Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness has been described as a process of bringing a certain quality of attention to moment-by-moment experience and as a combination of the self-regulation of attention with an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance toward one's experiences. 98 Mindfulness meditations, the core practice of Vipassana meditation, have been incorporated into several clinically-based meditation therapies.

76The capacity to evoke mindfulness is developed using various meditation techniques that originated in Buddhist spiritual practices; 99 however, general descriptions of mindfulness vary from investigator to investigator and there is no consensus on the defining components or processes.98 Mindfulness approaches are not considered relaxation or mood management techniques, 98 and once learned may be cultivated during many kinds of activities.

Mindfulness increases the chances that any activity one is engaged in will result in an expanded perspective and understanding of oneself.76 in a state of mindfulness, thoughts and feelings are observed on par with objects of sensory awareness, and without reacting to them in an automatic, habitual way. 98, 99 Thus, mindfulness allows a person to respond to situations reflectively rather than impulsively.

98 Mindfulness meditation practices include the traditional Vipassana, and Zen meditation and the clinically-based techniques MBSR and MBCT. Of the four practices described below, the last two, MBSR and MBCT have standardized techniques (i.e., the techniques have been described systematically in manuals and are relatively invariant wherever, whenever, and by whomever they are taught).