When Lokesh Joshi was studying glycobiology as a postdoc at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, he had mentors who helped to guide his research — and others who trained him in the practice of mindfulness. For up to 45 minutes each morning, in accordance with his teachers' counsel, he would sit on the carpet in a corner of his apartment, close his eyes and focus on his breathing or on the functioning of his internal organs, second by second. “This helped me find my own point of stillness — what I call grounding,” he explains.

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After regularly practising this morning routine, Joshi found that he could think more clearly, and that he felt better. He no longer had sweaty palms when he was about to give a talk at a conference, for example, nor did he feel anxious or defensive when a manuscript got rejected or needed major revisions. “It helped me take a step back and not react too quickly to my emotions,” he says. And on days that he did not engage in mindfulness practice, he could tell the difference — his stress levels would ratchet up and his ability to concentrate would decrease.

Now vice-president for research at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, Joshi continues to practise mindfulness on a daily basis, during his 1.5-kilometre walk to and from his office. He thinks that it is a crucial soft skill for researchers, and he values it so strongly that he organized and spoke at a university conference on the subject in October. The university has also launched a lecture series and free drop-in classes on the art.

Mindfulness has long been in use in the corporate, entrepreneurial and other sectors. It is more than a new-age buzzword, said speakers at the conference. “In academic circles, there is fear about mindfulness because people believe it could stop you from thinking,” says Gelong Thubten, a Tibetan Buddhist monk at the Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery near Langholm, UK, who conducted mindfulness sessions during the conference. “But we are not trying to get rid of thoughts — it is the mind that you are training. We are looking at the container, not the content.”

Present thoughts

What is mindfulness, exactly? It is training the mind to focus on the moment, and to acknowledge thoughts and feelings without judging them. It is often likened to fitness training for the mind, and there are innumerable ways to practise it. One simple way is to pay attention to breathing with one's eyes either open or closed. The idea, Thubten says, is to train the mind to centre exclusively on the breath, and to bring it back when it wanders. Another approach is to zero in on sensory input. For example, when a person is washing his or her hands, he or she can focus on the feeling of wet, slippery skin and on the sound of running water.

Mindfulness is useful for researchers, because they can practise it when they are upset or stressed. It does not require special equipment or clothing or leaving the lab, as does going for a run or stepping out to get coffee, for example.

Practising mindfulness helped Joshi when a fellowship fell through and he faced the possibility of losing his US visa. His mastery of the skill helped him to remain calm, he says, and to realize that he could reach out to his supervisor, who was able to secure bridge funding until Joshi could get another fellowship.

Research has suggested that mindfulness helps to improve personal well-being as well as the capacity to relate to others. A meta-analysis this year of 29 studies on mindfulness found that practising it regularly can help to decrease stress and alleviate anxiety and depression (B. Khoury et al. J. Psychosom. Res. 78, 519–528; 2015). Some governments have also acknowledged its validity.

We are not trying to get rid of thoughts. We are looking at the container, not the content.

The industry and art sectors are embracing the practice. It helps entrepreneurs to build resilience, says angel investor Peter Read, a former general partner at Google Ventures in London, which offers guided sessions to its employees on how to develop and use the skill. Mary Hawkes Greene, president of the Burren College of Art near Ballyvaughan, Ireland, says that engagement in mindfulness helps artists to hone their creativity, which, she notes, also plays a significant part in scientific research.

Other academic institutions have long acknowledged the value of mindfulness practice. In 2002, for example, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, introduced a course for all medical students to help them to cope with the pressures of their studies and of working with patients. It has since been made available to other Monash students and to the general public as one of the university's massive open online courses, known as MOOCs.

PhD student Ping Wong, who is studying cognitive impairment at Monash, used to lie awake at night stressing about whether she could recruit enough volunteers for a clinical trial or would have enough time to prepare abstracts for a medical conference. Once she learned how to practise mindfulness, she felt much calmer. “I used my breath as an anchor and fell into deeper sleep more easily,” she says. She has noticed that her memory has also improved, particularly when it comes to details such as remembering the names of her patients.

Yet scepticism about the skill's efficacy remains, owing mainly to a paucity of empirical data. “The instruments to measure mindfulness are highly controversial,” says Jutta Tobias, a social psychologist at the Cranfield University School of Management, UK. Some researchers argue that assessments of its usefulness so far have been ineffective, in part because of their self-reporting nature and because they assess the skill by measuring attention span, which is not relevant to the practice and so, they say, not a valid method. Instead of attempting to measure mindfulness itself, Tobias's research now studies the outcomes of receiving training in the art.

Both Joshi and Jim Browne, president of NUI Galway, hope that the university's lecture series will help researchers to recognize the value of such a skill. “Let's throw a pebble in the pond,” says Joshi, “and watch the ripples spread.”