About Mindfulness
Jon Kabat-Zinn (creator of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)) describes mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally”.
There are two ways to actively practice mindfulness:
- Through formal meditation. These practices usually involve focussing the attention on something in particular e.g., sensations of breathing, part of the body, sounds etc. However, you can also practise walking meditations, and mindful stretching (essentially a yoga practice!)
- Through informal practice. Mindfulness can be something you bring into your everyday life through bringing a mindful attitude and awareness to everyday activities such as brushing your teeth, eating, or showering. This can help you to practise this ability to choose where to place your attention. This, in turn, can be helpful to avoid patterns of ruminative thinking which can often contribute to mental distress and ill health.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy was an 8-week course developed by Mark Williams, Zindel Segal and John Teasdale from to support people suffering with repetitive depression. It is a carefully constructed mix of mindfulness meditation (generally adapted from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR course) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) exercises.
From this course, other mindfulness-based courses have been developed. I choose to teach a curriculum called “Finding Peace in a Frantic World” as I believe this course is a great introduction to mindfulness and a helpful support to build a regular meditation practice. Furthermore, this curriculum is designed for the general population, not just those suffering with depression, and has a focus on flourishing from day-to-day. This is something I would really love to share with you.
