From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of
meditation and other training. The term "mindfulness” correlates with the
Pali term
sati, which is a significant element of Buddhist traditions.
In Buddhist teachings, mindfulness is utilized to develop
self-knowledge and wisdom that gradually lead to what is described as
enlightenment or the complete freedom from suffering. The recent popularity of mindfulness in the modern context is generally considered to have been initiated by
Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Studies have shown that
rumination and worry contribute to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, and that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in the reduction of both rumination and worry.
Clinical psychology and
psychiatry
since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications
based on mindfulness for helping people who are experiencing a variety
of psychological conditions. For example, mindfulness practice is being employed to reduce depression symptoms, to reduce stress,
anxiety, and in the treatment of
drug addiction. The practice of mindfulness also appears to provide numerous therapeutic benefits to people with psychosis, and may also be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental health problems.
Clinical studies have documented both physical and mental health
benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in
healthy adults and children.
Programs based on Kabat-Zinn's and similar models have been widely
adopted in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other
environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional
outcomes such as for healthy aging, weight management, athletic
performance, for children with special needs, and as an intervention
during the perinatal period. The necessity for more high-quality
research in this field has also been identified – such as the need for
more randomized controlled studies, for providing more methodological
details in reported studies and for the use of larger sample sizes.
Meditation method
Mindfulness
meditation involves the process of developing the skill of bringing
one’s attention to whatever is happening in the present moment.
There are several meditation exercises designed to develop mindfulness
meditation. One method is to sit on a straight-backed chair or sit
cross-legged on the floor or a cushion, close one’s eyes and bring
attention to either the sensations of breathing in the proximity of
one’s nostrils or to the movements of the abdomen when breathing in and
out.
In this meditation practice, one does not try to control one’s
breathing, but attempts to simply be aware of one’s natural breathing
process/rhythm.
When engaged in this practice, the mind will often run off to other
thoughts and associations, and if this happens, one passively notices
that the mind has wandered, and in an accepting, non-judgmental way,
returns to focusing on breathing.
Other meditation exercises to develop mindfulness include
body-scan meditation where attention is directed at various areas of the
body and noting body sensations that happen in the present moment.
Engaging in yoga practices, while attending to movements and body
sensations, as well as walking meditation are other methods of
developing mindfulness. One could also focus on sounds, sensations, thoughts, feelings and actions that happen in the present. In this regard, a famous exercise, introduced by Kabat-Zinn in his
MBSR program, is the mindful tasting of a raisin, in which a raisin is being tasted and eaten mindfully.
Meditators are recommended to start with short periods of 10
minutes or so of meditation practice per day. As one practices
regularly, it becomes easier to keep the attention focused on breathing.
Translations and definitions
Buddhism
Mindfulness meditation is part of Buddhist psychological traditions and the developing scholarship within empirical psychology.
Sati and smṛti
The Buddhist term translated into English as "mindfulness" originates in the Pali term
sati and in its Sanskrit counterpart
smṛti. According to Robert Sharf, the meaning of these terms has been the topic of extensive debate and discussion.
Smṛti
originally meant "to remember," "to recollect," "to bear in mind," as
in the Vedic tradition of remembering the sacred texts. The term
sati also means "to remember." In the
Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta the term
sati means to remember the
dharmas, whereby the true nature of phenomena can be seen. Sharf refers to the
Milindapañha, which explained that the arisement of
sati calls to mind the wholesome
dhammas such as the four establishings of mindfulness, the five faculties, the
five powers, the seven awakening-factors, the noble eight-factored path, and the attainment of insight. According to Rupert Gethin,
[sati] should be understood as what allows awareness of the full range and extent of dhammas; sati is an awareness of things in relation to things, and hence an awareness of their relative value. Applied to the satipaṭṭhānas, presumably what this means is that sati
is what causes the practitioner of yoga to "remember" that any feeling
he may experience exists in relation to a whole variety or world of
feelings that may be skillful or unskillful, with faults or faultless,
relatively inferior or refined, dark or pure."
Sharf further notes that this has little to do with "bare attention," the popular contemporary interpretation of
sati, "since it entails, among other things, the proper discrimination of the moral valence of phenomena as they arise."
Translation
The Pali-language scholar
Thomas William Rhys Davids (1843–1922) first translated
sati in 1881 as English
mindfulness in
sammā-sati "Right Mindfulness; the active, watchful mind". Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered
sammā-sati as "Correct meditation", Davids explained:
sati is literally 'memory' but is used with reference to the constantly repeated phrase 'mindful and thoughtful' (sato sampajâno);
and means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is
one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good Buddhist."
Alternate translations
John D. Dunne asserts that the translation of
sati and
smṛti
as mindfulness is confusing. A number of Buddhist scholars have started
trying to establish "retention" as the preferred alternative.
