Mindfulness may both moderate and mediate the effect of physical fitness on cardiovascular responses to stress: a speculative hypothesis

This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.The psychological construct of mindfulness refers to an awareness that emerges by intentionally paying attention to the present experience in a non-judgmental or evaluative way. This particular quality of awareness has been associated to several indicators of physical and psychological health, and can be developed using mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), and therefore MBIs have been successfully applied as preventive and complementary interventions and therapies in medicine and psychology. Together with quiet sitting and lying meditation practices, mindful physical exercises such as "mindful walking" and "mindful movement" are key elements in MBIs and couple muscular activity with an internally directed focus, improving interoceptive attention to bodily sensations. In addition, MBIs seem to share similar mechanisms with physical fitness (PF) by which they may influence cardiovascular responses to stress. Based on these facts, it is feasible to raise the question of whether physical training itself may induce the development of that particular quality of awareness associated with mindfulness, or if one's dispositional mindfulness (DM) (the tendency to be more mindful in daily life) could moderate the effects of exercise on cardiovascular response to stress. The role of mindfulness as a mediator or moderator of the effect of exercise training on cardiovascular responses to stress has barely been studied. In this study, we have hypothesized pathways (moderation and mediation) by which mindfulness could significantly influence the effects of PF on cardiovascular responses to stress and discussed potential practical ways to test these hypotheses.Marcelo M. P. Demarzo is grateful to the CNPq - Brazilian National Council for Research and Technology Development for a postdoctoral fellowship under supervision of Professor Javier Garcia-Campayo ("Science without Borders Program"). The authors would like to thank the reviewers for the constructive environment for debating hypotheses and concepts presented herein, which effectively allowed the manuscript's development and improvement.Demarzo, MMP.; Montero-Marin, J.; Stein, PK.; Cebolla, A.; Guixeres Provinciale, J.; Garcia-Campayo, J. (2014). Mindfulness may both moderate and mediate the effect of physical fitness on cardiovascular responses to stress: a speculative hypothesis. Frontiers in Physiology. 5(105):1-8. doi:10.3389/fphys.2014.00105S18510