Mindfulness has been researched extensively and there are many quality studies available showing it's variety of benefits.
Evidence shows that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy can, on average, reduce the risk of relapse for people who experience recurrent depression by 43%. Research also suggests that it’s particularly effective for vulnerable groups who are more likely to relapse (J Williams et al, “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Preventing Relapse in Recurrent Depression: A Randomized Dismantling Trial”, 2013.). The evidence is so robust that the National Institute for Clinical and Health Excellence (NICE) recommends it for all people who have had two or more depressive episodes.
Research into individuals with “problematic” levels of stress found significant improvement in perceived levels of stress over the course of a mindfulness stress reduction program. The findings of this research were consistent with other studies. (RA Baer et al, “Weekly change in mindfulness and perceived stress in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program”, 2012).
A limited amount of research into mindfulness during pregnancy has shown encouraging results on the positive impact of mindfulness, finding ‘significantly’ reduced anxiety (C Vieten, “Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy on prenatal stress and mood: results of a pilot study”, 2007).
There is evidence that mindfulness can help individuals with insomnia. A subject in the study described changes thus; “Maria discovered ....... the principles and practices of mindfulness meditation allow for sleep to unfold rather than increasing efforts to clear the mind or try harder to make sleep happen.” (J Ong et al “ A mindfulness –based approach to the treatment of insomnia” , 2010).
Mindfulness has been researched as an intervention for pain management. A randomised control study concluded “Mind-body therapies such as the MBSR program are a promising non-pharmacologic adjunct to current pain treatment for older adults. However, larger more rigorous trials must be undertaken to convincingly demonstrate their effectiveness.” (N. Morone et al “Mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic low back pain in older adults: A randomized controlled pilot study”, 2008).
My experiences of mindfulness are of course anecdotal but you can read a little about my use of mindfulness in our therapy blog.
