The Downside of Mindfulness

Pacific Standard:

Close your eyes. Focus on your breath. Watch, without judgment, as thoughts and feelings arise in your mind, and gradually dissipate.

If those instructions sound familiar to you, you are one of the many people—including myself—who have taken up mindfulness meditation. And for good reason: Recent research has found the practice produces a variety of benefits beyond simple stress reduction, including improved test scores, reduced reflexive racial bias, and even helping dieters avoid temptation.

But it turns out that even this highly positive practice is not immune from producing unintended consequences. Newly published research finds mindfulness meditation makes us more likely to “recall” something that never actually happened.

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard