Mindfulness Talks

In clinical psychology and well-being, mindfulness is the practice of maintaining moment-by-moment awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, thoughts, and immediate surroundings with a non-judgmental or equanimous attitude, "instead of on [the mind's] normal rumination on the past or the future."The term mindfulness derives from the Pali word sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and secular mindfulness incorporates elements from Theravada, Chan, and Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques.

Since the 1990s, secular mindfulness meditation has gained popularity in the West. It is the product of a mutual syncretism between eastern spiritual traditions influenced by western esotericism and religion, and western traditions and psychology influenced by these syncretized eastern traditions. In 1975 it was introduced in western medicine by Herbert Benson, and integrated in the 1970s and 1980s into health-programs and psychotherapy by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Zindel Segal, and Mark Williams. They and others in clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness interventions for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions.

Clinical studies have documented mental health benefits of mindfulness as well as physical health benefits in different patient categories and in healthy adults and children. Mindfulness research has long attracted criticism, particularly in its early decades, due to concerns about limited methodological rigor. More recent research, however, has become substantially more rigorous, employing randomized controlled trials, active control groups, and stronger methodological standards.

Some critics have also argued that mindfulness is over-commercialized and over-marketed, and that “McMindfulness” strips it of its Buddhist ethical and wisdom roots in favor of a productivity-focused self-help product.

From Mindfulness on Wikipedia