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Literature Review Of Mindfulness

Decent Essays

REVIEW OF LITERTURE
MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness has enjoyed a massive growth in popularity in the past decade, both in the popular press and in the psychotherapy literature. Recently there has been several studies conducted on Mindfulness. Langer’s (1992) early conceptualization included mindfulness as a ‚state of conscious awareness...openness to novelty in which the individual actively constructs categories and distinctions. From this view mindfulness is a nearly effortful way of attending to the present moment, in contrast to the automatic, shallow processing of mindlessness. In a later conceptualization, Langer and Moldoveanu (2000) revised the definition of mindfulness to emphasize that it is a ‚process of drawing new distinctions, such that a perceiver experiences: greater sensitivity to one’s environment, more openness to new information, the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving (Langer & Moldoveanu, …show more content…

For example, mindfulness is similar to mentalization (Bateman & Fonagy, 2004, 2006; Fonagy & Bateman, 2008), which can be understood as the developmental process of understanding one’s own and others’ behavior in terms of individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and desires. Both constructs (Mindfulness and Mentalization) emphasize the temporary, subjective, and fluid nature of mental states and both are thought to enhance affect regulation and cognitive flexibility (Wallin, 2007). Mindfulness and intersubjectivity are similar in that they both enable a sense of connection with others (Thompson, 2001), or what Thich Nhat Hanh (1987) calls interbeing. Finally, insight, the conscious process of making novel connections (Hill & Castonguay, 2007), can be construed as a beneficial outcome of mindfulness practice. Siegel (2007b, 2009) has proposed a neurological basis for the connection between mindfulness and

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