Can Mindfulness Change How We Interpret Emotional Situations? - Mindful

• When we’re facing uncertainty, mindfulness skills may help us to interpret situations as more positive than negative
• Throughout the day, our brain must interpret the meaning of many kinds of emotional, physical, and social stimuli
• Research in the field of psychology has found that people tend to have a default negative reaction to these cues
• Individuals who have a negative valence bias are at a greater risk of developing symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders
• It may be possible for us to reduce our tendency toward a negative bias, and shift to a more positive interpretation of uncertainty.

The number of articles published on the effects of mindfulness has grown exponentially in recent decades and has revealed the significant benefits that mindfulness-based interventions can have for our ability to feel and express our emotions. However, there are some limitations to this data

Studies have mainly focused on short-term outcomes of the MBSR program and have not assessed the long-term impacts beyond the end of the intervention. Researchers rely on self-report measures, which could mean that participants alter their responses based on how they think the researchers want them to answer