Mindfulness is about bringing more awareness to each moment of the day, and relating to life in a more open way. It has some proven benefits, but the only way to really understand it is to practice and see how it works for yourself. A regular mindfulness practice can help with concentration, with managing difficult thoughts, with developing a kinder less self-critical attitude, and even help with chronic illness. But it is more than that, it is a way of relating to life that is about more than fixing problems.
Below are some leaders in the field talking about mindfulness. Enjoy their presentations.
The seminal mindfulness programme, is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. This originated with Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massechusetts
MBSR was adapted by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale to produce Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The intention was to find a way of helping people to prevent relapse in recurrent bouts of depression; various studies have shown it to be as effective as medication in relapse prevention. The NHS has adopted MBCT as a recommended therapy, and Oxford University have researched its adoption by the NHS.
Vindyamala Burch is co-founder of Breathworks. Breathworks is based on MBSR, and has a specific focus on health issues.
Mindfulness is now being taught in schools. The Mindfulness in Schools project is training people to teach pupils in schools. Oxford University is currently studying the effect of teaching mindfulness in schools.
Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness as a love affair with life