Bhikkhu Bodhi also points to the meaning of "sati" as "memory". The terms sati/smriti have been translated as:
- Attention (Jack Kornfield)
- Awareness
- Concentrated attention (Mahasi Sayadaw)
- Inspection (Herbert Guenther)
- Mindful attention
- Mindfulness
- Recollecting mindfulness (Alexander Berzin)
- Recollection (Erik Pema Kunsang, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)
- Reflective awareness (Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)
- Remindfulness (James H. Austin)
- Retention
- Self-recollection (Jack Kornfield)
Psychology
A.M.
Haynes and G. Feldman have highlighted that mindfulness can be seen as a
strategy that stands in contrast to a strategy of avoidance of emotion
on the one hand and to the strategy of emotional overengagement on the
other hand. Mindfulness can also be viewed as a means to develop self-knowledge and wisdom.
Trait, state and practice
According
to Brown, Ryan, and Creswell, definitions of mindfulness are typically
selectively interpreted based on who is studying it and how it is
applied. Some have viewed mindfulness as a mental state, while others
have viewed it as a set of skills and techniques. A distinction can also be made between the
state of mindfulness and the
trait of mindfulness.
According to David S. Black, whereas "mindfulness" originally was
associated with esoteric beliefs and religion, and "a capacity
attainable only by certain people", scientific researchers have translated the term into measurable terms, providing a valid operational definition of mindfulness. Black mentions three possible domains:
- A trait, a dispositional characteristic (a relatively long lasting trait), a person's tendency to more frequently enter into and more easily abide in mindful states;
- A state, an outcome (a state of awareness resulting from mindfulness training), being in a state of present-moment awareness;
- A practice (mindfulness meditation practice itself).
Trait-like constructs
According to Brown, mindfulness is:
A quality of consciousness manifest in, but not isomorphic with, the activities through which it is enhanced."
Several mindfulness measures have been developed which are based on self-reporting of trait-like constructs:
- Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)
- Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI)
- Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS)
- Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale (CAMS)
- Mindfulness Questionnaire (MQ)
- Revised Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale (CAMS-R)
- Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS)
State-like phenomenon
According
to Bishop, et alia, 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 Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) measures mindfulness as a
state-like phenomenon, that is evoked and maintained by regular
practice.
- The State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) is a 21-item survey with an
overall state mindfulness scale, and 2 sub-scales (state mindfulness of
mind, and state mindfulness of body).
Mindfulness-practice
Mindfulness as a practice is described as:
- "Mindfulness is a way of paying attention that originated in Eastern meditation practices"
- "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally"
- "Bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis"
According to Steven F. Hick, mindfulness practice involves both
formal and informal meditation practices, and nonmeditation-based
exercises.
Formal mindfulness, or meditation, is the practice of sustaining
attention on body, breath or sensations, or whatever arises in each
moment. Informal mindfulness is the application of mindful attention in everyday life. Nonmeditation-based exercises are specifically used in dialectical behavior therapy and in
acceptance and commitment therapy.
Two-component model
In a paper that described a consensus among
clinical psychologists on an operational and testable definition, Bishop, Lau, et al. (2004) proposed a two-component model of mindfulness:
The first component 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 (the first component) "involves bringing
awareness
to current experience - observing and attending to the changing fields
of "objects" (thoughts, feelings, sensations), from moment to moment -
by regulating the focus of attention". Orientation to experience (the
second component) involves maintaining an attitude of curiosity about
objects experienced at each moment, and about where and how the mind
wanders when it drifts from the selected focus of attention. Clients are
asked to avoid trying to produce a particular state (i.e. relaxation),
but rather to just notice each object that arises in the
stream of consciousness.
The five-aggregate model
An ancient model of the mind, generally known as the five-aggregate model
enables one to understand the moment-to-moment manifestation of
subjective conscious experience, and therefore can be a potentially
useful theoretical resource to guide mindfulness interventions.
The five aggregates are described as follows:
- Material form: includes both the physical body and
external matter where material elements are continuously moving to and
from the material body.
- Feelings: can be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
- Perceptions: represent being aware of attributes of an object (e.g. color, shape, etc.)
- Volition: represents bodily, verbal, or psychological behavior.
- Sensory consciousness: refers to input from the five senses
(seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touch sensations) or a thought
that happen to arise in the mind.
This model describes that sensory consciousness result in the
generation of feelings, perception or volition, and that individuals’
previously conditioned attitudes and past associations influence this
generation. The five aggregates are described as constantly arising and
ceasing in the present moment.
Cultivating self-knowledge and wisdom
The practice of mindfulness can be utilized to gradually develop self-knowledge and wisdom.
In this regard, Buddhist teachings provide detailed instructions on how
one can carry out an inquiry into the nature of the mind, and this
guidance can help one to make sense of one’s subjective experience. This
could include understanding what the “present moment” is, how various
thoughts, etc., arise following input from the senses, the conditioned
nature of thoughts, and other realizations. In Buddhist teachings, ultimate wisdom refers to gaining deep insight into all phenomena or “seeing things as they are.”
Definitions arising in modern teaching of meditation
Since the 1970s, most books on meditation use definitions of mindfulness similar to
Jon Kabat-Zinn's
definition as "present moment awareness". However, recently a number
of teachers of meditation have proposed quite different definitions of
mindfulness.
