Mindfulness As Medicine Janet Marinelli, M.S., Assistant Professor Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies Program St

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Mindfulness As Medicine Janet Marinelli, M.S., Assistant Professor Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies Program St Mindfulness as Medicine Janet Marinelli, M.S., Assistant Professor Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies Program St. Catherine University Mindfulness • Paying attention • In the present moment • Without judgment • During any activity • Culturally rooted in Eastern philosophy (Buddhism) • Translated into Western healthcare “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by- moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.” http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience”. http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness “Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to- moment awareness. It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment’s thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capacities for relaxation, paying attention, awareness, and insight.” (Kabat-Zinn, 1990, p. 2) Meditation “Meditation is not an idea. Meditation is a primal human experience that has been discovered and rediscovered in every era and on every continent.” (Monaghan and Viereck, 2011, p. 354) Meditation is central to the idea of mindfulness. “Mindfulness is not a technique but a state of awareness, so it is the result of a meditation practice rather than a practice itself.” (Monaghan and Viereck, 2011, p. 90) Types of Meditation • Indigenous Traditions: trance dancing, drumming, ritual body postures • Yoga: asanas, breathing, mantra, mandala • Buddhism: vipassana or insight meditation, loving-kindness, zen in action, haiku and other meditative poetry • Taoism: Tai Chi, Qigong • Judaism: ethical introspection, conversations with God • Christianity: contemplative prayer, taize’ singing, Quaker worship • Islam: Sufi breathing, Sufi dancing • Mixed and Modern forms: inspirational reading, labyrinth walking, biofeedback, the body scan • Creative Meditations, needle crafts, journaling, visualizations • Active meditations: sports as meditation, gardening, nature (Monaghan and Viereck, 2011, from table of contents) History • Exploration of Eastern practices in the 1950’s and 1960’s (and prior to this time) • Herbert Benson’s relaxation response • Joan Borysynko’s work • Jon Kabat-Zinn, molecular biologist, explored meditation in 1960’s • Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Stress Reduction Clinic Cultural Roots “MBSR and its “cousins” are expressions, however limited they may be in some regards, of the deep wisdom stemming from practices discovered and refined long ago in India and kept alive and refined further over millennia by multiple traditions—mostly but no exclusively Buddhism—in all the civilizations of Asia.” (Kabat-Zinn, 2013, p. 603) Monkey Mind/Roof Brain Chatter Mind Wandering Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response • http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/heart-and-soul-healing/201303/dr- herbert-benson-s-relaxation-response • http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/using-the-relaxation-response- to-reduce-stress-20101110780 • http://brainworldmagazine.com/dr-herbert-benson-on-the- mindbody-connection/ Benefits of Mindfulness • Reduces stress • Strengthens immune system • Lowers blood pressure • Reduces chronic pain • Improves sleep • Used with heart disease, gastrointestinal illness, and support for cancer care • Reduces depression and anxiety while increasing well-being and happiness • Improves social relationships • Increases openness to experience Dialog Challenges facing physical therapists… How mindfulness might support you in your work… Applications to patient care… Psychosynthesis Disidentification Exercise http://two.not2.org/psychosynthesis/exer/ctr- di.htm http://aap-psychosynthesis.org/ Outline of MBSR Program • Eight weeks • Structured curriculum • Breathing, body scan, yoga, sitting meditation • 45 minutes per day, 6 days per week (Kabat-Zinn, 2013, Chapter 10) Key Components of Practicing Mindfulness “Here are a few key components of practicing mindfulness that Kabat-Zinn and others identify: • Pay close attention to your breathing, especially when you’re feeling intense emotions. • Notice—really notice—what you’re sensing in a given moment, the sights, sounds, and smells that ordinarily slip by without reaching your conscious awareness. • Recognize that your thoughts and emotions are fleeting and do not define you, an insight that can free you from negative thought patterns.” http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition Selected Research • In 2005, 100 papers in the related literature • In 2013, 1500 papers in the related literature (Kabat-Zinn, 2013, p. xxx) Alterations in Brain