Here are the five main benefit categories and the research support behind them (these are slightly older ones I put together when I first started getting into mindfulness research back in the 2016-2017 days, but at the time they had already intrigued me about mindfulness practice in psychology), and I'm going to share them here:
If you've been exposed to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), you'll know that this The purpose of the Positive Thinking Exercises program is to help practitioners achieve self-regulation to reduce stress through an 8-week program. This MBSR program has been around for decades and tens of thousands of students and practitioners, which speaks volumes about the utility of Positive Thinking for Stress Reduction. In addition to the results of MBSR, there is a wealth of research that supports the idea of positive thinking for stress reduction.
One study of present-moment awareness (PMA) found that it promotes adaptive responses to everyday stressors (Donald, Atkins, Parker, Christie, & Ryan, 2016). another by Donald and Atkins (2016) study found that positive thinking practitioners reacted to and avoided stress but showed more stress-specific processing and coping methods compared to a relaxed or self-affirming control group. Additionally, positive thinking can help relieve stress by improving emotional regulation, leading to better moods and greater ability to handle stress (Remmers, Topolinski, & Koole, 2016).
Through the practice of mindfulness, even if it is just for a few minutes a day, many people achieve a state of relaxation, as well as some of the following benefits:
Higher brain efficacy
Improved immune system
Reduced blood pressure (this one is noticeable if you have a sphygmomanometer and you do a measurement before and after the practice)
Reduced heart rate (this one Obviously, because I wear a heart rate watch all the time, my heart rate is at its lowest during waking hours during each practice session)
Increased awareness, attention, and focus
Increased clarity of thought and cognition
Reduced anxiety and brought inner peace
Benefits of mindfulness in the context of positive thoughts One of the most researched groups for disease-specific benefits may be cancer patients and others with chronic illnesses. While positive thinking won't eliminate their symptoms, it can help make it easier for them to face and manage the worries and emotional problems that come with those symptoms. For example, a trial of eCALM, a therapeutic program for cancer patients, found that mindfulness practice reduced symptoms from stress, increased spirituality and decreased reactions when confronted with symptoms, facilitated post-traumatic growth, and increased vitality while relieving fatigue (Zernicke, et al., 2016).
Another cancer-specific Positive Thinking training program reduced rumination and worry in cancer patients and improved observation and 'non-judgment' (Labelle, Campbell, Faris, & Carlson, 2015).
There was also a study of MBSR in patients with chronic low back pain that found that Positive Mindfulness Therapy improved self-care and led to a reduction in low back pain compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU) (Cherkin, et al., 2016). Also, positive thinking training can help patients reduce their focus on pain and improve their quality of life (Garland & Howard, 2013).
A study using MBSR to target lung cancer patients and their spouses showed that positive thinking exercises can also motivate positive change in patients and spouses and reduce the psychological burden on spouses as caregivers (van den Hurk, et al., 2015). There was also an MBSR study of family caregivers that found that positive thinking similarly reduced stress, depression, and anxiety in caring for an ill loved one (Li, Yuan, & Zhang, 2016).
Positive thinking can help not only cope with a chronic illness or a latent terminal illness, but it can also help you get out of a rut.
An MBSR study of Chinese breast cancer survivors demonstrated that positive thinking can enhance post-traumatic growth and reduce stress and anxiety in cancer patients (Zhang, et al., 2017). Another study of young breast cancer survivors showed that women who practiced positive thinking were more likely to experience increased self-care and reduced rumination and stress (Boyle, et al., 2017). Another study also found that positive thinking, yoga, and meditation reduced anxiety and promoted post-traumatic growth in breast cancer survivors, in addition to increasing vitality and spirituality (Tamagawa, et al., 2015).
Positive thinking has long been recognized as an effective adjunctive treatment for depression. Compared to yoga alone, positive thinking reduces depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress in college students and increases self-compassion (Falsafi, 2016).
One of the principles of positive thinking to help treat depression is by improving the practitioner's ability to regulate emotions. Positive thinking exercises provide the practitioner with an ability to take a step back from strong negative emotions, allowing us to recognize them and accept their presence rather than fight them. As a result, positive thinking practitioners are better able to regulate their emotions and thus better able to cope with and manage the negative effects of depression. A study by Costa and Barnhofer (2016) found that brief training in positive thinking could better help participants suffering from depression regulate their emotions to reduce symptoms compared to guided imagery relaxation.
Additionally, Positive Mindfulness Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is one of the programs used to reduce recurrence of depression, which not only helped the practitioners to achieve a better feeling, but also saved them a lot of money on medical expenses (Shawyer, et al., 2016).
Positive thinking is even effective for people dealing with the most critical of all depressive symptoms: suicidal thoughts. In participants with chronic depression who had suicidal thoughts, positive thinking training was more effective than treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing these thoughts (Forkmann, et al., 2016).
5. Improvements in overall health
In addition to the many mental health benefits of positive thinking, positive thinking can also improve your overall health.
For example, one study on how mindfulness affects health behaviors found that practicing mindfulness can enhance or increase a wide range of health-related behaviors, such as practitioners being more likely to get regular medical checkups, be physically active, use seatbelts when riding in a car, and avoid smoking and alcohol (Jacobs, Wollny, Sim, & Horsch, 2016). Another study on positive thinking and health showed that positive thinking was associated with improved cardiovascular health as it was associated with lower smoking rates, more exercise, and better BMI (Loucks, et al., 2015). This is a correlational study, though, and it may also be because these people who live disciplined lives are more likely to be attracted to classes and exercises like Positive Thinking.