Shinzen Young
says a person is mindful when they have mindful awareness, and defines
that to be when "concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity
[are] working together."
John Yates (Culadasa)
defines mindfulness to be "the optimal interaction between attention
and peripheral awareness", where he distinguishing attention and
peripheral awareness as two distinct modes in which one may be conscious
of things.
Other usages
The English term
mindfulness already existed before it came to be used in a (western) Buddhist context. It was first recorded as
myndfulness in 1530 (
John Palsgrave translates French
pensée), as
mindfulnesse in 1561, and
mindfulness in 1817.
Morphologically earlier terms include
mindful (first recorded in 1340),
mindfully (1382), and the obsolete
mindiness (ca. 1200).
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, mindfulness may also refer to "a state of being aware". Synonyms for this "state of being aware" are
wakefulness,
attention, alertness, prudence, conscientiousness, awareness, consciousness, observation.
Measurement
The
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is sometimes used to measure mindfulness level.
Historical development
Buddhism
Mindfulness as a modern, Western practice is founded on modern
vipassana, and the training of sati, which means "moment to moment
awareness of present events", but also "remembering to be aware of
something". It leads to
insight into the true nature of reality, namely the
three marks of existence, the
impermanence of and the
unsatisfactoriness of every conditioned thing that exists, and
non-self. With this insight, the practitioner becomes a socalled
Sotāpanna, a "stream-enterer", the first stage on the
path to liberation. Vipassana is practiced in tandem with
samatha, and also plays a central role in other Buddhist traditions.
According to Paul Williams, referring to Erich Frauwallner,
mindfulness provided the way in early Buddhism to liberation,
"constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising
of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths." According to Vetter,
dhyana may have been the
original core practice of the Buddha, which aided the maintenance of mindfulness.
According to Rhys Davids, the doctrine of mindfulness is "perhaps the most important" after the
Four Noble Truths and the
Noble Eightfold Path.
T.W. Rhys Davids viewed the teachings of Gotama as a rational technique
for self-actualization and rejected a few parts of it, mainly the
doctrine of rebirth, as residual superstitions.
Transcendentalism
Kabat-Zinn himself refers to Thoreau as a predecessor of the interest in mindfulness, together with the other eminent
Transcendentalists Emerson and Whitman:
The collective experience
of sages, yogis, and Zen masters offers a view of the world which is
complementary to the predominantly reductionist and materialistic one
currently dominating Western thought and institutions. But this view is
neither particularly "Eastern" nor mystical. Thoreau saw the same
problem with our ordinary mind state in New England in 1846 and wrote
with great passion about its unfortunate consequences.
The forms of Asian religion and spirituality which were introduced in
the west were themselves influenced by Transcendentalism and other
19th-century manifestations of
Western esotericism. Transcendentalism was closely connected to the Unitarian Church, which in India collaborated with
Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833) and his
Brahmo Samaj. He found that
Unitarianism came closest to true Christianity, and had a strong sympathy for the Unitarians. This influence worked through on
Vivekananda, whose modern but idiosyncratic interpretation of Hinduism became widely popular in the west. Vipassana meditation, presented as a centuries-old meditation system, was a 19th-century reinvention,
which gained popularity in south-east due to the accessibility of the
Buddhist sutras through English translations from the Pali Text Society. It was brought to western attention in the 19th century by the
Theosophical Society. Zen Buddhism first gained popularity in the west through the writings of
D.T. Suzuki, who attempted to present a modern interpretation of Zen, adjusted to western tastes.
Jon Kabat-Zinn and MBSR
In 1979,
Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the
University of Massachusetts to treat the chronically ill. This program sparked the application of mindfulness ideas and practices in Medicine
for the treatment of a variety of conditions in both healthy and
unhealthy people. MBSR and similar programs are now widely applied in
schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.
Mindfulness practices were inspired mainly by teachings from the
Eastern World,
particularly from Buddhist traditions. One of MBSR's techniques - the
"body scan" - was derived from a meditation practice ("sweeping") of the
Burmese
U Ba Khin tradition, as taught by
S. N. Goenka in his
Vipassana
retreats, which he began in 1976. It has since been widely adapted in
secular settings, independent of religious or cultural contexts.
Popularization, "mindfulness movement"
Mindfulness
is gaining a growing popularity as a practice in daily life, apart from
buddhist insight meditation and its application in clinical psychology.
Mindfulness may be seen as a mode of
being, and can be practiced outside a formal setting.
The terminology used by scholars of religion, scientists, journalists,
and popular media writers to describe this movement of mindfulness
"popularization," and the many new contexts of mindfulness practice
which have cropped up, has regularly evolved over the past 20 years,
with some criticisms arising.
Buddhism
Sati is one of the
seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali:
sammā-sati, Sanskrit
samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the
noble eightfold path.
Mindfulness is an antidote to delusion and is considered as a 'power' (Pali:
bala) which contributes to the attainment of
nirvana. This faculty becomes a power in particular when it is coupled with
clear comprehension of whatever is taking place. Nirvana is a state of being in which greed, hatred and
delusion (Pali:
moha) have been overcome and abandoned, and are absent from the mind.