and Immune Function • Focus on biological mechanisms • Randomized controlled study with 8 week clinical program in mindfulness meditation • 25 healthy employees in their workplace • Following 8 week program subjects and control group (16) received influenza vaccine (Davidson et. al, 2003, p. 564) “Results: We report for the first time significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive affect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. We also found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the wait-list control group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-sided activation predicted the magnitude of antibody titer rise to the vaccine.” (Davidson, et. al., 2003, p. 564) Mindfulness Research Update: 2008 Results from a review of 52 research articles: “Both basic and clinical research indicate that cultivating a more mindful way of being is associated with less emotional distress, more positive states of mind, and better quality of life. In addition, mindfulness practice can influence the brain, the autonomic nervous system, stress hormones, the immune system, and health behaviors, including eating, sleeping, and substance use, in salutary ways.” (Greeson, 2008, p.1) Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies “Based on an examination of empirical literature across multiple methodologies, this review concludes that mindfulness and its cultivation facilitates adaptive psychological functioning.” (Keng, Smoski,& Robins, 2011, p. 1052) Positive Psychological Effects • Increased sense of well-being • Reduced psychological symptoms • Reduced emotional reactivity • Improved control of behavior (Keng, Smoski,& Robins, 2011) Cultivating Mindfulness in Health Care Professionals: A Review of Studies of MBSR • High rates of burnout and stress in healthcare professionals • Can lead to “fatigue, insomnia, heart disease, depression, obesity, hypertension, infection, carcinogenesis, diabetes, and premature aging” (Irving, Dobson, & Clark, 2009) Benefits of MSBR for Health Care Professionals • Decreased anxiety and depression • Increased empathy and spirituality • Decreased symptoms of burnout • Increased relaxation • Increased life satisfaction • Increased self compassion • Clients reported better therapeutic relationships (psychotherapists) (Irving, Dobson, & Clark, 2009) Brief Online Mindfulness Meditation • 104 students assigned to mindfulness intervention or control group • Engaged in two weeks of self-directed, online mindfulness meditation • Results suggest an increase in mindfulness and a decrease in self-reported stress, anxiety and depression. (Cavanagh, Strauss, Cicconi, Griffiths, Wyper, & Jones, 2013) Mindfulness and Self-Help: Meta-analysis • Fifteen studies reviewed • Related to effectiveness of low intensity mindfulness and acceptance-based self-help methods • Promising results (Cavanagh, Strauss, Forder, & Jones, 2014) Resources Listing of Mindfulness and Meditation Centers in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rochester, and the Region (from the Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minnesota) www.csh.umn.edu/.../documents/content/ahc_c ontent_313535.doc References Cavanagh, K., Strauss, C., Cicconi, F., Griffiths, N., Wyper, A., & Jones, F. (2013). A randomised controlled trial of a brief online mindfulness-based intervention. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51(9), 573-578. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2013.06.003 Cavanagh, K., Strauss, C., Forder, L., & Jones, F. (2014). Can mindfulness and acceptance be learnt by self-help?: A systematic review and meta-analysis of mindfulness and acceptance-based self-help interventions. Clinical Psychology Review, 34(2), 118-129. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.01.001 Davidson, R.J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S.F.,Urbanowski, F., Harrington, A., Bonus, K., & Sheridan, J.F. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570. Greeson, J. M. (2009). Mindfulness research update: 2008. Complementary Health Practice Review, 14(1), 10-18. doi:10.1177/1533210108329862 Irving, J. A., Dobkin, P. L., & Park, J. (2009). Cultivating mindfulness in health care professionals: A review of empirical studies of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 15(2), 61-66. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.01.002 Kabat-Zinn, J., & University of Massachusetts Medical Center/Worcester. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York, N.Y: Dell Publishing. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York, N.Y: Bantam Books. Keng, S., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1041-1056. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006 Monaghan, P., & Viereck, E. (2011). Meditation--the complete guide: Techniques from east and west to calm the mind, heal the body, and enrich the spirit. Novato, CA: New World Library. .
