of the clinical research on mindfulness identified five major mechanisms underlying positive change: relaxation, acceptance, affect tolerance, behavior change, and meta-cognitive awareness/insight. A more recent wave of neuroscientific research correlates these psychological effects with specific brain changes (Lutz et al., 2007). Taken together, a

When you pay attention to your pain mindfully, you’re observing it without fear. Neuroscientists have shown that mindfulness increases feelings of safety by deactivating the brain’s fear circuits. This disrupts the pain-fear cycle and helps your brain interpret signals properly.