Anapanasati, satipaṭṭhāna, and vipassana
Anapanasati is mindfulness of breathing. "Sati" means
mindfulness;
"ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation. Anapanasati means to
feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body.
The
Anapanasati Sutta gives an exposition on this practice.
Satipaṭṭhāna
is the establishment of mindfulness in one's day-to-day life,
maintaining as much as possible a calm awareness of one's body,
feelings, mind, and
dharmas. The practice of mindfulness supports analysis resulting in the arising of wisdom (Pali:
paññā, Sanskrit:
prajñā).
Vipassanā
is insight into the true nature of reality, namely the three marks of
existence: the impermanence, the unsatisfactoriness and the non-self
nature of every conditioned thing that exists. With this insight, the practitioner becomes a so-called
Sotāpanna, a "stream-enterer", the first stage on the path to liberation.
In the
Theravadin
context, Vipassanā is commonly used as one of two poles for the
categorization of types of Buddhist practice, the other being samatha
(Pāli; Sanskrit:
śamatha).
According to the contemporary Theravada orthodoxy, samatha is used as a
preparation for vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening the
concentration in order to allow the work of insight, which leads to
liberation.
Vipassanā-meditation has gained popularity in the west through
the modern Buddhist vipassana movement, modeled after Theravāda Buddhism
meditation practices, which employs vipassanā and
ānāpāna meditation as its primary techniques and places emphasis on the teachings of the
Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.
Samprajaña, apramāda and atappa
In Buddhist practice, "mindfulness" also includes
samprajaña, meaning "clear comprehension" and
apramāda meaning "vigilance". All three terms are sometimes (confusingly) translated as "mindfulness", but they all have specific shades of meaning.
In a publicly available correspondence between
Bhikkhu Bodhi and
B. Alan Wallace, Bodhi has described Ven.
Nyanaponika Thera's views on "right mindfulness" and sampajañña as follows:
He held that in the proper practice
of right mindfulness, sati has to be integrated with sampajañña, clear
comprehension, and it is only when these two work together that right
mindfulness can fulfill its intended purpose.
"Bare attention"
Georges Dreyfus
has expressed unease with the definition of mindfulness as "bare
attention" or "nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered
awareness", stressing that mindfulness in Buddhist context means also
"remembering", which indicates that the function of mindfulness also
includes the retention of information. Robert H. Sharf notes that Buddhist practice is aimed at the attainment of "correct view", not just "bare attention".
Jay Garfield, quoting
Shantideva and other sources, stresses that mindfulness is constituted by the union of two functions,
calling to mind and vigilantly
retaining in mind.
He demonstrates that there is a direct connection between the practice
of mindfulness and the cultivation of morality – at least in the context
of Buddhism from which modern interpretations of mindfulness are
stemming.
Therapy programs
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (
MBSR) is a mindfulness-based program
developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical
Center, which uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body
awareness, and
yoga to help people become more mindful. While MBSR has its roots in spiritual teachings, the program itself is
secular.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a
psychological therapy designed to aid in preventing the relapse of depression, specifically in individuals with
Major depressive disorder (MDD). It uses traditional
cognitive behavioral therapy
(CBT) methods and adds in newer psychological strategies such as
mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. Cognitive methods can include
educating the participant about depression.
Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation, focus on becoming aware of all
incoming thoughts and feelings and accepting them, but not attaching or
reacting to them.
Like CBT, MBCT functions on the theory that when individuals who
have historically had depression become distressed, they return to
automatic cognitive processes that can trigger a depressive episode.
The goal of MBCT is to interrupt these automatic processes and teach
the participants to focus less on reacting to incoming stimuli, and
instead accepting and observing them without judgment.
This mindfulness practice allows the participant to notice when
automatic processes are occurring and to alter their reaction to be more
of a reflection.
Research supports the effects of MBCT in people who have been depressed
three or more times and demonstrates reduced relapse rates by 50%.
Acceptance and commitment therapy
Acceptance and commitment therapy or (ACT) (typically pronounced as the word "act") is a form of
clinical behavior analysis (CBA) used in psychotherapy. It is a
psychological intervention that uses
acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways with commitment and behavior-change strategies, to increase
psychological flexibility. The approach was originally called
comprehensive distancing. It was developed in the late 1980s by
Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl.
Dialectical behavior therapy
Mindfulness is a "core" exercise used in
dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a psychosocial treatment
Marsha M. Linehan developed for treating people with
borderline personality disorder. DBT is
dialectic, explains Linehan,
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.
Mode deactivation therapy
Mode deactivation therapy
(MDT) is a treatment methodology that is derived from the principles of
cognitive behavioral therapy and incorporates elements of Acceptance
and commitment therapy, Dialectical behavior therapy, and mindfulness
techniques.
