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Mindfulness (psychology)
Encyclopedia
Modern clinical psychology
and psychiatry
since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness (Pali
sati or Sanskrit
smṛti / स्मृति) in Buddhist meditation
.
or involves
or involves
Bishop, Lau, and colleagues (2004) offered a two component model of mindfulness:
In this two-component model, self-regulated attention
(the first component) involves conscious
awareness
of one's current thoughts, feelings, and surroundings, which can result in metacognitive skills for controlling concentration. Orientation
to experience (the second component) involves accepting one's mindstream
, maintaining open and curious attitudes, and thinking in alternative categories (developing upon Ellen Langer
's research on decision-making
). Training in mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices, oftentimes as part of a quiet meditation
session, results in the development of a Beginner's mind, or, looking at experiences as if for the first time.
founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts to treat the chronically ill, which sparked a growing interest and application of mindfulness ideas and practices in the medical world for the treatment of a variety of conditions in people both healthy and unhealthy
. Many of the variety of mindfulness-based clinical treatments we have today are mentioned on this webpage below.
Much of this was inspired by teachings from the East
, and particularly from the Buddhist traditions, where mindfulness is the 7th step of the Noble Eightfold Path
taught by Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha, who founded Buddhism
almost 2,500 years ago. Although originally articulated as a part of what we know in the West as Buddhism, there is nothing inherently religious about mindfulness, and it is often taught independent of religious or cultural connotation.
Teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh
have brought mindfulness to the attention of Westerners. Mindfulness and other Buddhist meditation techniques receive support in the West from figures such as the scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn
, the teacher Jack Kornfield
, the teacher Joseph Goldstein
, the psychologist Tara Brach
, the writer Alan Clements, and the teacher Sharon Salzberg
, who have been widely attributed with playing a significant role in integrating the healing aspects of Buddhist meditation
practices with the concept of psychological awareness and healing. Psychotherapists have adapted and developed mindfulness techniques into a promising cognitive behavioral therapies vis. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced act) ACT was recently reviewed by SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
Mindfulness is often used synonymously with the traditional Buddhist processes of cultivating awareness as described above, but more recently has been studied as a psychological tool capable of stress reduction and the elevation of several positive emotions or traits. In this relatively new field of western psychological mindfulness, researchers attempt to define and measure the results of mindfulness primarily through controlled, randomised studies of mindfulness intervention on various dependent variables. The participants in mindfulness interventions measure many of the outcomes of such interventions subjectively. For this reason, several mindfulness inventories or scales (a set of questions posed to a subject whose answers output the subject's aggregate answers in the form of a rating or category) have arisen. The most prominent include:
Through the use of these scales - which can illuminate self-reported changes in levels of mindfulness, the measurement of other correlated inventories in fields such as subjective well-being, and the measurement of other correlated variables such as health and performance - researchers have produced studies that investigate the nature and effects of mindfulness. The research on the outcomes of mindfulness falls into two main categories: stress reduction and positive-state elevation.
). One field of psychological inquiry into mindfulness is Mindfulness-based stress reduction
or MBSR. Several studies have produced relevant findings:
has stated that an influential definition of mindfulness in the psychology literature (by Bishop et al.) differs in significant ways from how mindfulness was defined by the Buddha himself, and by much of Buddhist tradition. For example, Wallace writes that
Wallace
concludes that "The modern description and practice of mindfulness are certainly valuable, as thousands of people have discovered for themselves through their own practice. But this doesn’t take away from the fact that the modern understanding departs significantly from the Buddha’s own account of sati, and from those of the most authoritative commentators in the Theravada and Indian Mahayana traditions."
Eleanor Rosch
has stated that contemporary "therapeutic systems that include mindfulness" "could as much be called wisdom-based as mindfulness-based." In these therapeutic approaches
William Mikulas, in the Journal of Consciousness Studies
, stated that "In Western psychology, mindfulness and concentration are often confused and confounded because, although in the last few years there has been a moderate interest in mindfulness, there has not been a corresponding interest in concentration. Hence, many mindfulness-based programs are actually cultivating both concentration and mindfulness, but all results are attributed to mindfulness."
