Factors that make a mindful walking retreat effective include encountering nature, negotiating obstacles, the walk's duration, and walking in silence. The retreat followed a largely unpaved route along a lowland river and estuary in the Netherlands, where participants made their own choices to find their way. Most participants had a history of depression. Interviews, along with diary and questionnaire data, were analyzed through iterative coding to identify these conducive factors. The findings can help design effective walking retreats and support offering mindful walking retreats as a regular part of mindfulness programs.
A daily diary study with a randomized controlled design assigned couples to either an 8-week mindfulness-based course or an active control positive psychology course, with only one partner participating. Both course participants and their non-meditating partners in the mindfulness condition showed reductions in negative emotion over time. Partners in the mindfulness condition also showed a significant increase in nonreactivity, a facet of mindfulness not seen in the control group. The previous day's nonreactivity of the course-participating partner predicted the non-meditating partner's negative emotion, suggesting nonreactivity may be an important interpersonal outcome and mechanism of meditation interventions.