Research Thursday: Mindfulness Isn't Just About Paying Attention. It's About What You Do Next.
Raugh, I. M., Berglund, M. B., & Strauss, C. (2025). Implementation of mindfulness-based emotion regulation strategies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Affective Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-025-00377-z
If you've ever tried mindfulness before, you may have had an experience like this:
"Okay... I'm noticing that I'm anxious."
And then...
"Great. Now what?"
For many people, that's where mindfulness stops. We notice our emotions, but we don't necessarily feel any better.
That's why today's research article caught my attention. Instead of asking, "Does mindfulness work?" the researchers asked a much more interesting question:
What part of mindfulness actually helps?
After analyzing 110 studies involving more than 8,000 participants, they came to a conclusion that may feel counter-intuitive!
Two Parts of Mindfulness
To answer their question, the researchers looked at two distinct components of mindfulness.
The first is monitoring—simply noticing what's happening inside us. It sounds like:
"I'm feeling anxious."
"My chest feels tight."
"I'm having the thought that I'm going to mess this up."
This is the part of mindfulness that most of us are familiar with. We learn to pay attention to our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without immediately getting swept away by them.
But the researchers didn't stop there. They also looked at a second component called equanimity.
Equanimity is our ability to let an emotion be present without immediately trying to fix it, judge it, avoid it, or make it disappear. In other words, it's not just noticing what's happening—it's changing how we relate to what's happening.
What I found most interesting was this: simply noticing our emotions had a relatively small effect on emotion regulation. The bigger improvements came when awareness was paired with acceptance.
It's the difference between saying,
"I notice I'm anxious."
and,
"I notice I'm anxious... and I'm not going to spend the next ten minutes fighting the fact that I'm anxious."
Why This Is So Hard
This can be much harder than it sounds, and I think a large part of why is cultural.
Most of us have been conditioned to meet discomfort with resistance. We fight anxiety. We battle depression. We conquer fear. We eliminate stress. Even the language we use suggests that difficult emotions are opponents we can and should defeat.
That language makes sense in some contexts, but it can also teach us that feeling something painful means something has gone wrong or, worse, that we've gone wrong. So when anxiety shows up, we don't simply experience anxiety. We immediately start trying to get rid of it. We criticize ourselves for feeling it, search for the fastest way out, or even become anxious about being anxious. (GAH!)
But acceptance asks us to do something almost completely opposite to what we've spent our lives practicing.
It asks us to pause before reacting. To stop treating every uncomfortable feeling like an emergency. Not because the emotion is pleasant or welcome, but because fighting our internal experience is often what keeps us stuck in it.
I want to be clear: acceptance doesn’t mean approving of the emotion. And it isn't giving up or deciding that nothing can change. It's simply acknowledging reality:
"This is what is happening inside me right now."
That shift can feel surprisingly passive in a culture that prizes action, control, and overcoming.
But acceptance isn't the absence of a response.
It's what creates the space for a more intentional one.
When we stop spending all of our energy waging war against an emotion, we have more room to understand it, care for ourselves within it, and choose what comes next.
This Is Why I LOVE the RAIN Framework
As I was reading the paper, I kept thinking about Tara Brach's RAIN practice.
While this study wasn't specifically evaluating RAIN, I love how Brach’s framework naturally guides us through the very skills the researchers were studying.
RAIN stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nuture.
Here’s how it works:
RECOGNIZE
Notice what's happening.
Without judgment.
Without trying to change it.
Just notice.
ALLOW
This is often the hardest step, but this is the part the reseach supported as so important!
We've spent a lifetime practicing how to escape discomfort. Allowing asks us to do something that can feel deeply counterintuitive: to stay with the experience long enough to understand it.
We're not resigning ourselves to anxiety.
We're simply choosing not to wage war against the fact that it exists.
INVESTIGATE
Now that we're no longer fighting the emotion, we have room to get curious.
Where do I feel this in my body?
What does this emotion seem to be trying to communicate?
What story is my mind telling?
Curiosity opens doors that criticism never can.
NURTURE
Finally, we respond with kindness and self-compassion. (This can also be so difficult for many people!)
Maybe that's putting a hand on your chest, taking a slow breath, and simply saying:
"This is hard. I'm doing the best I can right now."
Why This Matters
One of the things I hear most often in therapy is:
"I'm really aware of my anxiety... but I don't know what to do with it."
Awareness is important. It's the first step.
But awareness without acceptance can sometimes become another form of hypervigilance. We become experts at tracking every uncomfortable sensation without ever helping our nervous system feel safe enough to move through it.
But the research suggests that the shift doesn't happen because we become better at noticing our emotions. The shift happens because we change our relationship with them.
A Personal Note
I wish I could tell you this comes naturally to me, but it doesn’t! My instinct is often the same as everyone else's—to solve, fix, analyze, or outrun whatever I'm feeling.
When I notice myself doing that, there's a poem I return to again and again: The Guest House by the 13th-century poet Rumi.
The poem invites us to imagine each emotion as a visitor arriving at our door. Rather than slamming the door or pretending no one is home, it encourages us to greet each guest with curiosity—even the ones we never would have invited.
It's a perspective I return to often because it reminds me that difficult emotions aren't interruptions to life. They're part of it. If we can let them, maybe they can even be our guides.
Maybe that's what this research is really pointing us toward:
Mindfulness isn't simply paying attention.
It's learning to open the door instead of barricading it.
Not because every guest is pleasant.
But because fighting the knock doesn't keep anyone from arriving.
So the next time you notice a difficult emotion, maybe give the RAIN practice a try!
Just notice.
Allow.
Get curious.
Offer yourself kindness.
Maybe healing doesn't begin when the anxiety leaves.
Maybe it begins the moment we stop pretending it isn't standing at the door.
Interested in Learning More?
If you'd like to experience these ideas in practice:
Check out Tara Brach's guided RAIN meditations on Insight Timer. They're a wonderful place to begin if you're curious about approaching difficult emotions with more awareness, acceptance, and self-compassion.
I also highly recommend her book Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha for a deeper dive on the topics of mindfulness and acceptance!
And if you're finding yourself stuck in cycles of anxiety, overwhelm, or self-criticism, therapy can help you build a different relationship with your emotions. Feel free to explore my Adult Counseling page or schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we'd be a good fit!