Recommended publications
  • Poetry, Place, and Spiritual Practices by Katharine Bubel BA, Trinity
    Edge Effects: Poetry, Place, and Spiritual Practices by Katharine Bubel B.A., Trinity Western University, 2004 M.A., Trinity Western University, 2009 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English Katharine Bubel, 2018 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Edge Effects: Poetry, Place, and Spiritual Practices by Katharine Bubel B.A., Trinity Western University, 2004 M.A., Trinity Western University, 2009 Supervisory Committee Dr. Nicholas Bradley, Department of English Supervisor Dr. Magdalena Kay, Department of English Departmental Member Dr. Iain Higgins, Department of English Departmental Member Dr. Tim Lilburn, Department of Writing Outside Member iii Abstract "Edge Effects: Poetry, Place, and Spiritual Practices” focusses on the intersection of the environmental and religious imaginations in the work of five West Coast poets: Robinson Jeffers, Theodore Roethke, Robert Hass, Denise Levertov, and Jan Zwicky. My research examines the selected poems for their reimagination of the sacred perceived through attachments to particular places. For these writers, poetry is a constitutive practice, part of a way of life that includes desire for wise participation in the more-than-human community. Taking into account the poets’ critical reflections and historical-cultural contexts, along with a range of critical and philosophical sources, the poetry is examined as a discursive spiritual exercise. It is seen as conjoined with other focal practices of place, notably meditative walking and attentive looking and listening under the influence of ecospiritual eros.
    [Show full text]
  • Protestants Reading Catholicism: Crashaw's Reformed Readership
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Theses Department of English 8-14-2009 Protestants Reading Catholicism: Crashaw's Reformed Readership Andrew Dean Davis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_theses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Davis, Andrew Dean, "Protestants Reading Catholicism: Crashaw's Reformed Readership." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2009. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_theses/69 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROTESTANTS READING CATHOLICISM: CRASHAW’S REFORMED READERSHIP by ANDREW D. DAVIS Under the direction of Dr. Paul Voss ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to realign Richard Crashaw’s aesthetic orientation with a broadly conceptualized genre of seventeenth-century devotional, or meditative, poetry. This realignment clarifies Crashaw’s worth as a poet within the Renaissance canon and helps to dismantle historicist and New Historicist readings that characterize him as a literary anomaly. The methodology consists of an expanded definition of meditative poetry, based primarily on Louis Martz’s original interpretation, followed by a series of close readings executed to show continuity between Crashaw and his contemporaries, not discordance. The thesis concludes by expanding the genre of seventeenth-century devotional poetry to include Edward Taylor, who despite his Puritanism, also exemplifies many of the same generic attributes as Crashaw. INDEX WORDS: Richard Crashaw, Edward Taylor, Steps to the Temple , Metaphysical poets, Catholicism, Puritans, New Historicism, Meditative poetry, Louis Martz, Genre Theory PROTESTANTS READING CATHOLICISM: CRASHAW’S REFORMED READERSHIP by ANDREW D.
    [Show full text]
  • Living the Full Catastrophe: a Mindfulness-Based Program to Support Recovery from Stroke
    healthcare Article Living the Full Catastrophe: A Mindfulness-Based Program to Support Recovery from Stroke Lori A. Gray Holistic Health Programs, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA; [email protected] Received: 11 September 2020; Accepted: 17 November 2020; Published: 19 November 2020 Abstract: Decades of research suggest that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training supports a greater capacity to live with chronic medical conditions and contributes to lowering stress levels. This paper introduces a model for a Mindfulness-Based Recovery from Stroke (MBRfS) for promoting stroke recovery, informed by the lived experience of the author (a stroke survivor and certified MBSR instructor), the research literature regarding MBSR training, and the specific challenges of stroke recovery. Four themes emerged from the autoethnographic analysis that informed the proposed model: Readiness to accept the stroke event and the acquired brain injury, navigating uncertainties of stroke recovery with awareness and self-responsibility for outcomes, trusting the inherent wisdom of the body as a stroke recovery “teacher”, and increased capacity to integrate complex emotions with self-compassion, and a sense of wholeness. A four-component MBRfS model is offered, which consists of an integration amongst a modified MBSR framework, emergent attitudinal themes, and insights from the autoethnographic vignettes. The MBRfS model offers a path for providing participants with a supportive experience within stroke recovery. Recommendations and suggestions for future studies are offered to support the development of MBRfS for stroke survivors and their caregivers, as well as contributing to healthcare providers. Keywords: mindfulness; mindfulness-based stress reduction; mindfulness-based stroke recovery; stroke recovery; social support for stroke survivors; medical education; stroke rehabilitation 1.
