Deadly.
Mindfulness has a lot of benefits.
It can lower your stress levels, chill you out, change the way you think, and even make you better at your job.
The practice has become quite popular in recent years too with many citing it as the cheap and easy way to de-stress and declutter your mind.
Well, as it turns out, there may be an even better way to achieve all the benefits of mindfulness without actually taking the time to be mindful at all – by watching David Attenborough documentaries.
The Times reports that a study has shown that watching a few episodes of everybody’s favourite wildlife and planet lad could make you feel as good about yourself as you would if you were being mindful.
And seeing as mindfulness essentially boils down to being super aware of your surroundings and your body, we’d be inclined to believe it for that reason.
And because research is telling us to.
The study, conducted by psychologist Miguel Farias, showed that mindfulness didn’t really have any convincing benefits that couldn’t be achieved from just watching the likes of Blue Planet or Planet Earth.
After 22 trials, the research found that most participants didn’t feel more empathetic or open-minded by practising mindfulness than they did from watching a bit of David.
… Which is honestly good news for us but not the best news for everybody who makes their money teaching people how to be mindful.
That being said, different people find different ways to become more aware of their surroundings, to be happier, and more compassionate.
After all, one man’s David Attenborough could be another man’s intense meditation.
