Mindfulness and Positive Living

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.