(McCracken et al. 2007), stress (Grossman et al. 2004), anxiety and depression
(Hofmann et al. 2010), substance abuse
(Melemis 2008:141-157), and recurrent suicidal behavior (Williams et al. 2006). Bell (2009) gives a brief overview of mindful approaches to therapy
, particularly family therapy
, starting with a discussion of mysticism
and emphasizing the value of a mindful therapist.
developed a reflective parenting
program in 2007 based on Peter Fonagy's work at the Tavistock clinic of London. This program promotes an understanding that the practice of mindfulness meditation provides opportunity for the development and enhancement of reflective functioning as well as for improved self-regulation. The program emphasizes mindfulness practices while teaching parents to self-regulate and to think reflectively about themselves and their children.
meditation, developed Morita therapy
upon principles of mindfulness and non-attachment.
in the early 1940s, mindfulness, referred to as "awareness
", has been an essential part of its theory and practice.
, who trained in the traditional Rinzai School
of Zen
, developed Adaptation Practice (AP) in 1978 based on the profound mindfulness/awareness training of Zen daily-life practice and meditation. Adaptation Practice is used for long-term relief of depression, anxiety, anger, stress and other emotional problems.
developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) over a ten-year period at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
. He (1990:11) defines the essence of MBSR: "This "work" involves above all the regular, disciplined practice of moment-to-moment awareness or mindfulness, the complete "owning" of each moment of your experience, good, bad, or ugly." Kabat-Zinn explains the non-Buddhist universality of MBSR:
MBSR has clinically proven beneficial for people with depression and anxiety disorders. This mindfulness-based psychotherapy is practiced as a form of complementary medicine in over 200 hospitals, and is currently the focus of numerous research studies funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
(MBCT) psychotherapy combines cognitive therapy with mindfulness techniques as a treatment for major depressive disorder.
and others have developed acceptance and commitment therapy
(ACT), originally called "comprehensive distancing", which uses strategies of mindfulness, acceptance, and behavior change.
developed for treating people with borderline personality disorder
. DBT is dialectic
, explains Linehan (1993:19), in the sense of "the reconciliation of opposites in a continual process of synthesis." As a practitioner of Buddhist meditation techniques, Linehan says:
therapy, under development by Ron Kurtz and others, is a somatic psychology
based upon Asian philosophical precepts of mindfulness and nonviolence
.
(IFS), developed by Richard C. Schwartz, emphasizes the importance of both therapist and client engaging in therapy from the Self, which is the IFS term for one’s "spiritual center". The Self is curious about whatever arises in one’s present experience and open and accepting toward all manifestations.
es, universities, government agencies, counseling centers, schools, hospitals, religious groups, law firms, prisons, the army, and other organizations offer training in mindfulness meditation.
In the U.S. business world, interest in mindfulness is rising dramatically. This shows in the popular business press, including books such as Awake at Work (Carroll, 2004) and Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion.
The website of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society and Carroll’s (2007) book, The Mindful Leader, mention many companies that have provided training programs in mindfulness. These include Fortune 500 companies (such as Raytheon, Procter & Gamble
, Monsanto, General Mills, and Comcast) and others (such as BASF Bioresearch, Bose, New Balance, Unilever, and Nortel Networks). Executives who “meditate and consider such a practice beneficial to running a corporation” have included the chairman of the Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford, Jr.
; a managing partner of McKinsey & Co., Michael Rennie; and Aetna International’s former chairman, Michael Stephen. A professional-development program — “Mindfulness at Monsanto” — was started at Monsanto corporation by its CEO, Robert Shapiro.
Sounds True, an audio recordings company, has mindfulness as a core value.
In some newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in fields other than management, one can find indicators of interest in mindfulness in organizations outside of business. This includes legal and law enforcement organizations.
Research on mindfulness in the workplace has been conducted by McCormick and Hunter. Hunter has taught a course on mindfulness to graduate students in business at Claremont Graduate University
, and McCormick has taught mindfulness in the business school of California State University Northridge. In 2000, The Inner Kids Program, a mindfulness-based program developed for children, was introduced into public and private school curricula in the greater Los Angeles area.
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness (Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
sati or Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
smṛti / स्मृति) in Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
.
