mindfulness and peark experiene, procedure and explanation from affective neuroscience, in two minutes Procedure: Consistent alternation between a resting protocol (e.g. mindfulness) and the pursuit of meaningful behavior will increase motivation and positive affect (arousal and pleasure). Explanation: Resting elicits opioid activity, or feels pleasurable, and meaningful behavior, as defined as behavior that has branching novel and positive outcomes (writing that great novel or just making the bed) elicits dopamine activity which causes arousal. The awareness of subsequent meaningful behavior while engaging in relaxation protocols such as mindfulness elicits a ‘priming’ response, namely dopamine release that increases opioid activity, and vice versa, making meaningful behavior seem self-reinforcing or ‘autotelic’. Although, mindfulness reduces discursive thought; it does not inhibit concurrent non-conscious awareness or anticipation of behavior or events subsequent to meditation that can in turn shape or ‘prime’ affective responses during a meditative session. A priming response, like the salivary response that precedes food or the sexual arousal that precedes intimacy, is a preparatory response that often occurs non-consciously, and changes the affective value or ‘feeling’ in the moment. Similarly, relaxing or ‘being in the moment’ is pleasurable, but if we were told to expect ‘bad’ news or ‘good’ news in the near future, just the awareness of future events is enough to depress or elevate our feelings, but not altering in the slightest our ‘mindful’ or relaxed state. It follows that if mindfulness is paired with the awareness of subsequent positive or meaningful behavior, then rest in mindfulness will have a greater affective tone or ‘feel better’ than if such a prospect was absent. This is perhaps why ‘savoring’, ‘loving kindness’ meditation, and ‘flow’ experiences represent highly pleasurable and arousing experiences that map positive ideation to relaxed states and contrast with a lower level of pleasure during typical states of rest that generally precede a return to meaningless discursive thinking. From ‘the book of rest, the odd psychology of doing nothing’ on scribd