4. What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness, as defined by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, is
“the practice of being fully present and alive, body and
mind united. Mindfulness is the energy that helps us to
know what is going on in the present moment” (Shambala
Sun, 2008)
5. What is Mindfulness?
• Mindfulness is a form of meditation originally derived from
the Theravada tradition of Buddhism.
• The 2,500 year-old practice known as Vipassana was
developed as a way to cultivate greater awareness and
insight.
• “Mindfulness” is often translated as “to see with
discernment.”
6. What is mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying
attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-
judgmentally, to things as they are” (Williams, Teasdale,
Segal, KabatZinn, The Mindful Way Through Depression, 2007,
p. 24)
7.
8. Mindfulness and mental health
● MENTAL HEALTH: A mind characterized by well being
● Mindfulness-based therapies have been used with different
clinical psychiatric populations, such as clients with
anxiety and depressive disorders, eating disorders,
gambling and addictive disorders.
9. ● Mindfulness has been used in the treatment of borderline
personality disorder and with clients with a history of
childhood sexual abuse.
● Specifically, mindful meditative techniques and self-
awareness exercises help by cultivating an awareness of
thoughts and feelings, accepting, and letting them be.
10. Mindfulness is simple but not easy
• With the pressures society places on being constantly busy,
productive, and on the move, it can be difficult to settle
down and be present for even five minutes.
• Over the long term it's remembering to be mindful that's
the hard part.
…The good news is it does get easier with time and practice.
Practiced consistently over time it becomes second nature.
11. Three axioms of mindfulness
• Intention – Your intention is your motivation for practicing
mindfulness. The strength of your intention helps to motivate
you to practice mindfulness on a daily basis, and shapes the
quality of your mindful awareness.
• Attention – Mindfulness is about paying attention to your
experience. Your mindful attention is mainly developed through
various different types of meditation – either formal or
informal
• Attitude – Mindfulness involves cultivating an accepting,
open, and kind curiosity towards one’s experience.
14. FOUR foundations of mindfulness
(From Sattipathana sutta, Buddha) SUTTA ON ESTABLISHMENT OF
AWARENESS
1. (KAYANUPASSANA) Mindful observation of the body “The first
establishment of mindfulness is the body, which includes the
breath, the positions of the body, the parts of the body, the
four elements of which the body is composed, and the
dissolution of the body.” The first practice is the full
awareness of breathing.
15. 2.(VEDNANUPASSANA) Mindful observation of feelings/sensations
There are three sorts of feelings: pleasant, unpleasant, and
neutral. The teaching of this exercise is to identify and be
in touch with these feelings as they arise, endure, and fade
away. The practitioner is neither drowned in nor terrorized
by that feeling, nor does he/she reject it. This is the most
effective way to be in contact with feelings.
16. 3. (CHITTANUPASSANA) Mindful observation of consciousness (or
mind) The contents of the mind are psychological phenomena
called mental formations. We mindfully observe the arising,
presence, and disappearance of the mental phenomena which are
called mental formations. We recognize them and look deeply
into them in order to see their substance, their roots in the
past, and their possible fruits in the future, using
conscious breathing while we observe.
17. 4. (DHAMMANUPASSANA) Mindfulness of the objects of mind (or
mental objects) When sitting in meditation, we concentrate
our mind on the object of our observation – sometimes a
physical phenomenon, sometimes psychological – and we look
deeply into that object in order to discover its course and
its nature. … If we look carefully and deeply, we will see
that the arising, enduring and ending of the object is
dependent on other things (principle of interbeing and
interpenetration)
18. WHAT can i do to improve my mindfulness?
ANAPANA MEDITATION
VIPASSANA MEDITATION
ZEN MEDITATION
MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction)
MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy)
MBRP (Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention)
MB-EAT (Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training
Mindfulness-based interventions continue to evolve ….
21. Questions to answer
What is mindfulness?
How is mindfulness related to mental health?
What are the four foundations of mindfulness?
What are the different methods to increase mindfulness?
