Do Women and Men Experience Mindfulness Differently?

"This perplexed my colleague but made eminent sense to me. In evolutionary terms, think of our ancestral hunter-gatherers. Males hunting that woolly mammoth had to have incredible, one-pointed mindful awareness, no distractions. Otherwise, they'd more likely be dinner than kill dinner. These males, excellent at combat, hunting, and present-moment awareness, were more likely to survive and procreate (à la Darwin), leading to more men proficient at mindful, present-moment awareness."

"But what about women? Left in the cave (or outside, planting and gathering), perhaps they didn't need so much single-pointed awareness. Imagine: they were preparing for that baby kicking inside them while tanning pelts for new clothes. What to make for dinner has always been a question, Cave Version 1.0. And when a sister went off to trade in the next village, they watched that sister's children along with their own."

Human brains evolved over millennia, and mindfulness and meditation emerged during human history. Men appear more adept at some facets of mindfulness, while women are more adept at others. A study of nurse anesthetist students found male participants scored significantly higher on mindfulness than female participants. An evolutionary explanation suggests male hunter-gatherers required intense single-pointed awareness for hunting and combat, increasing survival and reproductive success. Female ancestral roles favored multitasking—childcare, gathering, preparing food and clothing, and watching others' children—leading to different attentional strengths. Many women report difficulty clearing the mind when beginning meditation, experiencing repeated thought intrusions.

Read at Psychology Today