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After mindfulness is defined, a brief history of the research on the topic to date is reviewed. This work essentially falls into 3 categories: health, business, and education. Considerations of mindlessness as a social issue are then addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Mindfulness is a state of mind which can serve to enhance our health, our performance, and our well‐being. It is best achieved when we are conscious and present, when we recognize the power of our mindsets, and when we proactively seek to view situations not from our old patterned and defaulted ways, but from new angles and possibilities. In the context of stress, mindfulness can be particularly useful. In this chapter, we work to move beyond a mindless view of stress that focuses only on stress's deleterious effects into a mindful view of stress by highlighting the growing body of research demonstrating that stress can have enhancing effects on health, performance, and well‐being. In uncovering this more balanced view of stress, we present research and theory supporting that the degree to which stress produces beneficial or harmful effects depends largely on the mindset through which stress is viewed (i.e., whether the experience of stress is expected to have debilitating or enhancing effects). Moreover, we discuss how mindfulness—including the Western (Langerian) and the ancient Eastern‐derived perspectives—offers effective and powerful tools to access and alter our mindsets deliberately and to flexibly utilize stress as a resource for growth and well‐being.

Mindfulness, achieved without meditation, is discussed with particular reference to learning. Being mindful is the simple act of drawing noveldistinctions. It leads us to greater sensitivity to context and perspective, and ultimately to greater control over our lives. When we engage in mindfullearning, we avoid forming mind-sets that unnecessarily limit us. Many of our beliefs about learning are mind-sets that have been mindlessly accepted to be true. Consideration is given to some of the consequences that result from a mindful reconsideration of these myths of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Current Directions in Psychological Science is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Past research has demonstrated that males outperform females in mathematics (Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., & Lamon, S. J., Psychol Bull 107:139-155, ). Research has also shown that encouraging mindful learning-learning information in a conditional rather than an absolute way-can increase mathematics performance in females (Ritchhart, R., & Perkins, D. N., J Social Issues 56:27-47, ). This paper examines the moderating role of mindful learning for gender differences, by manipulating mindful learning for females' and males' performance on a novel math task. The results from this study show that males performed better than females when mindful learning was not encouraged (absolute instruction), but males and females performed equally well when mindful learning was encouraged (conditional instruction). Thus we find that mindful learning moderates gender differences in math performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Journal of Adult Development is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This chapter examines a novel approach to mindfulness training, optimized for high‐stress contexts, called Mindfulness‐based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT).® MMFT follows in the lineage of warrior traditions that train the body and mind to cultivate two foundational warrior qualities—wisdom and bravery. Wisdom is the ability to see clearly how things are right now and then to use that information to make the most effective choice in the moment. Bravery is the ability to stay present with any experience, even an extremely difficult one, without needing for it to be different. Together, these two qualities are a pathway toward effective action in any sphere, but especially in high‐stress environments. In line with this lineage, MMFT cultivates attentional control and tolerance for challenging experience—two capacities important for enhancing performance and building resilience in high‐stress contexts. This chapter examines some of the possible mechanisms by which MMFT may enhance performance and build resilience, while ameliorating the detrimental effects of such environments. Next, it summarizes the empirical research to date about MMFT, with troops preparing for combat deployments. Finally, it compares MMFT to other approaches for cultivating mindfulness.

Radical in its implications, this original and important work may change forever the views we hold about the nature of learning. In The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer uses her innovative theory of mindulness, introduced in her influential earlier book, to dramatically enhance the way we learn. In business, sports, laboratories, or at home, our learning is hobbled by certain antiquated and pervasive misconceptions. In this pithy, liberating, and delightful book she gives us a fresh, new view of learning in the broadest sense. Such familiar notions as delayed gratification, ”the basics”, or even ”right answers”, are all incapacitating myths which Langer explodes one by one. She replaces them with her concept of mindful or conditional learning which she demonstrates, with fascinating examples from her research, to be extraordinarily effective. Mindful learning takes place with an awareness of context and of the ever-changing nature of information. Learning without this awareness, as Langer shows convincingly, has severely limited uses and often sets on up for failure.With stunning applications to skills as diverse as paying attention, CPR, investment analysis, psychotherapy, or playing a musical instrument, The Power of Mindful Learning is for all who are curious and intellectually adventurous.

The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness brings together the latest multi-disciplinary research on mindfulness from a group of international scholars: Examines the origins and key theories of the two dominant Western approaches to mindfulness Compares, contrasts, and integrates insights from the social psychological and Eastern-derived perspectives Discusses the implications for mindfulness across a range of fields, including consciousness and cognition, education, creativity, leadership and organizational behavior, law, medical practice and therapy, well-being, and sports 2 Volumes