Definitions
Several definitions of mindfulness have been used in modern psychology. According to various prominent psychological definitions, Mindfulness refers to a psychological quality that involvesbringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis,
or involves
paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally,
or involves
a kind of nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is
Bishop, Lau, and colleagues (2004) offered a two component model of mindfulness:
The first component [of mindfulness] involves the self-regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, thereby allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment. The second component involves adopting a particular orientation toward one’s experiences in the present moment, an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance.
In this two-component model, self-regulated attention
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....
(the first component) involves conscious
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
awareness
Awareness
Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of...
of one's current thoughts, feelings, and surroundings, which can result in metacognitive skills for controlling concentration. Orientation
Orientation (mental)
Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Problems with orientation lead to disorientation, and can be due to various conditions, from delirium to intoxication...
to experience (the second component) involves accepting one's mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
, maintaining open and curious attitudes, and thinking in alternative categories (developing upon Ellen Langer
Ellen Langer
Ellen Jane Langer is professor of psychology at Harvard University who has studied the illusion of control, decision making, aging and mindfulness theory.-Biography:...
's research on decision-making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
). Training in mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices, oftentimes as part of a quiet meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
session, results in the development of a Beginner's mind, or, looking at experiences as if for the first time.
Historical development
In 1979 Dr. Jon Kabat-ZinnJon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of...
founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts to treat the chronically ill, which sparked a growing interest and application of mindfulness ideas and practices in the medical world for the treatment of a variety of conditions in people both healthy and unhealthy
Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
. Many of the variety of mindfulness-based clinical treatments we have today are mentioned on this webpage below.
Much of this was inspired by teachings from the East
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
, and particularly from the Buddhist traditions, where mindfulness is the 7th step of the Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
taught by Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha, who founded Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
almost 2,500 years ago. Although originally articulated as a part of what we know in the West as Buddhism, there is nothing inherently religious about mindfulness, and it is often taught independent of religious or cultural connotation.
Nhat Hanh
Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name...
have brought mindfulness to the attention of Westerners. Mindfulness and other Buddhist meditation techniques receive support in the West from figures such as the scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of...
, the teacher Jack Kornfield
Jack Kornfield
Jack Kornfield is a teacher in the vipassana movement of American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, including as a student of the Thai monk Ajahn Chah...
, the teacher Joseph Goldstein
Joseph Goldstein
Joseph Goldstein is one of the first American vipassana teachers , co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, contemporary author of numerous popular books on Buddhism , resident guiding teacher at IMS, and leader of retreats worldwide on insight and...
, the psychologist Tara Brach
Tara Brach
Tara Brach is a American psychologist and expert on Buddhist meditation. She is also the founder and senior teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, a spiritual community that teaches and practices Vipassana meditation. This group's Wednesday night meeting in Bethesda, Maryland,...
, the writer Alan Clements, and the teacher Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg is a New York Times Best selling author and influential teacher of Buddhist meditation practices in West. She co-founded the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, in 1974...
, who have been widely attributed with playing a significant role in integrating the healing aspects of Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
practices with the concept of psychological awareness and healing. Psychotherapists have adapted and developed mindfulness techniques into a promising cognitive behavioral therapies vis. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced act) ACT was recently reviewed by SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
Scientific research
Over the past 30 years there has been an increase in the number of published studies on mindfulness. The current body of scientific literature on the effects of mindfulness practices is promising despite the presence of many methodological weaknesses. The current research does suggest that mindfulness practices are useful in the treatment of pain, stress, anxiety, depressive relapse, disordered eating, and addiction, among others. Mindfulness has been investigated for its potential benefit for individuals who do not experience these disorders, as well, with positive results. Mindfulness practice improves the immune system and alters activation symmetries in the prefrontal cortex, a change previously associated with an increase in positive affect and a faster recovery from a negative experience.Mindfulness is often used synonymously with the traditional Buddhist processes of cultivating awareness as described above, but more recently has been studied as a psychological tool capable of stress reduction and the elevation of several positive emotions or traits. In this relatively new field of western psychological mindfulness, researchers attempt to define and measure the results of mindfulness primarily through controlled, randomised studies of mindfulness intervention on various dependent variables. The participants in mindfulness interventions measure many of the outcomes of such interventions subjectively. For this reason, several mindfulness inventories or scales (a set of questions posed to a subject whose answers output the subject's aggregate answers in the form of a rating or category) have arisen. The most prominent include:
- the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)
- the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory
- the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills
- the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale.