Mindfulness techniques such as simple breathing exercises are applied
to assist the client in awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of
unpleasant and distressing thoughts and feelings as they occur in the
present moment. Mode Deactivation Therapy was developed and is
established as an effective treatment for adolescents with problem
behaviors and complex trauma-related psychological problems, according
to recent publications by
Jack A. Apsche and
Joan Swart.
Other programs
Since 2006, research supports promising mindfulness-based therapies for a number of medical and psychiatric conditions, notably
chronic pain (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.
- Morita therapy
The Japanese psychiatrist
Shoma Morita, who trained in Zen meditation, developed
Morita therapy upon principles of mindfulness and non-attachment. Since the beginnings of
Gestalt therapy in the early 1940s, mindfulness, referred to as "awareness", has been an essential part of its theory and practice.
- Adaptation Practice
The British doctor
Clive Sherlock developed Adaptation Practice in 1977. Adaptation Practice is a structured programme of self-discipline.
- Hakomi therapy
Hakomi therapy, under development by Ron Kurtz and others, is a
somatic psychology based upon Asian philosophical precepts of mindfulness and
nonviolence.
- IFS
Internal Family Systems Model
(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 relaxation
Mindfulness relaxation uses
breathing methods,
guided imagery, and other practices to
relax the body and mind and help reduce
stress.
Scientific research
Mindfulness has gained increasing empirical attention ever since 1970. According to a 2015
systematic review and
meta-analysis of systematic reviews of
RCTs, evidence supports the use of mindfulness programs to alleviate symptoms of a variety of
mental and physical disorders.
[24] Other reviews report similar findings.
A large meta-analysis on meditation research published in JAMA in 2014 however,
(with 18 753 citations reviewed, and 47 studies selected with in total
3515 participants), found insufficient evidence of any effect of
meditation programs on positive mood, attention, substance use, eating
habits, sleep, and weight. No evidence was found that meditation
programs were better than any active treatment (i.e., drugs, exercise,
and other behavioral therapies). The study showed moderate evidence of
improved anxiety, depression and pain and low evidence of improved
stress/distress and mental health–related quality of life.
Thousands of studies on meditation have been conducted, though
the overall methological quality of meditation research is poor and thus
yields unreliable results. Recent reviews have pointed out many of
these flaws.
Nonetheless, mindfulness meditation is a popular subject for
research, and many claim potential benefits for a wide array of
conditions and outcomes. For example, the practice of mindfulness has
been used as a potential tool for weight management, to achieve optimal athletic performance, as a beneficial intervention for children with special needs and their parents, as a viable treatment option for people with insomnia an effective intervention for healthy aging, as a strategy for managing dermatological conditions and as a useful intervention during pregnancy and the perinatal period.
Recent studies have also demonstrated that mindfulness meditation
significantly attenuates physical pain through multiple, unique
mechanisms.
Research studies have also focused on the effects of mindfulness
on the brain using neuroimaging techniques, physiological measures and
behavioral tests.
Research on the neural perspective of how mindfulness meditation works
suggests that it exerts its effects in components of attention
regulation, body awareness and emotional regulation.
When considering aspects such as sense of responsibility, authenticity,
compassion, self-acceptance and character, studies have shown that
mindfulness meditation contributes to a more coherent and healthy sense
of self and identity. Neuroimaging techniques suggest that mindfulness practices such as mindfulness meditation are associated with “changes in the
anterior cingulate cortex,
insula,
temporo-parietal junction,
fronto-limbic network and
default mode network structures." Further, mindfulness meditation may prevent or delay the onset of
mild cognitive impairment and
Alzheimer's disease.
Additionally, mindfulness-induced emotional and behavioral changes have
been found to be related to functional and structural changes in the
brain. It has also been suggested that the
default mode network of the brain can be used as a potential biomarker for monitoring the therapeutic benefits of meditation.
Recent research also suggest that the practice of mindfulness could
influence genetic expression leading to a reduced risk of
inflammation-related diseases and favourable changes in biomarkers.
Mindfulness-based approaches have been tested for a range of
health problems including anxiety disorder, mood disorder, substance
abuse disorder, eating disorders, chronic pain, ADHD, insomnia, coping
with medical conditions, with many populations including children,
adolescents, parents, teachers, therapists, and physicians. As a major subject of increasing research interest, 52 papers were published in 2003, rising to 477 by 2012.
[31] Nearly 100
randomized controlled trials had been published by early 2014.
Grey matter concentrations in brain regions that regulate
emotion, self-referential processing, learning and memory processes have
shown changes in density following MBSR.
Additionally, MBSR practice has been associated with improvement of the
immune system which could explain the correlation between stress
reduction and increased quality of life. Part of these changes are a result of the thickening of the
prefrontal cortex (executive functioning) and
hippocampus (learning and memorisation ability), the shrinking of the
amygdala (emotion and stress response) and the strengthening of the connections between brain cells. Long-term meditators have larger amounts of
gyrification
(“folding” of the cortex, which may allow the brain to process
information faster) than people who do not meditate. Further, a direct
correlation was found between the amount of gyrification and the number
of meditation years, possibly providing further proof of the brain’s
neuroplasticity, or ability to adapt to environmental changes.