Additionally, there is also a positive relationship between positive thinking training and lower blood pressure, especially when practitioners become skilled in 'non-judgmental' and auto-navigating reactive thinking and behavior (Tomfohr, Pung, Mills, & Edwards, 2015).
Finally, in a study on the effects of positive thinking on the mental and physical health of obese or overweight adults, researchers found that positive thinking helped participants lose weight, improve their eating behaviors and attitudes, and reduce depression and anxiety (Rogers, et al., 2017).
References:
Boyle, C. C., Stanton, A. L., Ganz, P. A., Crespi, C. M., & Bower, J. E. (2017). Improvements in emotion regulation following mindfulness meditation: effects on depressive symptoms and perceived stress in younger breast cancer survivors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 85(4), 397-402. doi:10.1037/ccp0000186
Cherkin, D. C., Sherman, K. J., Balderson. B. H., Cook, A. J., Anderson, M. L., Hawkes, R. J., Hansesn, K. E., & Turner, J. A. (2016). Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs cognitive behavioral therapy or usual care on back pain and functional limitations in adults with chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 315, 1240-1249.
Costa, A., & Barnhofer, T. (2016). Turning towards or turning away: a comparison of mindfulness meditation and guided imagery relaxation in patients with acute depression. Behaviouraland Cognitive Psychotherapy, 44, 410-419. doi:10.1017/S1352465815000387
Donald, J. N., & Atkins, P. W. B. (2016). Mindfulness and coping with stress: do levels of perceived stress matter? Mindfulness 7, 1423-1436. doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0584-y
Donald, J . n., Atkins, P. W. B., Parker, P. D., Christie, A. M., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Daily stress and the benefits of mindfulness: examining the daily and longitudinal relations between present-moment awareness and stress responses. Journal of Research in Personality, 65, 30-37. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2016.09.002
Falsafi, N. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness versus yoga: Effects on depression and/or anxiety in college students. journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 22,483-497. doi:10.1177/1078390316663307
Forkmann, T., Brakemeier, E., Teismann, T., Schramm, E., &. Michalak, J. (2016). The effects of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy added to treatment as usual on suicidal ideation in chronic depression: results of a randomized-clinical trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, 51-57. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.01.047
Garland, E. L., & Howard, M. O. (2013). Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement reduces pain attentional bias in chronic pain patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 82(5), 311-318 . doi:10.1159/000348868
Jacobs, I., Wollny, A., Sim, C., & Horsch, A. (2016). Mindfulness facets, trait emotional intelligence, emotional distress, and multiple health behaviors: a serial two-mediator model. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 57,207-214. doi:10.1111/sjop.12285
Labelle, L. E., Campbell, T. S., Faris, P., & Carlson, L. E. (2015 ). Mediators of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): assessing the timing and sequence of change in cancer patients. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71, 21-40. doi:10.1002/jclp.22117
Li, G., Yuan, H., & Zhang, W. (2016 ). The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction for family caregivers: systematic review. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30, 292-299. doi:. 10.1016/j.apnu.2015.08.014
Loucks, E. B., Britton, W. B., Howe, C. J., Eaton, C. B., & Buka, S. L. (2015). Positive associations of dispositional mindfulness with cardiovascular health: the New England Family Study. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 540-550. doi:10.1007/s12529-014-9448-9
Remmers, C., Topolinski, S., & Koole, S. L. (2016). Why being mindful may have more benefits than you realize: Mindfulness improves both explicit and implicit mood regulation. mindfulness 7,829-827. doi :10.1007/s12671-016-0520-1
Rogers, J. M., Ferrari, M., Mosely, K., Lang, C. P., & Brennan, L. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for adults who are overweight or obese: a meta-analysis of physical and psychological health outcomes. Obesity Reviews, 18, 51-67. doi:10.1111/obr.12461
Shawyer, F., Enticott, J. C., ?zmen, M., Inder, B., & Meadows, G. N. (2016). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrent major depression: a 'best buy' for health care? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50, 1001-1013. doi:10.1177/0004867416642847
Tamagawa, R., Speca, M., Pickering, B., Lawlor-Savage, L., & ; Carlson, L. E. (2015). Predictors and effects of class attendance and home practice of yoga and meditation among breast cancer survivors in a Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) program. mindfulness 6,1201-1210. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0381-4
Tomfohr, L. M., Pung, M. A., Mills, P. J., & Edwards, K. (2015). Trait mindfulness is associated with blood pressure and interleukin-6: Exploring interactions among subscales of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire to better understand relationships between mindfulness and health. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38, 28-38. doi:10.1007/s10865- 014-9575-4
van den Hurk, D. G. M., Schellekens, M. P. J., Molema, J., Speckens, A. E. M., & van der Drift, M. A. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for lung cancer patients and their partners: results of a mixed methods pilot study. palliative medicine, 29(7),. 652-660. doi:10.1177/0269216315572720
Zernicke, K. A., Campbell, T. S., Speca, M., Ruff, K. M., Tamagawa, R., & Carlson, L. E. (2016). The eCALM trial: eTherapy for cancer applying mindfulness. Exploratory analyses of the associations between online mindfulness-based cancer recovery participation and changes in mood, stress symptoms, mindfulness, posttraumatic growth, and spirituality. mindfulness, 7,1071-1081.
< p> Zhang, J., Zhou, Y., Feng, Z., Fan, Y., Zeng, G., & Wei, L. (2017). Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on posttraumatic growth of Chinese breast cancer survivors. psychology. Health & Medicine, 22,94-109. doi:10.1080/13548506.2016.1146405