Greaves 1

Maliyah Greaves

English 1201.513

Professor Carter

20 March 2022

Literary Review

The topic that this research paper will be based on is mindfulness. How does

mindfulness work and what are the benefits of mindfulness? In this paper the main

question trying to be answered is, “Is mindfulness truly effective and in what ways?”

Research was dedicated to this question for many reasons. One being because in life

many people are told the same line but it is never understood in depth, “You can do

anything you put your mind to.” What does this mean? What can our mind do? Anything

we put our mind to? This inspired the research question along with a trend in spirituality,

that in the past few years, has overcome social media. This has caused stores to start

selling crystals, incense, yoga mats, essential oils, tarot cards, and more. With all these

spirituality practices that are now easily accessible, you wonder if any of it really works

and what is the meaning behind it? While spirituality is many things, one great thing that

is really essential to the practice in whole is mindfulness. According to “Mindful

exercises'' written by Mayo Clinic staff, mindfulness is considered to be “a type of

meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and

feeling in the moment, without interpretation and judgment.” So again the question

presents itself. Is mindfulness truly effective and in what ways?

 Greaves 2

The idea and information known about mindfulness and its practices have

changed many times over many decades. While time changes, so do social norms,

views, and eventually history. The history of mindfulness became increasingly popular in

the West. It was most popular however, amongst the Buddhist community. It is most

popular amongst the Buddhist religion and its communities because it was a practice of

meditation. Meditation, of course, is a big part of Buddhist culture. According to the

“History of Mindfulness” published by the Office of Human Resources at Clark University,

“In the 50’s and 60’s, Buddhism started to spread to the US, gaining footholds in the

Beat Movement in the 50’s, which heavily inspired the Hippies and the Counterculture of

the 60’s and 70’s.” The article later states, “It wasn’t until the late 90’s, however, when

these streams of Buddhism were combined with Western Medicine and Psychology,

which would be the origins of what has come to be known as Mindfulness.” This was

done by University of Massachusetts medical doctor Jon Kabat-Zinn who further spread

the popularity of Buddhist Meditation through treating patients who suffered with chronic

pains with it. He decided to try this method of treatment after no previous treatment

methods were working at the UMass clinic. It became a huge success and gained

notoriety due to the undeniable effectiveness the patients and spectators noticed.

Throughout the 80’s he published many academic journals showing the effectiveness of

Buddhist meditation techniques on reducing chronic pain, improving life satisfaction, and

increasing happiness among this chronic pain population. He also worked on taking the

core meditative principles from these Buddhist practices, divorcing them from their

cultural and religious contexts (specifically, Japanese Zen Buddhism), and applying best

practices from the scientific literature and his own experiments. This combination came

to be called Mindfulness, a distinct form of Meditation;- (LaPlante) . After the practice of

mindfulness still increased, by the 90s Kabat-Zinn published another popular read, and
 Greaves 3

mindfulness is mentioned regularly by scientists, TV shows, magazines, the internet,

social media, and more.

When it comes to mindfulness, there are a few key concepts necessary to

understand to make the practice of mindfulness most effective or effective at all.

Mindfulness is not a singular thing but rather a practice. Mindfulness though, is a

practice that is under the category of meditation. You cannot really have one without the

other. So if you practice mindfulness, you most definitely meditate even if you are

unaware that you are doing so. Mindfulness is effective if you meditate which in turn is

effective in your everyday life. Practicing mindfulness can help you to reduce stress and

anxiety, help you sleep, make you a better student, and help you live a healthier life.

