Mindfulness Training on Your Own Time is Effective

Mindfulness means being fully present and aware of what’s happening right now, without getting caught up in judgment or distraction. You can learn mindfulness at your convenience, on your own time, with just a workbook and eight weekly training videos through a new self-paced VA program, Learning to Apply Mindfulness to Pain (LAMP).

How Do We Know It Works? 

In a recently published study of over 800 VA patients with pain, significantly more Veterans in the group receiving mindfulness training experienced at least a moderate reduction in pain compared with the group that did not receive this training. This reduction was seen quickly – and was sustained for at least a year.

Veterans in the mindfulness group were more likely to have improvements in pain, anxiety, depression, increased social activity, PTSD, and sleep. 

What Veterans Say About the Benefits of Mindfulness Training

“I definitely find myself using mindful practices and movements to clear my mind and replace negative thought spirals.”

“It has given me the habit and skills to breathe and mindfully attend to pain in the middle of the night, so I can return to sleep.”

“I am not quite so angry and agitated.”

“This program helped me learn to be kind to my body when it was telling me to stop, as opposed to getting angry that I was in pain and unable to do things I used to do.”

How To Learn More

Visit the LAMP webpage. 

Content last updated: January 2026