Through the use of these scales - which can illuminate self-reported changes in levels of mindfulness, the measurement of other correlated inventories in fields such as subjective well-being, and the measurement of other correlated variables such as health and performance - researchers have produced studies that investigate the nature and effects of mindfulness. The research on the outcomes of mindfulness falls into two main categories: stress reduction and positive-state elevation.
Stress reduction
Human response to stressors in the environment produces emotional and physiological changes in individual human bodies in order to cope with that stress. This process most likely evolved to help us attend to immediate concerns in our environment to better our chances of survival, but in modern society, much of the stress felt is not beneficial in this way. Stress has been shown to have several negative effects on health, happiness, and overall wellbeing (see stress (biology)Stress (biology)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
). One field of psychological inquiry into mindfulness is Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a structured complementary medicine program that uses mindfulness in an approach that focuses on alleviating pain and on improving physical and emotional well-being for individuals suffering from a variety of diseases and disorders. The program was established...
or MBSR. Several studies have produced relevant findings:
- Jain and Shapiro (2007) conducted a study to show that mindfulness meditation may be specific in its ability to “reduce distractive and ruminative thoughts and behaviours”, which may provide a “unique mechanism by which mindfulness meditation reduces distress”.
- Arch (2006) found emotional regulation following focused breathing. A breathing group provided moderately positive responses to emotionally neutral visual slides, while "unfocused attention and worry" groups responded significantly more negatively to neutral slides.
- Brown (2003) found declines in mood disturbance and stress following mindfulness interventions.
- Jha (2010) found that a sufficient meditation training practice may protect against functional impairments associated with high-stress contexts.
- Garland (2009) found declines in stress after mindfulness interventions, which are potentially due to the positive re-appraisals of what were at first appraised as stressors.
Elevation of positive emotions and outcomes
While much research centered on mindfulness seeks to reduce stress, another large body of research has examined mindfulness as a tool to elevate and sustain "positive" emotional states as well and their related outcomes:- Fredrickson (2008) studied the building of personal resources through increased daily experiences of positive emotions due to meditation. She found that meditation practice showed increases over time in purpose in life, social support, and decreased illness symptoms.
- Davidson (2003) found that mindfulness meditation increased brain and immune function in positive ways, but highlighted the need for additional research.
- Brown (2009) investigated subjective well-being and financial desire. He found that a large discrepancy between financial desires and financial reality correlated with low subjective well-being but that the accumulation of wealth did not tend to close the gap. Mindfulness however was associated with a lower financial-desire discrepancy and thus a higher subjective well-being, so mindfulness may promote the perception of “having enough”.
- Shao (2009) used a randomised controlled study to illuminate the correlation between MBA candidates subjected to a mindfulness intervention and increased academic performance. He found mindfulness was positively related to performance for women.
- Davidson et al. showed that mindfulness practice improves the immune system and alters activation symmetries in the prefrontal cortex, a change previously associated with an increase in positive affect and a faster recovery time from exposure to a negative experience. These changes in subjects persisted even after periods they were done meditating.
Future directions
The research leaves many questions still unanswered. Much of the terminology used in such research has no cohesive definition. For example, there is a lack of differentiation between "attention" and "awareness" and an interchangeable use of the two in modern descriptions. Buddhist contemplative psychology however, differentiates more clearly, as "attention" in that context signifies an ever-changing factor of consciousness, while "awareness" refers to a stable and specific state of consciousness.Reception and criticism
Various scholars have criticized how mindfulness has been defined or represented in recent western psychology publications. B. Alan WallaceB. Alan Wallace
B. Alan Wallace is an American author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter, and Buddhist practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and physics...
has stated that an influential definition of mindfulness in the psychology literature (by Bishop et al.) differs in significant ways from how mindfulness was defined by the Buddha himself, and by much of Buddhist tradition. For example, Wallace writes that
According to one psychological paper on the topic, mindfulness is “a kind of nonelaborative, nonjudgmental present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is. .... The modern psychological account of mindfulness, which is explicitly based on the descriptions of mindfulness presented in the modern VipassanaVipassanaVipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
(contemplative insight) tradition of Theravada Buddhism.... is oddly at variance with the Buddha’sGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
own description of mindfulness, or satiSatiSati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...
