Frequently Asked Questions
Mindfulness has been described as a ‘state of mind’ that involves maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we're sensing in the present moment rather than being focused on the past or on the imagined future.
Mindfulness practices are often taught secularly, but their roots involve an integration of Western psychology and a particular type of focused Buddhist meditation. The Massachusetts Medical School, in the USA, offered the first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in 1979. This programme was designed and researched by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who continues to be actively involved in this field.
Mindfulness can be thought of as a particular form of meditation. Broadly speaking, it is a meditative way of being in which one focuses one’s attention on what one is sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment.
Practising mindfulness means to give one’s focused attention to whatever it is best to focus one’s attention on in the moment. At times this will involve focusing intently on the conversation that one is having with another person. At other times, this will involve focusing closely on the email that one is typing. At yet other times, this will include focusing entirely on the delicious mouthful of coffee that one has taken... before moving one’s focus on to the next point of attention, which may be a particular feeling or emotion that is arising in the moment. As might be guessed, multi-tasking is the antithesis of mindfulness.
Yes, it does. By focusing our attention on the present moment, mindfulness effectively counteracts rumination and worrying. In other words, mindfulness can be an important tool for helping us to focus on the present moment rather than getting caught up in thoughts that are anxiety-provoking in nature. Research has shown that mindfulness helps to reduce anxiety (and depression) in most people who practice it on a daily basis.
Yes. Numerous studies, such as one from the University of Oxford, have found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is just as effective as anti-depressants for preventing a relapse into depression. One important way in which this works is through building a greater awareness of one’s own body and mind, which enables one to identify signs of stress, and respond appropriately, long before depression might otherwise arise.
Yes. Mindfulness helps in the effective management of chronic pain through building a greater awareness of one’s own body and mind. This enables one to identify the first miniscule sensations of physical discomfort as they arise together with any thoughts or feelings that may accompany the physical sensations... and then respond appropriately, long before the discomfort is experienced as intense pain.
Mindfulness has a wide range of benefits. For example, it can induce the well-known relaxation response, which is very valuable in reducing the body's response to stress. Mindfulness also allows one to obtain maximum pleasure from every pleasurable moment that arises, such as enjoying that mouthful of delicious coffee... or enjoying the thought of being with one’s best friend, etc.
In 2011, a study conducted at Harvard University found that mindfulness meditation actually changes the structure of the brain: Eight weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was found to increase cortical thickness in the hippocampus, which governs learning and memory, and in the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotions and is involved in decision-making and problem-solving.
You will learn how to incorporate mindfulness into your everyday living. You will be taught how to engage with mindfulness meditations that involve focusing on a single point of attention for an extended period of time, such as a 30-minute sitting meditation with a focus on the sensations of breathing, (such as the rise and fall of one’s chest). You will also learn how to bring ever-expanding moments of mindfulness into your day. You will also learn breathing methods and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
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