If you practice mindfulness you meditate. Meditation and its practices can help

you live a better life. According to Dina Kaplan, a contributor for Forbes Woman of

Forbes Magazine in her article “Meditation for Manifesting Your Dreams - And

Accomplishing Your Goals” she says, “Today I’d like to offer a powerful meditation. It’s

from one of my favorite books, Into the Magic Shop. It’s written by James Doty, an

acclaimed neuroscientist from Stanford University-” James Doty a neuroscientist from

Stanford University wrote a book about a boy who learns to meditate and ends up

manifesting his dreams that he used to think were so unrealistic. Dina Kaplin then gives

a series of meditation you can do on the daily that can better your life. She gives

meditation exercises such as relaxation, focusing, opening up your heart, and

manifesting. She gives these exercises in steps. Step one: relax. She says to relax your

entire body, from body part to body part. Relaxation will slow your heart rate, reduce

stress levels, release physical tension, and help you maintain focus. Which leads you to

step two. This is where you will begin to focus on your mind while you do focused

breathing exercises. Step three: open your heart. This means in a nutshell to have good
 Greaves 4

inventions and give out good intentions. Lastly, step four: manifest. While Dina, the

author of this article believes manifestation, meditation, and mindfulness to positively

affect your life. Doctor Bence Nanay does not. According to the article,

“Anti-Mindfulness” written by Mr. Nanay and published by Psychology Today, he talks

about the problems that arise with the practice of mindfulness and all that it comes

with,”- there are some more serious issues, especially the worrying new findings that

mindfulness meditation often leads to panic attacks and depression.” He says this can

happen due to the stronger focus that we gain during these meditation practices. This

newfounded “stronger focus” can get people to focus so much that they actually aren't

focusing at all. Nanay states, “When mindfulness works, it works not because you are

focusing on the ‘right’ things (your breathing, etc), but because you fail to do so: your

attention roams freely. In short, the real benefit of mindfulness meditation is an

involuntary and unintended byproduct of it that amounts to the exact opposite of what

the ideology of mindfulness is about. It works when it gets you to defocus.”

How can mindfulness reduce stress and anxiety? Simple meditation. Heloise,

contributor to The Washington Post Newspaper, writes in the section titled Hints from

Heloise: Meditation can help anyone with stress and anxiety that, “Meditation involves

sitting quietly and focusing your mind on one thought or physical item for a short period

of time (two 20-minute sessions per day are usually recommended), while controlling

your breathing. This practice can clear your mind, relieve stress and improve your focus,

all done naturally.” How do breathing meditation practices clear your mind and relieve

you of stress and anxiety? According to “The Effects of Mindfulness and Meditation on

the Cingulate Cortex in the Healthy Human Brain: A Review,” written by Sara E.

Zsadanyi, Florian Kurth, Eileen Luders, they state “Interestingly, being mindful and/or

engrossed in the process of meditation involves many different parts of the brain,” and
 Greaves 5

that “having practiced meditation/mindfulness over many years seems to have left an

imprint on (or was facilitated by) a conglomerate of different brain regions.” This proves

to a point that Heloise is correct in her statement that her meditation practice does in fact

clear your mind, relieve stress, and improve focus.

Mindfulness can help you sleep better as well. According to “Mindfulness and

Sleep” article published by the Sleep Health Journal, “The practice of Mindfulness,

designed with a focus on sleep, provides an opportunity to create the mental space

needed to allow sleep to come back. Mindfulness meditation may be effectively

combined with other strategies to change behaviors that might be causing your

ongoing poor sleep.” They describe mindfulness as, “A broad, formal definition is ‘an

intentional act of present-moment awareness without attachment to an outcome’. It

includes elements of awareness, circumspection (being watchful about your thoughts)

and self-compassion. Some key qualities, or principles, in practicing Mindfulness include

non-judgement, patience, non-striving, letting go, acceptance (but not giving up) and

trusting yourself.” How can mindfulness help us sleep? According to the same article,

“You may be anxious about your sleep or catastrophizing about the consequences of

poor sleep. Try to develop thoughts consistent with the following Mindfulness principles

instead of focussing on negative aspects of your sleep.” Then the article lists a series

of ways to get your mind clear, focused, and relaxed to get the most out of a night's

rest. The article gives multiple steps and strategies to get a clear mindset to focus

and relax for the best sleep possible. You can practice “letting go,” this is done by

letting go of your attachment to the idea that sleep is a problem that needs to be

fixed. If you believe you have Insomnia, you subconsciously focus on it and begin to

literally have symptoms of Insomnia. You can also practice “non-striving,” which is

finding a balance between your desire for sleep and simply allowing sleep to unfold.
 Greaves 6

Mindfulness can increase your health and make you a better student. With all

the information we already know, we know that focusing on what you want can make

that want become reality. This can be accomplished by specific meditation practices.