: “And what monks, is the faculty of satiSatiSati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...
? Here, monks, the noble disciple has satiSatiSati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...
, he is endowed with perfect satiSatiSati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...
and intellect, he is one who remembers, who recollects what was done and said long before.” .... So, rather than refraining from labeling or categorizing experiences in a nonjudgmental fashion, in the earliest, most authorititative accounts, satiSatiSati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...
is said to distinguish between wholesome and unwholesome, beneficial and unbeneficial tendencies. The contrast between the ancient and modern accounts is striking.
Wallace
B. Alan Wallace
B. Alan Wallace is an American author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter, and Buddhist practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and physics...
concludes that "The modern description and practice of mindfulness are certainly valuable, as thousands of people have discovered for themselves through their own practice. But this doesn’t take away from the fact that the modern understanding departs significantly from the Buddha’s own account of sati, and from those of the most authoritative commentators in the Theravada and Indian Mahayana traditions."
Eleanor Rosch
Eleanor Rosch
Eleanor Rosch is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in cognitive psychology and primarily known for her work on categorization, in particular her prototype theory, which has profoundly influenced the field of cognitive psychology...
has stated that contemporary "therapeutic systems that include mindfulness" "could as much be called wisdom-based as mindfulness-based." In these therapeutic approaches
Mindfulness would seem to play two roles: as a part of the therapy itself and as an umbrella justification ("empirical") for the inclusion of other aspects of wisdomWisdomWisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
that may be beyond our present cultural assumptions. Where in this is mindfulness in its original sense of the mind adhering to an object of consciousness with a clear mental focus?
William Mikulas, in the Journal of Consciousness Studies
Journal of Consciousness Studies
The Journal of Consciousness Studies is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. It was previously edited by Joseph Goguen. It has been co-edited by the philosopher of mysticism, Robert K.C...
, stated that "In Western psychology, mindfulness and concentration are often confused and confounded because, although in the last few years there has been a moderate interest in mindfulness, there has not been a corresponding interest in concentration. Hence, many mindfulness-based programs are actually cultivating both concentration and mindfulness, but all results are attributed to mindfulness."
Specific mindfulness-based therapy programs
Since 2006 research supports promising mindfulness-based therapies for a number of medical and psychiatric conditions, notably chronic painChronic pain
Chronic pain has several different meanings in medicine. Traditionally, the distinction between acute and chronic pain has relied upon an arbitrary interval of time from onset; the two most commonly used markers being 3 months and 6 months since the initiation of pain, though some theorists and...
(McCracken et al. 2007), stress (Grossman et al. 2004), anxiety and depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
(Hofmann et al. 2010), substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
(Melemis 2008:141-157), and recurrent suicidal behavior (Williams et al. 2006). Bell (2009) gives a brief overview of mindful approaches to therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
, particularly family therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
, starting with a discussion of mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and emphasizing the value of a mindful therapist.
Mindful and Reflective Parenting
Cara Luneau Boulder Institute for Psychotherapy and Research; also Naropa UniversityNaropa University
Naropa University is a private American liberal arts university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher and Oxford University scholar Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda.Naropa describes itself as...
developed a reflective parenting
Reflective Parenting
Reflective Parenting is a theory of parenting developed from the work of psychoanalyst Peter Fonagy and his colleagues at the Tavistock Clinic in London. Fonagy introduced the concept of “reflective functioning”, which is defined as the ability to imagine mental states in self and others...
program in 2007 based on Peter Fonagy's work at the Tavistock clinic of London. This program promotes an understanding that the practice of mindfulness meditation provides opportunity for the development and enhancement of reflective functioning as well as for improved self-regulation. The program emphasizes mindfulness practices while teaching parents to self-regulate and to think reflectively about themselves and their children.
