There are now thousands of studies that have been done on mindfulness. some of the most well-known studies have been done on Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Yet there are many more out there worth exploring. research is showing that mindfulness has many positive impacts on the brain. here are a few to get you started.

> Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults - 4-Week, Koru Mindfulness Program:  A randomized controlled trial of Koru, titled 'A Mindfulness Program for College Students and Other Emerging Adults,' showed that participants reported feeling more calm, improved their mindfulness skills, felt more well rested, and had greater self-compassion.  Results were published in the the May 9, 2014 issue of the Journal of American College Health, and you can read the results here.

> Yale Study On How the Brain Changes When You Meditate:  By charting new pathways in the brain, mindfulness can change the banter inside our heads from chaotic to calm. Dr. Judson Brewer of the Yale School of Medicine, and his colleagues, identified functional changes in the brains of experienced meditators compared to a control group of inexperienced meditators, both at rest and while using mindfulness meditation techniques.  The experienced meditators showed deactivation of the part of the brain known as the default mode network (DMN), a region involved in self-referential processing, including daydreaming.  Thus the meditators had less mind-wandering and showed increased abilities in remaining focused.  Also, the brains of experienced meditators showed different connectivity patterns, i.e. different networks of the brains talking to each other, both during mindfulness meditation and when at rest.  The areas that showed co-activation are crucial regions for concentration and cognitive control.  Research still needs to be done on exactly how these connectivity changes translate into functional changes, yet the fact that the changes were seen during both meditation and resting periods suggests that with practice, meditation may transform the normal, resting functioning of the brain into one that more closely resembles a meditative state.  Read this article from the Yale Scientific about the study and/or check out the abstract.

> Mindful Schools:  In the 2011-12 school year, Mindful Schools partnered with the University of California, Davis to conduct one of the largest randomized-controlled studies to date on mindfulness and children, involving 937 children and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland public elementary schools.  The Mindful Schools curriculum produced statistically significant improvements in paying attention and participation in class activities versus the control group with just 4 hours of mindfulness instruction for the students – a very small, low-cost dose. Further instruction through our training courses could produce even more benefits.  Check out this presentation for more details about the Mindful Schools study.

> Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults, Koru Mindfulness Program:  This study conducted in 2020 by researchers at Denison University, found that participation by students in a 4-week Koru mindfulness meditation class helped them better cope with COVID‐19‐related stress and anxiety. Unlike MBSR and MBCT, researchers found that Koru Mindfulness can yield benefits in four weeks, with modest daily practice outside the session. As a result, this 4-week program may be appealing to emerging adults who want to alleviate psychological distress while increasing their capacity for mindfulness, self‐compassion and overall well‐being. You can read more about this study here.