Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues conducted two studies with a total of 339 participants who were randomly assigned to 6 week workshops either to learn mindfulness meditation or to learn loving-kindness meditation. Each workshop met for one-hour each week, and participants were encouraged to practice the assigned type of meditation on their own for 20 minutes a day for 3 to 5 days a week. The participants tracked their meditation practice using a diary and their emotions using the modified Differential Emotions Scale each day. The researchers found that both mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation increased positive emotions, and also that those who meditated longer or more frequently had greater increases in positive emotions. (Fredrickson et al. Positive emotion correlates of meditation practice: a comparison of mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation. Mindfulness 2017; doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0735-9).
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