Morita therapy
The Japanese psychiatrist Shoma Morita, who trained in ZenZen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
meditation, developed Morita therapy
Morita therapy
Morita Therapy is a purpose-centered, response oriented therapy from Japan, created in the 1930s by Dr. Shoma Morita.-Background:Dr Shoma Morita was a psychiatrist and department chair at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo...
upon principles of mindfulness and non-attachment.
Gestalt therapy
Since the beginnings of Gestalt therapyGestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
in the early 1940s, mindfulness, referred to as "awareness
Awareness
Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of...
", has been an essential part of its theory and practice.
Adaptation Practice
The British psychiatrist, Clive SherlockClive Sherlock
Clive Sherlock is a British psychiatrist who founded Adaptation Practice in 1977 using Zen Buddhist daily life practice and mindfulness meditation to relieve suffering, including emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, anger and stress....
, who trained in the traditional Rinzai School
Rinzai school
The Rinzai school is , one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji Yixuan...
of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
, developed Adaptation Practice (AP) in 1978 based on the profound mindfulness/awareness training of Zen daily-life practice and meditation. Adaptation Practice is used for long-term relief of depression, anxiety, anger, stress and other emotional problems.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Jon Kabat-ZinnJon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of...
developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) over a ten-year period at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
University of Massachusetts Medical School
The University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system and is home to three schools: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Graduate School of Nursing; a biomedical research enterprise; and a range of...
. He (1990:11) defines the essence of MBSR: "This "work" involves above all the regular, disciplined practice of moment-to-moment awareness or mindfulness, the complete "owning" of each moment of your experience, good, bad, or ugly." Kabat-Zinn explains the non-Buddhist universality of MBSR:
Although at this time mindfulness meditation is most commonly taught and practiced within the context of Buddhism, its essence is universal. … Yet it is no accident that mindfulness comes out of Buddhism, which has as its overriding concerns the relief of suffering and the dispelling of illusions. (2005:12-13)
MBSR has clinically proven beneficial for people with depression and anxiety disorders. This mindfulness-based psychotherapy is practiced as a form of complementary medicine in over 200 hospitals, and is currently the focus of numerous research studies funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapyMindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is psychological therapy which blends features of cognitive therapy with mindfulness techniques of Buddhism. MBCT involves accepting thoughts and feelings without judgement rather than trying to push them out of consciousness, with a goal of correcting...
(MBCT) psychotherapy combines cognitive therapy with mindfulness techniques as a treatment for major depressive disorder.
Acceptance and commitment therapy
Steven C. HayesSteven C. Hayes
Steven C. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is known for an analysis of human language and cognition , and its application to various psychological difficulties .Hayes' work is somewhat controversial, and in 2006 was the...
and others have developed acceptance and commitment therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and commitment therapy or ACT is a cognitive–behavioral model of psychotherapy. It is an empirically-based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways with commitment and behavior-change strategies, to increase psychological...
(ACT), originally called "comprehensive distancing", which uses strategies of mindfulness, acceptance, and behavior change.
Dialectical behavior therapy
Mindfulness is a "core" exercise used in Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a psychosocial treatment Marsha M. LinehanMarsha M. Linehan
Marsha M. Linehan is an American psychologist and author. Linehan is a Professor of Psychology, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and BehavioralSciences at the University of Washington and Director of the Behavioral Research and TherapyClinics...
developed for treating people with borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
. DBT is dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
, explains Linehan (1993:19), in the sense of "the reconciliation of opposites in a continual process of synthesis." As a practitioner of Buddhist meditation techniques, Linehan says:
This emphasis in DBT on a balance of acceptance and change owes much to my experiences in studying meditation and Eastern spirituality. The DBT tenets of observing, mindfulness, and avoidance of judgment are all derived from the study and practice of Zen meditations. (1993:20-21)
Hakomi
HakomiHakomi
Hakomi therapy is a form of body-centered, somatic psychotherapy developed by Ron Kurtz in the 1970s and furthered by a group led by Kurtz in the 80s.- Approach and method:...
therapy, under development by Ron Kurtz and others, is a somatic psychology
Somatic Psychology
Somatic psychology is an interdisciplinary field involving the study of the body, somatic experience, and the embodied self, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to body. The word somatic comes from the ancient Greek somat . The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek psyche and logia...
based upon Asian philosophical precepts of mindfulness and nonviolence
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
.