Mindfulness meditation might help treat depression in
mothers-to-be. High-risk pregnant women who participated in a ten-week
mindfulness yoga training saw significant reductions in depressive
symptoms. The mothers-to-be also showed more intense bonding to their
babies in the womb.
More research suggests mindfulness training improves your focus,
attention, and ability to work under stress. Training may improve
attention-related behavioral responses by enhancing functioning of
specific subcomponents of attention and the ability to endogenously
orient attention, the development and emergence of receptive attentional
skills, which improved exogenous alerting-related process.
A 2013 statement from the
American Heart Association said that, when it comes to lowering
blood pressure,
that behavioral therapies, transcendental meditation, other meditation
techniques, yoga, other relaxation therapies, and biofeedback approaches
generally had modest, mixed, or no consistent evidence demonstrating
their efficacy. Exercise-based regimens, such as aerobics, had
relatively stronger supporting evidence.
This is still a much debated topic however, as opponents argue that
mindfulness based therapy, through mechanisms like lowering stress
responses and enhancing perceived calmness, may lower blood pressure.
Nevertheless, MBSR can have a beneficial effect helping with the
depression and psychological distress associated with chronic illness.
Meditation also may allow you to modulate pain stronger. When
participants in research were exposed to pain from heating, the
brainsscans of the mindfulness meditation group (by use of
functional magnetic resonance imaging)
showed their brains notice the pain equally, however it does not get
converted to a perceived pain signal. As such they experienced up to
40-50% less pain.
Preliminary evidence suggests efficacy of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of
substance use disorders; however, further study is required. MBSR might be beneficial for people with
fibromyalgia: there is no evidence of long-term benefit but low-quality evidence of a small short-term benefit.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has suggested to have
positive results for the improvement of attention regulation,
intelligence-related measures, creativity, learning ability, cognitive
style, motor skills and perceptional abilities.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) also suggests to enact
comparable neurophysiological effects related to attention and
self-regulation as pharmacological treatments for ADHD.
In 2010 a meta-analysis was conducted by Hoffman and colleagues
exploring the efficacy of MBSR and similarly structured programs for
adults with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The meta-analysis showed that between pre and post testing there was
significant medium within-group effect sizes observed on anxiety and
depression and also small to medium between-group effect sizes when
comparing wait-list, treatment as usual, and active treatment (MBSR),
further supporting the literature that states mindfulness-based
therapies can be beneficial in treating symptoms of depression and
anxiety.
A broader meta-analysis conducted in 2004 by Grossman and colleagues
found similar effect sizes when testing the physical and mental health
outcomes following MBSR treatment.
Concerns
Many
of the above cited review studies however also indicate the necessity
for more high-quality research in this field such as conducting
intervention studies using larger sample sizes, the use of more
randomized controlled studies and the need for providing more
methodological details in reported studies.
There are also a few review studies that have found little difference
between mindfulness interventions and control groups, though they did
also indicate that their intervention group was treated too shortly for
the research to be conclusive.
These studies also list the need for more robust research
investigations. Several issues pertaining to the assessment of
mindfulness have also been identified including the current use of
self-report questionnaires.
Movement
Mindfulness
is gaining a growing popularity as a practice in daily life, apart from
Buddhist insight meditation and its application in clinical psychology.
In this context mindfulness is defined as moment-by-moment awareness of
thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment,
characterized mainly by "acceptance" - attention to thoughts and
feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong. Mindfulness
focuses the human brain on what is being sensed at each moment, instead
of on its normal
rumination on the past or on the future.
The mindfulness movement has entered the mainstream, mainly through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn
and his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, launched at
the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. Since that time,
clinical studies have documented the physical and mental health
benefits of mindfulness in general, and MBSR in particular. Programs
based on MBSR and similar models have been widely adapted in schools,
prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn the practice of mindfulness may be
beneficial to many people in Western society who might be unwilling to
adopt Buddhist traditions or vocabulary.
Western researchers and clinicians who have introduced mindfulness
practice into mental health treatment programs usually teach these
skills independently of the religious and cultural traditions of their
origins.
Mindfulness has come to be seen as a mode of being, rather than a formal meditation practice, which can be practiced and maintained outside a formal setting.
Schools
In 2012 Congressman
Tim Ryan of Ohio published
A Mindful Nation, and has received a $1 million federal grant to teach mindfulness in schools in his home district.
Mindful Kids Miami, Inc.(MKM)
is a tax-exempt, 501 (c)(3), non-profit corporation established in 2011
and dedicated to making age-appropriate mindfulness training available
to school children in Miami-Dade County public and private schools. This
is primarily accomplished by training educators and other child care
providers to incorporate mindfulness practices in the children’s daily
activities.
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.
MindUP, a classroom-based program spearheaded by
Goldie Hawn's
Hawn Foundation, teaches students to self-regulate behavior and
mindfully engage in focused concentration required for academic success.
For the last decade, MindUP has trained teachers in over 1,000 schools
in cities from Arizona to Washington.
