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Mindfulness

Within the Buddhist tradition, mindfulness is a part of the path toward understanding the nature of suffering and how to free ourselves from it. It helps us to become aware of and work with the vulnerabilities, challenges, and suffering that are part of being human (Gunaratana, 2002). Mindfulness has been defined as the awareness that emerges when we pay attention to experience on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally (Kabat-Zinn, 1994).

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What Is Mindfulness?

Crane (2017) describes three broad elements of mindfulness teaching and how, in a Buddhist context, they are taught as an integrated system that offers the potential to develop insight and new perspectives, and to foster personal transformation:

  • the development of mindful awareness by a combination of systematic and informal practice;

  • an attitudinal framework characterized by kindness, curiosity, and a willingness to be present with the unfolding of experience;

  • a deep understanding of the nature of suffering.

The practice of mindfulness has been taken from its original Buddhist context and used as a technique within a number of psychotherapy frameworks including mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and compassion-focused therapy (CFT).

References

  • Crane, R. (2017). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. CBT Distinctive Features Series. New York: Routledge.

  • Gunaratana, H. (2002). Mindfulness in Plain English (Revised and Expanded ed.). Boston: Widom.

  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion

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