    [Show full text]
  • After Awakening, the Laundry: Is Nonduality a Spiritual Experience? Jenny Wade California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California, USA
    International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Volume 37 Article 8 Issue 2 Vol. 37, Iss. 2 (2018) 9-1-2018 After Awakening, the Laundry: Is Nonduality a Spiritual Experience? Jenny Wade California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California, USA Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies Part of the Philosophy Commons, Religion Commons, and the Transpersonal Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Wade, J. (2018). After awakening, the laundry: Is nonduality a spiritual experience?. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 37 (2). http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2018.37.2.88 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Special Topic Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals and Newsletters at Digital Commons @ CIIS. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Transpersonal Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CIIS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. After Awakening, the Laundry: Is Nonduality a Spiritual Experience? Jenny Wade California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, CA, USA Historically the exclusive purview of contemplative religious paths, awakening into nonduality was considered the pinnacle of human attainment, even if, in some traditions, it proved to be the threshold to even more sublime states. Awakening was traditionally available only to dedicated elite seekers, usually renunciates who practiced for years in monastic communities, their progress directed by the authorities of their lineage. Today technologies for creating the electroencephalographic signatures of advanced meditators are available for purchase, and esoteric religious practices like Zen meditation and asana yoga have been secularized as stress-reduction techniques and physical exercise, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Meditate, Meditation. Islam
    441 Meditate, Meditation 442 popularized. The World Parliament of Religions son (Al-mura¯ qaba høajj al-aql)” (cf. Massignon: 171, (1893) was a major marker of borrowings and adap- n. 65). tations among the world religions, with the intro- These practices, which find biblical analogues, duction of Swami Vivekananda and Hinduism to were conceived to be an imitation of practices of the America. While later in the 20th century, D. T. Su- prophet Muh ammad, linked to his custom of en- zuki was travelling across the Pacific to instruct gaging in vigils (S 73:1–4, 20; cf. Pss 63:6, 77:6; Sir Westerners in Zen meditation techniques, Christian 39:7). He would spend one month a year, often in clergy began writing texts and practicing these seclusion, in a cave on Mt. H ira¯ outside Mecca (cf. Asian forms of meditation. Among this group were Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46). There he would engage in Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, Anthony de Mello, meditation and other devotional practices (Arab. ta- William Johnston, and John Main. John Main, a høannuth, see Wensinck, “tahøannatha”; Kister: 223– Benedictine monk, began to recite a Christian man- 36), which can be equated with the contemplation tra, rather than longer passages from the Bible. In of God and devotion to his worship (Arab. taabbud). 1991 a seminar led by another Benedictine, Bede This practice can be identified with seclusion or (re- Griffiths, led to the founding of the World Commu- ligious) retreat (Arab. khalwa), a focus of which was nity for Christian Meditation, termed “a monastery (religious) meditative reflection (Arab.
    [Show full text]
  • At Last, the Real Distinguished Thing at Last, the Real Distinguished Thing
    at last, The Real Distinguished Thing at last, The Real Distinguished Thing The Late Poems of Eliot, Pound, Stevens, and Williams by Kathleen Woodward OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Excerpts from Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot are reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., and Faberand Faber, Ltd.; copyright 1943 by T. S. Eliot; copyright 1971 by Esme Valerie Eliot. Excerpts from the following works are reprinted by permission of New Directions, New York, and Faber and Faber, Ltd., London: The Cantos ofEzra Pound, copyright 1948 by Ezra Pound; Pavannes and Divagations by Ezra Pound, copyright © 1958 by Ezra Pound, all rights reserved. Excerpts from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens are reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and Faber and Faber, Ltd.; copyright © 1923, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954 by Wallace Stevens. Excerpts from the following works by William Carlos Williams are reprinted by permission of New Directions: Paterson, copyright 1946, 1949, 1951, 1958 by William Carlos Wil­ liams; Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems, copyright 1954 by William Carlos Williams; Selected Essays, copyright 1954 by William Carlos Williams; / Wanted to Write a Poem, edited by Edith Heal, copyright © 1958 by William Carlos Williams. Chapter 1 originally appeared in different form as "Master Songs of Meditation: The Late Poems of Eliot, Pound, Stevens, and Williams," in Aging and the Elderly: Humanistic Perspectives in Gerontology, edited by Stuart F. Spicker, Kathleen Woodward, and David D. Van Tassel (Humanities Press, 1978), and is reprinted by permission of Humanities Press, Inc., Atlantic Highlands, N.J.
