The Benefits of a Mindfulness Exercise in a Performance Situation

BackgroundMindfulness is a state of nonjudgmental attentiveness to moment-to-moment experiences. Interest in implementing mindfulness-based interventions is growing.ObjectiveWe investigated the benefit of a short mindfulness exercise for mindfulness novices in a performance situation.MethodParticipants (N = 97) engaged in a mindfulness or relaxation exercise and subsequently worked on an achievement test.ResultsParticipants in the mindfulness condition had fewer distracting evaluative thoughts during and experienced less negative affect after the achievement test. Participants also exerted less self-control (vagal withdrawal measured via heart rate variability) during the mindfulness exercise than on the relaxation exercise. In a subsample (n = 84), selected on the basis of serious involvement in the exercise, mindfulness eliminated the negative association between distracting evaluative thoughts and performance. Furthermore, beneficial effects of mindfulness on distractive thoughts were found for partici...