If introspection means analyzing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and ruminating means unproductively dwelling on them, mindfulness is the opposite: simply noticing what we’re thinking, feeling, and doing without judgment or reaction. Yet contrary to popular belief, mindfulness and meditation are not always synonymous. People tend to associate mindfulness with yogis or ashrams or silent retreats, but in recent years, it’s come to encompass a much wider range of activities. This is in no small part due to the work of Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer, who has been researching the topic
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