    [Show full text]
  • Self-Possession in the Poetry of Paul Celan, Ts Eliot
    THE LANGUAGE OF REAL LIFE: SELF-POSSESSION IN THE POETRY OF PAUL CELAN, T. S. ELIOT, RAINER MARIA RILKE, AND PAUL VALÉRY by Scott Marentette A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Ph. D. Graduate Department of The Centre for Comparative Literature University of Toronto © Copyright by Scott James Marentette 2010 The Language of Real Life: Self-Possession in the Poetry of Paul Celan, T. S. Eliot, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Paul Valéry Scott Marentette Ph. D. 2010 Centre for Comparative Literature University of Toronto In his “Letter on Humanism,” Martin Heidegger conveys the importance he attributes to poetry when he states: “Language is the house of being” (“Letter” 239). In response to his early Jesuit education, he developed a secular alternative to theology with his existential phenomenology. Theology, poetry, and phenomenology share the basic concern of explaining the foundations of being. For Heidegger, ownership characterizes being in a fundamental way; in Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning) , he establishes the “Ereignis” (“event of appropriation”) as the foundation of being. Ownership lies at the core of being in his thinking following Being and Time . Yet his philosophy ignores the material circumstances of ownership. By way of a materialist critique of Heidegger’s Idealist phenomenology, I expose how property-relations are encoded in the modern poetry and philosophy of dwelling with the question: who owns the house of being? The answer lies in “self-possession,” which represents historical subjectivity as the struggle for the means of production. Paul Celan, T. S. Eliot, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Paul Valéry are all poets who address the relationship between being and ownership in expressing what Marx and Engels call the “language of real life” in The German Ideology (26).
    [Show full text]
  • Full Catastrophe Living by AOTA
    NURSES: Institute for Brain Potential (IBP) is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Institute for Brain Potential is approved as a provider of continuing education by California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CEP13896, and Florida Board of Nursing. This program provides 6 contact hours. PSYCHOLOGISTS: Institute for Brain Potential is approved by the American Interactive Webcast Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Institute for Brain Potential maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program provides 6 CE credits. Institute for Brain Potential is approved as a provider of continuing Wednesday, November 11, 2020 education by the Florida Board of Psychology. This course provides 6 hours of CE credit. COUNSELORS, SOCIAL WORKERS & MFTs: Institute for Brain Potential has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6342. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Institute for Brain Potential is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This program provides 6 Interactive Webcast clock hours. Institute for Brain Potential, ACE Approval Number: 1160, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards Wednesday, November 11, 2020, 9 AM – 4 PM (PST) (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial You will need a computer with internet access and speakers or regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Institute for Brain Potential maintains responsibility for this course.
    [Show full text]
  • About the Exercises
    83 About the Exercises The exercises listed below are taken from the courses of the Munich Model and were presented more or less in the same order. In addition, the courses also include material on mindfulness and meditation research and examples of implementation in various professional fields (see “Munich Model”, p. 59 f.). Presented and practiced sequentially through the teaching units, the various forms of sitting meditation play a central role in the courses. Once all of the sitting meditation techniques have been introduced, participants can choose one that they feel suits them best. The participants then practice this chosen meditation form throughout further teaching units, which always begin with a sitting meditation. It should be mentioned here that the meditation instructions in this book are intended to give students an initial introduction to different meditation forms and techniques. For further study, it’s always recommended that they follow the guidelines and instructions found in the literature related to each of the specific meditations. Students are also re- minded that have the option to attend external courses offered through various organi- zations that teach meditation and that they can further educate themselves through such seminars and courses (see “Risks”, p. 95). There are four forms of sitting meditation to choose from: • Breath • Maranatha • Focusing between the eyebrows • So’ham / I am That If the participants already have meditation experience, they are free to choose whether they practice their own chosen form of sitting meditation or to practice one of the four forms mentioned above. However, in this case the teacher must check whether the re- spective technique comes from a recognized meditation school and whether it is of ben- efit to the respective participant in this context (see “Risks”, p.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Universal Dharma Foundation' of Mindfulness-Based
