The Science Behind Mindfulness and Gratitude and How It Leads to Workplace Success [blogs.psychcentral.com]

Mindfulness is all the rage right now and companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Nike, and Goldman Sachs are all jumping on board.  Mindfulness, the practice of focusing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, has many noted benefits including decreased stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate, increased awareness, and higher brain functioning. 

Thanks to recent advances in the field of neuroscience, we now have new insights into how this ancient Eastern practice can benefit people in the workplace.  In a landmark study, Harvard-based neuroscientist, Sara Lazar, used brain imaging techniques to examine neurobiological effects associated with mindfulness training.  She compared the brain scans of a group of subjects who completed an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program against a control group who received no mindfulness training.  Lazar found that participants in the experimental group experienced significant changes in the amount of gray matter in five major brain regions as compared to the control group.  Participants who completed the mindfulness program showed a thickening of gray matter in four distinct areas of the brain involved in learning, cognition, memory, emotional regulation, perspective taking, empathy, and compassion.  Furthermore, this group of participants experienced a reduction in gray matter in the fight or flight part of the brain that controls anxiety, fear, and stress.  

Researchers have also found that regular expression of gratitude leads to changes in the body’s biochemistry.  Studies out of UC Berkeley and UC Davis found that the practice of gratitude has major health benefits including a 23% reduction in Cortisol, a stress hormone associated with several health issues.  UC Davis Professor, Dr. Robert Emmons, who spearheaded several of the gratitude studies, posits that gratitude practice enables people to stay present in the moment and appreciate the things they have instead of focusing on the things they wish they had.  Regular expression of gratitude allows people to avoid negative feelings and attitudes such as envy, resentment, and judgment and instead focus on more positive feelings.

[For more on this story by Kristi Tackett-Newburg, go to https://blogs.psychcentral.com...o-workplace-success/]