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Mindfulness is a conscious state of awareness shown to be effective in emotion regulation and thought suppression in stressful circumstances. Yet little research has evaluated the effects of mindfulness on cognitive-emotion regulation and thought suppression. The present study aims to understand the association between mindfulness, cognitive emotion regulation, and thought suppression. We have utilized three standardized measures: the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the White Bear Suppression Index. 133 (aged 20-60) participants from 16 countries were recruited using snowball sampling. We hypothesized that 1) mindfulness would negatively correlate with thought suppression, 2) mindfulness would negatively correlate with "negative cognitive emotion regulation techniques," and positively with "positive cognitive emotion regulation techniques." And 3) thought suppression would negatively correlate with "positive cognitive emotion regulation techniques" and positively with "negative cognitive emotion regulation techniques." Our results revealed that mindfulness positively correlates with thought suppression. Secondly, mindfulness positively correlated with only one positive cognitive emotion regulation technique, whereas it is negatively correlated with all the negative cognitive emotion regulation techniques. Lastly, thought suppression is negatively correlated with positive cognitive emotion regulation techniques and positively correlated with negative cognitive emotion regulation techniques. The results suggest that the state of mindfulness could help understand the regulation of emotions adaptively and the tendency to suppress thoughts. Although this is a correlation study and provides associations between the variables, it helps us gain insight into the possible benefits of mindfulness, which can be further explored through future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being part of a faith group aids individuals cope and make meaning during extenuating conditions. Research suggests that social connection to a spiritual group facilitates individuals' and communities' well-being. The Covid-19 pandemic presented various socio-emotional difficulties. The present study aims to understand if being a part of a spiritual group helps cultivate spirituality, resilience, hope, and social connectedness and if these factors helped women cope during the pandemic. The study uses a quantitative comparative design, with two groups of women participants (18-40 years). The first group (30) of women belonged to a spiritual group (WSG), and the second (35) group of women were not a part of any spiritual group (WNSG). The data was collected through snowball sampling in Lucknow, and participants completed online self-report measures on Spirituality (Spirituality Assessment Scale), Resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), Hope (Adult Hope Scale), and Social Connectedness (Social Connectedness Scale). To study the level of participation with the spiritual group and their experiences during the pandemic a few open-ended questions were employed. The findings reveal that WSG was more spiritual, resilient, hopeful, and socially connected than WNSG. The association with the spiritual group provided them the means to utilize various adaptable socio/emotional strategies, helping them cope during the pandemic. The current study has significant implications for spirituality and positive psychology in terms of offering efficient stress-reduction techniques for coping. Mental health practitioners can utilize spiritual practices as therapeutic interventions to enhance hope and resilience while facing stressful situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]