Congratulations to Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate, Mengran Xu, for the wide attention he has received for the importance of his research into mindful meditation.
The research found that mindfulness training may have protective effects on mind wandering for anxious individuals and that meditation practice appears to help them shift attention from their own internal worries to the present-moment external world, enabling them to better focus on a task at hand. “In short, meditation is beneficial in both improving mood and helping people stay focused in their thoughts and also behaviors” according to Mengran.
While not only having significant clinical utility, this research has been discussed in several national and international media outlets including:
Forbes Magazine: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/05/04/mindfulness-meditation-may-help-reduce-mind-wandering-in-people-with-anxiety/#967351267862
Time Magazine: http://time.com/4770572/anxiety-meditation-mindfulness/
Mengran’s research is published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition and co-authored with Waterloo Psychology professors Christine Purdon and Daniel Smilek and Harvard University’s Paul Seli.
