Just 10 to 15 minutes of mindfulness practice a day led to reduced stress and anxiety for autistic adults who participated in a study led by scientists at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Participants in the study used a free smartphone app to guide their practice, giving them the flexibility to practice when and where they chose. Mindfulness is a state in which the mind is focused only on the present moment. It is a way of thinking that can be cultivated with practice, often through meditation or breathing exercises ' and evidence is accumulating that practicing mindfulness has positive effects on mental health. The new open-access study, reported April 8 in the journal Mindfulness, adds to that evidence, demonstrating clear benefits for autistic adults. 'Everything you want from this on behalf of somebody you care about happened: reduced reports of anxiety, reduced reports of stress, reduced reports of negative emotions, and increased reports of positive emotions,'...
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