A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training
The Journal of Positive Psychology March 24, 2015 Hooria Jazaieri, Ihno A. Lee, Kelly Mcgonigal et al. 90 citations
A nine-week compassion meditation program reduced mind wandering to neutral topics and increased self-directed caring behaviors among 51 adults. More frequent meditation practice was linked to less mind wandering to unpleasant topics and more mind wandering to pleasant topics, and both changes were associated with increased caring behaviors for oneself and others. Overall, mind wandering did not mediate the relationship between meditation frequency and caring behaviors when all topics were combined, but topic-specific mind wandering did play a role.