Enhanced Well-Being Through Mindfulness: Supporting the Gifted Adolescent Journey

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental journey that is both exhilarating and exhausting, especially for those gifted and talented youngsters who are sensitive, intense, and altruistic. This combines with four major changes in brain circuitry that lead to shifts in thinking, feeling, decision-making, and interacting in the teenage mind. In addition, physical maturation complicates the process with additional challenges. Mindfulness and other contemplative practices continue to find evidence-based, effective support for improving and fostering well-being in adolescents. For gifted teens, whose asynchony provides qualitatively different life experiences, beginning regular mindfulness practices can generate an enhanced sense of social and emotional mental health. Mindfulness practices that are pathways to calm and peace are discussed along with recommended apps for centering.