Relation of Mindfulness, Heartfulness and Well-Being in Students during the Coronavirus-Pandemic

The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected the lives of almost everyone. The study’s primary goal is to analyze how mindfulness and heartfulness (gratitude and self-compassion) predict well-being and flourishing during the pandemic. Participants were 216 students completing questionnaires about well-being, flourishing, mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude, physical activity, Coronavirus stress and strain, and demographic information. Participants’ physical activity, strain, stress, and gender were also investigated as possible predictors. Mindfulness predicted well-being and flourishing. These relations were mediated by gratitude and self-compassion. Physical activity also predicted well-being and flourishing, but the Coronavirus stress and strain were unrelated to students’ well-being or flourishing. In an exploratory analysis, three aspects of mindfulness (non-judging, observing, and acting with awareness) predicted well-being, and four (non-judging, describing, observing, and acting with awareness) predicted flourishing. Aspects of heartfulness mediated the relations between these aspects of mindfulness and well-being and flourishing.