The Holistic Life Foundation, a non-profit organization that
created an in-school mindfulness program called Mindful Moment, is
currently serving almost 350 students daily at Robert W. Coleman
Elementary School and approximately 1300 students at Patterson Park High
School in Baltimore, Maryland. At Patterson High School, the Mindful
Moment program engages the school's faculty along with the students
during a 15-minute mindfulness practice at the beginning and end of each
school day.
Mindful Life Project, a non-profit 501(c)3 based out of Richmond,
California, teaches mindfulness to elementary school students in
underserved schools in the South Richmond school district. Utilizing
curriculum, “Rise-Up” is a regular school day intervention program
serving 430 students weekly, while “Mindful Community” is currently
implemented at six South Richmond partner schools. These in-school
mindfulness programs have been endorsed by Richmond Mayor Gayle
McLaughlin, who has recommended additional funding to expand the program
in order to serve all Richmond youth.
Education
Mindfulness practices are becoming more common within educational institutions including
Elementary and
Secondary
schools. This has been referred to as part of a 'contemplative turn' in
education that has emerged since the turn of the millennium.
The applications of mindfulness in schools are aimed at calming and
relaxation of students as well as for students and educators to build
compassion and empathy for others. An additional benefit to Mindfulness in education is for the practice to reduce anxiety and stress in students.
Based on a broad meta-analytical review, scholars argued that the
application of mindfulness practice enhances the goals of education in
the 21st century, which include adapting to a rapidly changing world and
being a caring and committed citizen. Within educational systems, the
application of mindfulness practices shows an improvement of students'
attention and focus, emotional regulation, creativity, and problem
solving skills.
As discussed by Ergas and Todd, the development of this field since the
turn of the millennium has brought diverse possibilities as well as
complexities, given the origins of mindfulness within
Buddhism and the processes of its secularization and measurement based on science.
Renshaw and Cook state, “As scientific interest in the utility of
Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) in schools grew steadily, popular
interest in mindfulness in schools seemed to grow exponentially”.
Despite research on mindfulness being comparatively unexamined,
especially with young students, the practice has seen a spike in use
within the educational arena. “A relatively recent addition to discourse
around preventing school expulsion and failure, mindfulness is gaining
popularity for its potential to improve students’ social, emotional,
behavioral, and learning-related cognitive control, thereby improving
academic outcomes”.
Researchers and educators are interested in how mindfulness can provide
optimal conditions for a students’ personal development and academic
success. Current research on mindfulness in education is limited but can
provide insight to the potential benefits for students, and areas of
improvement for future studies.
Mindfulness in the classroom is being touted as a promising new
intervention tool for young students. According to Choudhury and Moses,
“Although still marginal and in some cases controversial, secular
programs of mindfulness have been implemented with ambitious goals of
improving attentional focus of pupils, social-emotional learning in
“at-risk” children and youth, not least, to intervene in problems of
poverty and incarceration”.
Emerging research is concerned with studying teachers and programs
using mindfulness practices with students, and is discovering tension
arising from the moral reframing of eastern practices in western school
settings. As cited by Renshaw and Cook, “Unlike most other approaches to
contemporary school-based intervention, which are squarely grounded in
behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and ecological systems theories, MBIs
have their origins in Eastern religious traditions”.
Some school administrators are concerned about implementing such
practices, and parents have been reported to take their children out of
mindfulness programs because of their personal religious beliefs. Yet,
MBI’s continue to be accepted by the mainstream in both primary and
secondary schools because, “Mindfulness practices, particularly in
relationship to children who might otherwise be considered broken or
unredeemable, fill a critical niche – one that allows its advocates to
imagine a world where people can change, become more compassionate,
resilient, reflective, and aware; a world with a viable future”.
As mindfulness in education continues to develop, ethical consequences
will remain a controversial issue because the generic description for
the “benefits” and “results” of MBI’s are largely concerned with
individual and inward-focused achievement, rather than the original
Buddhist ideal of global human connection.
Available research reveals a relationship between mindfulness and
attention. Semple, Lee, Rosa, & Miller argue, “Anxiety can impair
attention and promote emotionally reactive behaviors that interfere with
the development of good study skills, so it seems reasonable that
increased mindfulness would be associated with less anxiety”.
They conducted a randomized trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive
Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) that found promise in managing anxiety for
elementary school-aged children, and suggests that those who completed
the program displayed fewer attention problems. In addition, Flook shows
how an eight-week mindfulness awareness program was evaluated in a
random and controlled school setting, and measured the effects of
awareness practices on executive functions in elementary school
children. Their findings concluded, “Participation in the mindfulness
awareness program was associated with improvements in behavioral
regulation, metacognition, and overall executive functions”.
In the study by Flook parents and teachers completed questionnaires
which propose that participation in mindfulness programs is associated
with improvements in child behavioral regulation. These perspectives are
a valuable source of data given that caregivers and educators interact
with the children daily and across a variety of settings. According to
Eklund, Omalley, and Meyer, “School-based practitioners should find
promise in the evidence supporting mindfulness-based practices with
children, parents, and educators”.
