Abstract
For most people in Western society, interest in mindfulness begins with an intention to get help with a specific challenge like stress, anxiety, depression, physical pain, or insomnia. However, many are pleasantly surprised to find that their efforts to establish a regular mindfulness practice also have broad crossover benefits to numerous other aspects of everyday life. Mindfulness practices complement many of the skills and topics that fall under the umbrella of positive psychology. Mindfulness shares much in common with positive psychology, including interests in cultivating awareness of thoughts and emotions, increasing psychological flexibility and emotional intelligence, taking effective action, developing healthy relationships, and facilitating compassion toward self and others. Perhaps the greatest potential of these practices lies in the many ways mindfulness supports positive living in general. This chapter explores how mindfulness practices contribute to many aspects of human flourishing studied in the positive psychology literature, including gratitude, savoring, optimism, positive relationships, and personal agency.
The present moment is filled with joy and happiness . If you are attentive, you will see it.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience, xv, 278–xv, 278.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174794
Emmons, R. A., & Shelton, C. M. (2002). Gratitude and the science of positive psychology. In Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 459–471). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Emmons, R. A., & Stern, R. (2013). Gratitude as a psychotherapeutic intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(8), 846–855. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22020
Kashdan, T. B., & Ciarrochi, J. (Series Ed.). (2013). Mindfulness, acceptance, and positive psychology: The seven foundations of well-being. Oakland, CA: Context Press/New Harbinger Publications.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York, NY: Penguin Press.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1990). Learned optimism. New York: Knopf.
Sharot, T. (2011). The optimism bias. Current Biology, 21(23), R941–R945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.10.030
Sheldon, K. M., & King, L. (2001). Why positive psychology is necessary. American Psychologist, 56(3), 216–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.216
Taren, A. A., Creswell, J. D., & Gianaros, P. J. (2013). Dispositional mindfulness co-varies with smaller amygdala and caudate volumes in community adults. PLoS One, 8(5), e64574. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064574
Taren, A. A., Gianaros, P. J., Greco, C. M., Lindsay, E. K., Fairgrieve, A., Brown, K. W., … Creswell, J. D. (2015). Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: A randomized controlled trial. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(12), 1758–1768. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv066
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Warren, J.S. (2020). Mindfulness and Positive Living. In: Steffen, P.R. (eds) Mindfulness for Everyday Living. Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51618-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51618-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51617-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51618-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)