Can Mindfulness Help Patients Make Lasting Changes?

New research looks at whether mindfulness can help people stick with medically recommended lifestyle changes.

Rob Byron/Dollar Photo Club

Can mindfulness help patients stick with lifestyle changes? That’s what researchers at Brown University will look into over the next five years with a $4.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Studies will take place in two phases at Brown, Harvard University, and the University of Massachusetts.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment. Research is starting to show how mind-training like meditation can help us chart new pathways in the brain, regulate our emotions, and form new habits.