Internal Family Systems Therapy
Internal Family Systems TherapyInternal Family Systems Model
The Internal Family Systems Model is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. It combines systems thinking with the view that mind is made up of relatively discrete subpersonalities each with its own viewpoint and qualities...
(IFS), developed by Richard C. Schwartz, emphasizes the importance of both therapist and client engaging in therapy from the Self, which is the IFS term for one’s "spiritual center". The Self is curious about whatever arises in one’s present experience and open and accepting toward all manifestations.
Mindfulness meditation in organizations
In the U.S., certain businessBusiness
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es, universities, government agencies, counseling centers, schools, hospitals, religious groups, law firms, prisons, the army, and other organizations offer training in mindfulness meditation.
In the U.S. business world, interest in mindfulness is rising dramatically. This shows in the popular business press, including books such as Awake at Work (Carroll, 2004) and Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion.
The website of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society and Carroll’s (2007) book, The Mindful Leader, mention many companies that have provided training programs in mindfulness. These include Fortune 500 companies (such as Raytheon, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, Monsanto, General Mills, and Comcast) and others (such as BASF Bioresearch, Bose, New Balance, Unilever, and Nortel Networks). Executives who “meditate and consider such a practice beneficial to running a corporation” have included the chairman of the Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford, Jr.
William Clay Ford, Jr.
William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. , is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, and serves as the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, Ford also served as the President, CEO, and COO until turning over those roles to former Boeing executive Alan Mulally in September 2006...
; a managing partner of McKinsey & Co., Michael Rennie; and Aetna International’s former chairman, Michael Stephen. A professional-development program — “Mindfulness at Monsanto” — was started at Monsanto corporation by its CEO, Robert Shapiro.
Sounds True, an audio recordings company, has mindfulness as a core value.
At Sounds True, we strive to practice mindfulness in every aspect of our work. Recognizing the importance of silence, inward attention, active listening and being centered, Sounds True begins its all-company meetings with a minute of silence and maintains a meditation room on-site for employees to utilize throughout the day.
In some newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in fields other than management, one can find indicators of interest in mindfulness in organizations outside of business. This includes legal and law enforcement organizations.
- Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation hosted a workshop on “Mindfulness in the Law & Alternative Dispute Resolution.”
- Police officers in Los Angeles and in Madison, Wisconsin, have received mindfulness training. Many law firms offer mindfulness classes.
- Mindfulness has been taught by The Art of Living Foundation, in prisons, reducing hostility and mood disturbance among inmates, and improving their self esteem.
- There are over 240 mindfulness programs in hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S. Many government organizations offer mindfulness training. Coping StrategiesCoping StrategiesCoping Strategies is treatment designed for posttraumatic stress disorder within United States Armed Forces personnel and their families by the charitable organization Patriot Outreach...
is an example of a program utilized by United States Armed ForcesUnited States armed forcesThe United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
personnel.
Research on mindfulness in the workplace has been conducted by McCormick and Hunter. Hunter has taught a course on mindfulness to graduate students in business at Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University is a private, all-graduate research university located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
, and McCormick has taught mindfulness in the business school of California State University Northridge. In 2000, The Inner Kids Program, a mindfulness-based program developed for children, was introduced into public and private school curricula in the greater Los Angeles area.
See also
- Buddhism and psychologyBuddhism and psychologyBuddhism and psychology overlap in theory and in practice. Over the last century, three strands of interplay have evolved:* Descriptive phenomenology: Western and Buddhist scholars have found in Buddhist teachings a detailed introspective phenomenological psychology .* Psychotherapeutic meaning:...
- Buddhism and scienceBuddhism and scienceBuddhism and science have increasingly been discussed as compatible, and Buddhism has increasingly entered into the science and religion dialogue. The case is made that the philosophic and psychological teachings within Buddhism share commonalities with modern scientific and philosophic thought.For...
- Eastern philosophy and clinical psychologyEastern philosophy and clinical psychologyEastern philosophy in clinical psychology refers to the influence of Eastern philosophies on the practice of clinical psychology based on the idea that East and West are false dichotomies. Travel and trade along the Silk Road brought ancient texts and mind practices deep into the West...
- Research on meditation
- Mindfulness (journal)