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* After the chapter: Effects on Mindfulness

Mindfulness in interpersonal context

As evidence of mindfulness increased, some researchers started bringing their attention to other subfields, such as practicing mindfulness during social interactions. One form of it for example is called ‘’Mindful parenting’’, which has aided in the decrease of children’s maladaptive behaviors by increasing parent attention to the present moment, increasing engagement with the child, and decreasing judgment of the situation. Other researchers decided to go with a broader scope definition and started studying what they simply call ‘’Interpersonal mindfulness’’.

People who are interpersonally mindful are aware of their inner experience, but at the same time, they pay attention to what seems to be “going on” with the other person, picking up clues on the other person’s apparent mood, verbal tone, and body language. This allows a loosening of limiting patterns such as: negative emotional responses based on past interpersonal experiences, an inability to listen to others deeply because we focus on what we want to say next, or misinterpretation of emotional signals because of an ongoing internal narrative that distorts the ability to see the other person clearly. Given not only the added challenge of remaining attentive to oneself and to another person simultaneously, but also of the possible loosening of these limiting patterns, interpersonal mindfulness could be seen as a different skillset independent from the type of mindfulness acquired when sitting on a cushion. It is important to note though that not much research has yet been done on interpersonal mindfulness and its effects, so any predictions at this point are still speculative.