{"id":19332,"date":"2021-11-18T19:30:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindfulsciencecentre.com\/?p=19332"},"modified":"2021-11-18T19:30:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T14:00:06","slug":"how-mindfulness-training-helps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c4efilms.com\/msc\/how-mindfulness-training-helps\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a foundational social and emotional skill with Mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How mindfulness training helps<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to reflect  a bit on empathy and mindfulness. Humans are social beings and positive relationships are important for our happiness. Empathy is a capacity that allows us to understand the minds of others and to resonate emotionally with those states. Empathy forms a cornerstone of social cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you probably have heard, mindfulness has been linked to a range of positive effects and is being integrated into medicine, mental health and education. Here, I address two important questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, what\u2019s the relationship between mindfulness and empathy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, can mindfulness training enhance empathy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are especially important questions if you\u2019re an educator, as the development of empathy in children is an important goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness as Self-Empathy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re probably familiar with the saying, \u201cto stand in someone else\u2019s shoes.\u201d That is an aspect of empathy. However, before we stand in someone else\u2019s<\/em> shoes, we first need to know what it\u2019s like to stand in our own<\/em> shoes! With mindfulness, we learn to truly stand in our own shoes. From this perspective, mindfulness is a practice of self<\/em>\u2013empathy<\/em>. This kind of self-awareness allows us to develop empathic connections to others. As we experience the landscape of our inner life with more detail and richness, our ability to understand the inner lives of others expands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress as Barrier to Empathy<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness and empathy are linked through their shared relationship with stress. While mindfulness decreases stress, stress weakens empathy. When our attention is pooled up in our own stress, it\u2019s as if there is less real estate for the concerns of others. After a long stressful day, perhaps you\u2019ve noticed that you\u2019re probably less receptive to a letter, for example, asking for donations to a good cause. It should come as no surprise that mindfulness programs that reduce stress also enhance empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empathy & Mindfulness \u2013 Neurobiology & Recent Research<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"brain-2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are some intriguing results from brain studies of empathy and meditation practice. Tania Singer \u2013 one of the leading scientists exploring empathy in the brain \u2013 has highlighted the anterior insula and the cingulate cortex as key brain regions for empathic responses. An important study recently examined the impact of meditation practice on brain structure. The results highlighted several brain regions impacted by meditative practice: the anterior cingulate and the insula were among the impacted regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent research has examined the relationship between mindfulness and empathy directly. In one study, participants either spent five minutes doing mindfulness practice or five minutes being distracted. After those five minutes, participants took a test where they saw photographs of people\u2019s eyes and were asked to identify the emotion that person was feeling. They also completed a writing assignment that assessed their level of empathy. Remarkably, after only five minutes of mindfulness practice, the mindfulness group dramatically out-performed the distraction group at detecting the correct emotion in the photographs. The mindfulness group was also judged to be more empathic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Mindfulness Training Help Turn Empathy Into Meaningful Action?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"empathy-3\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These findings are really interesting, but they leave an important question unanswered. Does enhanced empathy lead to more kindness and prosocial<\/em> behavior? After all, if empathy doesn\u2019t change how we behave in the world, its value is diminished. There is evidence that mindfulness makes people more kind. For example, mindfulness is related to lower levels of aggression, and compassion practices often taught alongside mindfulness enhance social connection and altruistic behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To assess the link between mindfulness and kindness, one research team devised a very cool study. Here is what they did:<\/p>\n\n\n\n