During these meditative, focused- breathing exercises, we manifest our thoughts

with a clear mind and good intentions. This is mindfulness, which is practiced by

many ages, races, and cultures across the world throughout history. According to,

“The role of mindfulness and perceived social support in promoting students'

entrepreneurial intention” written by Anh Bui Ngoc Tuan and Minh Pham, the people

who should practice mindfulness are students. They mention that students are

working hard to become social entrepreneurs but could not figure out what they

needed to become a social entrepreneur. According to the text, “-mindfulness may

be a solution to this problem. Besides, in addition to increasing awareness of

business opportunities, practicing mindfulness increases compassion, which turns

into making more ethical decisions regarding others. Thus, mindfulness is a

precondition for creating motivation for a person to become a social entrepreneur.

Is mindfulness effective, and in what ways? Yes, mindfulness is effective in

multiple ways. After doing my research, I have concluded that mindfulness is effective in

ways like making us a better student, giving us better sleep, relieving stress and anxiety,

and helping our health, and overall lives. To complete my research and answer my

question for once and for all I must ask how does mindfulness work scientifically? How

does focusing and becoming mindful affect your reality and your mental and physical

well being?
 Greaves 7

Works Cited *updated

Bui Ngoc Tuan, Anh, and Minh Pham. “The Role of Mindfulness and Perceived Social Support

in Promoting Students’ Social Entrepreneurial Intention.” Entrepreneurial Business

and Economics Review, vol. 10, no. 1, 2022, pp. 145–160.,

doi.org/10.15678/eber.2022.100110.

Gehart, Diane.”Mindfulness” Masterswork Productions, Films On Demand, Infobase,

23November,2017www.fod-infobase-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=

141500

Heloise. “Perspective | Hints from Heloise: Meditation Can Help Anyone Deal with Stress and

Anxiety.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 17 June 2021,

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/hints-from-heloise-meditation-can-help-anyone

-deal-with-stress-and-anxiety/2021/06/11/00748886-c704-11eb-81b1-34796c7393af_stor

y.html.

Kaplan, Dina. “Meditation for Manifesting Your Dreams - and Accomplishing Your Goals.”

Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021,

www.forbes.com/sites/dinakaplan/2017/04/30/meditation-for-manifesting-your-dreams-

and-accomplishing-your-goals/.

LaPlante, Justin. “History of Mindfulness.” Human Resources, 22 Nov. 2021,

 Greaves 8

www.clarku.edu/offices/human-resources/2021/11/22/history-of-mindfulness/.

“Mindfulness and Sleep.” The Sleep Health Foundation, 13 July 2020,

www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/mindfulness-and-sleep-2.html.

Nanay, Bence. “Anti-Mindfulness.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 5 Sept. 2017,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychology-tomorrow/201709/anti-mindfulne ss.

Steffon, Pattrick. Mindfulness for Everyday Living: A Guide for Mental Health Practitioners.

SPRINGER NATURE, 2021.

Winfrey, Oprah. “Oprah Winfrey: Mindfulness.” Oprah.com, 23 Dec. 2020,

www.oprah.com/own-podcasts/oprah-winfrey-mindfulness.

Winston, Diana. “Guided Meditations.” Guided Meditations - UCLA Mindful Awareness

Research Center - Los Angeles, CA, www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditations.

Zsadanyi, Sara E., et al. “The Effects of Mindfulness and Meditation on the Cingulate Cortex
 Greaves 9

in the Healthy Human Brain: A Review.” Mindfulness, vol. 12, no. 10, 2021, pp.

2371–2387., doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01712-7.