Lastly, a third study by Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, and Walach concluded,
“Analysis suggest that mindfulness-based interventions for children and
youths are able to increase cognitive capacity of attending and
learning by nearly one standard deviation and yield”. Application of Mindfulness-Based Interventions continue to increase in popularity and practice.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions are rising across western
culture, but its effectiveness in school programs is still being
determined. Research contends, “Mindfulness-based approaches for adults
are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have
evaluated their effectiveness among young people”.
Although much of the available studies find a high number of
mindfulness acceptability among students and teachers, more research
needs to be conducted on its effects on well-being and mental-health for
students. A firmly controlled experiment, Johnson, Burke, Brinkman, and
Wade evaluated “the impact of an existing and widely available
school-based mindfulness program, no improvements were demonstrated on
any outcome measured either immediately post intervention or at
three-month follow-up”.
Many questions remain on which practices best implement effective and
reliable mindfulness programs at schools, and further research is needed
to identify the optimal methods and measurement tools for mindfulness
in education.
Business
Mindfulness
training appears to be getting popular in the business world, and many
large corporations have been incorporating practicing mindfulness into
their culture. For example, companies such as Google,
Apple,
Procter & Gamble,
General Mills,
Mayo Clinic, and the
U.S. Army offer mindfulness coaching, meditation breaks and other resources to their employees to improve workplace functioning.
Mindfulness has been found to result in better employee well-being,
lower levels of frustration, lower absenteeism and burnout as well as an
improved overall work environment.
Since high levels of mindfulness correlate with ethical decision-making
and increase personal awareness and emotional regulation, mindfulness
training has been suggested as way to promote ethical intentions and
behavior for business students.
Law
Legal and law enforcement organizations are also showing interest in mindfulness:
- Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation hosted a workshop on "Mindfulness in the Law & Alternative Dispute Resolution."
- Many law firms offer mindfulness classes.
Prison-programs
Mindfulness has been taught in prisons, reducing hostility and mood disturbance among inmates, and improving their self-esteem.
Additional studies indicate that mindfulness interventions can result
in significant reductions in anger, reductions in substance use,
increased relaxation capacity, self-regulation and optimism.
Government
Many government organizations offer mindfulness training.
Coping Strategies is an example of a program utilized by
United States Armed Forces personnel. The
British Parliament organized a mindfulness-session for its members in 2014, led by
Ruby Wax.
Criticism
Various scholars have criticized how mindfulness has been defined or represented in recent western psychology publications.
These modern understandings depart significantly from the accounts of
mindfulness in early Buddhist texts and authoritative commentaries in
the Theravada and Indian Mahayana traditions.
Adam Valerio has introduced the idea that conflict between academic
disciplines over how mindfulness is defined, understood, and popularly
presented may be indicative of a personal, institutional, or
paradigmatic battle for ownership over mindfulness, one where academics,
researchers, and other writers are invested as individuals in much the
same way as religious communities.
The popularization of mindfulness as a "commodity" has been criticized, being termed "McMindfulness" by some critics. According to Safran, the popularity of mindfulness is the result of a marketing strategy:
"McMindfulness is the marketing of a constructed dream; an idealized lifestyle; an identity makeover."
According to Purser and Loy, mindfulness is not being used as a
means to awaken to insight in the "unwholesome roots of greed, ill will
and delusion," but reshaped into a "banal, therapeutic, self-help technique" that has the opposite effect of reinforcing those passions.
While mindfulness is marketed as a means to reduce stress, in a
Buddhist context it is part of an all-embracing ethical program to
foster "wise action, social harmony, and compassion."
The privatization of mindfulness neglects the societal and
organizational causes of stress and discomfort, instead propagating
adaptation to these circumstances.
According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, "[A]bsent a sharp social critique, Buddhist
practices could easily be used to justify and stabilize the status quo,
becoming a reinforcement of
consumer capitalism."
The popularity of this new brand of mindfulness has resulted in the
commercialization of meditation through self-help books, guided
meditation classes, and mindfulness retreats.
Buddhist commentators have criticized the movement as being
presented as equivalent to Buddhist practice, while in reality it is
very possibly denatured with undesirable consequences, such as being
ungrounded in the traditional reflective morality and therefore, astray
from traditional Buddhist ethics. Criticisms suggest it to be either
de-moralized or re-moralized into clinically based ethics. The conflict
is often presented in concern to the teacher's credentials and
qualifications, rather than the student's actual practice. Reformed
Buddhist-influenced practices are being standardized and manualized in a
clearly distinct separation from Buddhism seen as a religion based in
monastic temples, as expressed as mindfulness in a new psychology ethic
practiced in modern meditation centers.
Risks
In media
reports, people have attributed unexpected effects of increasing fear
and anxiety, panic or "meltdowns" after practicing, which they suggest
could expose bipolar vulnerability or repressed
PTSD symptoms.
However, according to published peer-reviewed academic articles, these
negative effects of meditation are rare for mindfulness meditation, and appear to happen due to a poor understanding of what actually constitutes mindfulness/meditation practices.