Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
This review defines self-compassion as being supportive toward yourself during suffering and presents a six-part model (more self-kindness and common humanity and mindfulness; less self-judgment, isolation, and overidentification). It summarizes a growing set of empirical studies that suggest self-compassion helps people handle distressing thoughts and emotions and is linked to…
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), especially Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), teach people to pay nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. Reviews and randomized trials show MBIs can reduce anxiety and depression symptom severity across many groups, often doing better than non-evidence treatments or active controls and performing…
In a remote, randomized trial (NCT05304000), people did one of three five-minute daily breathing exercises or five minutes of mindfulness meditation each day for one month. The researchers measured mood, anxiety, and physiological arousal (breathing rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability). Breathwork—especially exhale-focused cyclic sighing—produced bigger mood gains and…
An online survey of 157 adults with ADHD asked about willingness and preferences for body scan meditation. Most people were not currently doing mindfulness but said they would be willing and thought it was feasible to try body scans. Symptom severity and whether people had space to practice helped predict…
