          Cognitive theory suggests that mindfulness trains individuals to think and react differently to stress throughout their day. The increased awareness of thinking and feeling that comes from mindfulness practice can help individuals to challenge some of their self-imposed patterns that contribute to stress and anxiety, and therefore reduce their perceived stress. (Hoge, 2013; as cited in Arora & Neelakantan, 2024) 

3.      Brain activity:

-          Studies have shown that regular mindfulness can help shape circuits in the brain that contribute to an individual’s ability to cope with stress; mindfulness increases brain activity in areas of emotional regulation and decreases brain activity in areas of stress and anxiety. (Creswell, 2017; as cited in Arora & Neelakantan, 2024).  

4.      Self-regulation theory:

-          Self-regulation theory argues that the overall practice of mindfulness also builds skills of self-awareness and self-regulation; over time, increasing your self-regulation abilities will also help you manage and react to negative emotions (Khoury, 2013; as cited in Arora and Neelakantan, 2024).

Mindfulness for all ages

Children:

-          Childhood is full of learning and skill-building, which can be overwhelming at times, and particularly difficult without having yet acquired the skills to manage stress or communicate emotions effectively. Shah and Gupta (2022) conducted a review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on children’s and preadolescents’ mental health and found many positive outcomes. Notably, mindfulness meditation builds executive function (attention and regulation) and social skills, while decreasing internalization and rumination, and promoting mind-body-spirit integration and intuition.

Adolescents:

-          We know that adolescence marks the beginning of executive function fine-tuning, which includes aspects of self-regulation. Early adolescence can therefore be a critical time to learn and gain skills in attentional and emotional regulation. Porter et al. (2024) examined and compared two different mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and found them to be successful in strengthening these skills. They note that only MBIs that incorporated a focus on attention yielded improvements in attentional self-regulation, but that both groups saw improvements in emotional regulation.

Adults:

-          While adults and older adults have the advantage of a developed pre-frontal cortex, the amount and nature of stresses in adult life may overwhelm even the most well-adapted individuals. Mindfulness carries an aspect of self-care, which is especially important as we care for others, and literature reflects mindfulness as a successful tool in enhancing well-being (Sekhon, 2023). From there, you continue to focus your attention on continued brain health for yourself and those in your care.

It is important to recognize, for all ages, that taking care of your mental health does not always have to mean decreasing psychological distress, but rather can be about improving well-being (Kennedy et al., 2024). This shift in perspective towards what can be gained from mental health practices allows us to place our own mental health on what is known as the “dual-continua model”, where stress and well-being can coexist (Kennedy et al. 2024). Personally, I find the idea that stress does not need to diminish our ability to work on our well-being to be both relieving and empowering.  

BBT mindfulness resources

Did you know that BBT has a section under our resources tab called Mindful Moments? These are simple practices that you can use to learn about or continue your engagement in mindfulness. All of our mindful moments can be used by any age and can serve as tools for parents and children to engage in their mindfulness learning together.

Visit the Mindful Moments section under the Resources tab on buildingbrains.ca to explore options and challenge yourself to practice mindfulness daily!

References

 Arora, P. & Neelakantan, M.S. (2024). Effect of mindfulness-based intervention on perceived stress and well-being. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 37-43. https://search-ebscohost-com.uleth.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=176791583&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 Kennedy, B.R., Sims-Rhodes, N.E., Avendano, J.S., Mathew, J., O’Brien, K., Chek, C.J.W., & Sass, S.M. (2024). Resilience, mindfulness, anxiety, and depression within a dual-continua model of mental health approach. Journal of Happiness and Health, 4(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.47602/johah.v4il.54

Porter, B., Oyanadel, C, Betancourt, I., Worrell, F.C., & Peñate, W. (2024). Effects of two mindfulness-based interventions for early adolescents for attentional, emotional, and behavioural self-regulation. Pediatric Reports, 16(1), 254-270. https://doi.org/10.3390/pediatric16020022

 Sekhon, A. (2023). Mindfulness and its impact on mental health: A review. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(2), 252-255. https://search-ebscohost-com.uleth.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=165033476&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 Shah, S.K., & Gupta, M. (2022). An evidence based review of the impact of mindfulness meditation on mental health of children and preadolescents. Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, 13(6), 2039-2043. https://doi.org/10.47750/pnr.2022.13.S06.266