    Contemporary Buddhism An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN: 1463-9947 (Print) 1476-7953 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcbh20 THE ‘UNIVERSAL DHARMA FOUNDATION’ OF MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION: NON- DUALITY AND MAHĀYĀNA BUDDHIST INFLUENCES IN THE WORK OF JON KABAT-ZINN Ville Husgafvel To cite this article: Ville Husgafvel (2018) THE ‘UNIVERSAL DHARMA FOUNDATION’ OF MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION: NON-DUALITY AND MAHĀYĀNA BUDDHIST INFLUENCES IN THE WORK OF JON KABAT-ZINN, Contemporary Buddhism, 19:2, 275-326, DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2018.1572329 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2018.1572329 © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Published online: 05 Mar 2019. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 425 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcbh20 CONTEMPORARY BUDDHISM 2018, VOL. 19, NO. 2, 275–326 https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2018.1572329 THE ‘UNIVERSAL DHARMA FOUNDATION’ OF MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION: NON- DUALITY AND MAHĀYĀNA BUDDHIST INFLUENCES IN THE WORK OF JON KABAT-ZINN Ville Husgafvel Study of Religions, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland ABSTRACT The discussion on the Buddhist roots of contemporary mindfulness practices is dominated by a narrative which considers the Theravāda tradition and Theravāda- based ‘neo-vipassanā movement’ as the principal source of Buddhist influences in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and related mindfulness-based pro- grammes (MBPs). This Theravāda bias fails to acknowledge the significant Mahāyāna Buddhist influences that have informed the pioneering work of Jon Kabat-Zinn in the formation of the MBSR programme.
    [Show full text]
  • Mindful Meta-Awareness: Sustained and Non-Propositional
    Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Mindful meta-awareness: sustained and non-propositional 1 2 3 John D Dunne , Evan Thompson and Jonathan Schooler Meta-awareness appears to be essential to nearly all forms of accounts, especially after the 7th century (C.E.), distin- mindfulness practice, and it plays a key role in processes that guish this technical sense of smr.ti/sati as ‘distraction are central to therapeutic effects of mindfulness training, preventer’ from the capacity to notice that distraction including decentering — shifting one’s experiential has occurred, and they often refer to this capacity with the 4 perspective onto an experience itself — and dereification or Sanskrit term samprajanya [1 ,8–10]. Through this other metacognitive insight — experiencing thoughts as mental cognitive function, one can notice that, in lieu of events, and not as the things that they seem to represent. attending to one’s intended object such as the breath, Important advances in the conceptualization of meta- one is now daydreaming about a tropical beach. Buddhist awareness in mindfulness have recently been made, yet more accounts and empirical studies suggest that various styles clarity is required in order to characterize the type of meta- of mindfulness training enhance not only smr.ti awareness implicated in the ongoing monitoring of attention (‘mindfulness’) as a capacity that prevents distraction, and affect, even while attention itself is focused on an explicit but also samprajanya (‘meta-awareness’) as a capacity to object of awareness such as the breath. To enhance research detect distraction when it occurs [11,12]. Moreover, on this form of meta-awareness cultivated in at least some improvements in meta-awareness may be especially styles of mindfulness, a construct of sustained, non- relevant in clinical contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • Core Concepts of Mindfulness Sam J
    Chapter One CHAPTER 1 Core Concepts of Mindfulness Sam J. Zizzi My own exposure to mindfulness began in the early 1990s when I read Ste- phen Mitchell’s (1992) translation of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu as a first year college student. At this young age, I thought the text was nonsense. The pro- found messages within this book did not reach me because I was not ready to learn them (I didn’t have an “empty cup”). Several years later, once I began my training in general and sport psychology, I was exposed to mindfulness and Eastern approaches to living including Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism. Mindfulness is an element of each of these approaches, although wrapped in a different cultural traditions and language. I read Gallway’s (1974) Inner Game of Tennis and Kabat-Zinn’s (1990) Full Catastrophe Living. I became increas- ingly interested in Zen and Buddhist teachings, and these readings seemed to fit well with my studies in psychology and sport science. My sport psychology training eventually brought me to progressive muscle re- laxation, guided imagery, flow states, and therapeutic models for helping clients change. All of these concepts have elements of mindfulness weaved into them, but they are called different things. I also adopted the regular practice of yoga, which taught me many lessons about the breath, present awareness, accep- tance, nonstriving, and compassion. My orientation to mindfulness came from Core Concepts of Mindfulness Core Concepts of Mindfulness 3 a philosophical and personal well-being perspective even before I had been ex- posed to counseling, psychotherapy, and performance psychology.
    [Show full text]