So, there’s a great deal of evidence that mindfulness impacts many areas of human functioning and contributes to reducing suffering.

Each of these circles represents one or more meta-analyses (studies of studies) that show benefits from mindfulness.

Meta-analyses are generally considered more reliable and provide stronger proof of effects because the results from participants involved in multiple studies are pooled and the analytic techniques are more robust.

Some problems that have shown scientifically-validated improvements from mindfulness practice include anxiety, depression, burnout, somatoform, sleep and substance abuse problems, as well as workplace stress.