In a world where stress and anxiety constantly hum, mindfulness seems increasingly effective. But you don’t need expensive retreats or hours of daily meditation. Sparing just ten minutes a day for mindfulness can lead to significant improvements in mental health, a new study finds.
Researchers from the Universities of Bath and Southampton discovered that brief daily mindfulness practices can ease depression, reduce anxiety, and encourage healthier habits. These practices ranged from simple breathing exercises to reflections designed to improve awareness.
Even more intriguing, these benefits were linked to shifts in how participants thought about their health—specifically, stronger intentions to engage in healthy behaviors and more positive attitudes toward maintaining their well-being.
A Brief Pause, Long-Lasting Effects
The study, led by Masha Remskar of the University of Bath, involved over 1,200 participants from 91 countries. They were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness program or a control group that listened to audiobooks.
Mindfulness, at its core, is about paying attention to the present moment without judgment. It’s a practice that has been around for centuries. For their study, the researchers turned to a free app called Medito, which guides users through 10-minute daily sessions. These sessions include relaxation exercises, body scans, and focused breathing—simple techniques that anyone can do, even with no prior experience.
The participants engaged in mindfulness or listened to excerpts from “Alice in Wonderland” (the control group) for 30 days. They completed an emotional wellness test at the start and end of the 30-day period. The results were quite striking:
- Depression decreased by 19.2% more in the mindfulness group than the control group.
- Anxiety fell by an additional 12.6%.
- General wellbeing improved by 6.9%.
- Positive attitudes toward health increased by 7.1%.
- Intentions to adopt healthier behaviors rose by 6.5%.
Remarkably, these benefits persisted even one month after participants stopped their mindfulness sessions. Follow-up surveys showed sustained improvements in wellbeing, reduced depression, healthier attitudes, and better sleep quality.
Participants reported stronger intentions to engage in healthy behaviors, like exercising or eating well, and more positive attitudes toward maintaining their health. These shifts in thinking, the researchers suggest, might be why mindfulness has such a lasting impact on mental health.
Personal Experiences with Mindfulness
“Awareness, self-control, gratitude, I am more patient, and I take more joy from the present moment,” said one participant.
“Clear mind. Feeling like everything’s under control and I’ll be able to do what I set my mind to,” another said after the experience with this 30-day trial.
“Completing these meditation sessions has given me a better understanding of the function of my mind. They have helped me to gain a better insight on many things and shown me a different lens through which to look at the world. Words coming to mind: helpful, insightful and motivational,” reported another.
These findings underscore the strength of digital mindfulness programs and their ability to reach a wide audience. Unlike traditional in-person interventions, which can be costly and time-consuming, mindfulness apps and can be used anywhere, anytime. And as this study shows, they’re remarkably effective. This makes them particularly valuable in a world where mental health resources are often scarce or inaccessible.
“It’s exciting to see the benefits of mindfulness extending beyond depression, well-being and anxiety and into other health behaviours such as sleeping better and building stronger intentions to live a healthy lifestyle. Mindfulness builds the psychological skills you need to build healthy habits—we hope to show in future work that once you’ve got those skills you can use them to improve several health behaviours from exercising regularly to stopping smoking,” Remskar said.
But the researchers caution that mindfulness isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. While the study found significant benefits, it also had a high dropout rate—only about 24% of participants completed the post-intervention survey. While digital mindfulness can be effective, it may not work for everyone.
Nevertheless, the next time you feel overwhelmed, consider taking a digital pause. Your mind—and your body—might thank you.
“It is exciting to see that such a light-touch, affordable, intervention that has the potential to reach a large global audience can have an impact on healthy lifestyle behaviours. It is even more encouraging that these benefits were sustained after the mindfulness course ended, suggesting this practice can help build sustainable habits,” said Dr. Max Western, another co-author from the University of Bath.
The findings appeared in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
