Mindfulness: Basic Human Quality

Based on the evidence, mindfulness could be expanded to be included in teaching individuals not only intrapersonal skills but also the

Mindfulness is an incredible skill, it is a practice that is taking the world by storm and helping more and more people live in their present.

Mindfulness has slowly crept into modern day America and has become commonly thought as unattached from its Buddhist origin. In order to attract customers and adherents, writers and teachers of mindfulness separated it from Buddhism. Secular practitioners still benefit from mindfulness, not as a religious meditative ritual, but as a concentration and thinking technique that can improve their wellbeing and efficiency. Even if mindfulness is used as an improved thinking tool and health practice, it remains linked to the Buddhist religion and ideals, and a clear ignorance of that relationship is wrong no matter the benefits. The appropriation of mindfulness into secular America also definitely waters down core Buddhist principles such as the

In chapter 4 it talks about how we can practice being mindfulness with connecting mind and body together. To able to take in every moment in life one needs to enjoy every moment without our mind wandering off when we are doing an action. The body is great to practice being able to be mindfulness because it is something that will not go away. The author explains in the chapter that sometimes a way to came back to the mindfulness state is by breathing in and out, which leads to concentrate again. Another point made is that mindful attention to sensation requires you to take the time to actually experience the sensation. An example is when cooking you can practice mindful attention by smelling the different faces the food you are cooking goes

In order to become stress free, millions of people choose meditation and mindfulness as a source of relief. Choosing the two can help a person, not only get stress relief, but also achieve a much better physical body and response. Being mindful of one’s health by meditating can help a person achieve a better mental health.

Although the treatment method may not be the predominant driver of successful helping, it is still of significant importance (Egan, 2014). Given the client presented with self-defeating thoughts, one might assume that cognitive-based interventions such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT; Beck, Emery & Greenberg, 1985) would be the most efficacious as this attempts to deal directly with changing negative cognitions. However, some have likened this cognitive restructuring to thought suppression, associated with subsequent, unsolicited revival of those suppressed thoughts (Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson, 1999). Furthermore, Eifert and Forsyth (2005) assert that this ruminative cycle is maintained through fixating on those thoughts. This is in favour of the concept that mindfulness and acceptance may constitute a more effective way of reducing negative thoughts than cognitive restructuring (Niles et al., 2014). Moreover, research suggests mindfulness-based approaches may be effective in helping clients to improve interpersonal skills (Dekeyser, Raes, Leijssen, Leysen & Dewulf, 2007). Thus, it appears that a mindfulness-based approach such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes et al.,1999) seems applicable given the client’s negative cognitions and perceived lack of social skills. Underlying ACT is the branch of philosophical science termed functional contextualism (Hayes, Pistorello, & Levin, 2012).

In the late 19th century, a civil officer by the name of Thomas William Rhys Davids was put in charge of judging Buddhist ecclesiastical disputes. He became familiar with the language of the Theravada Buddhists, and thereafter went on to translate the Buddhist concept of sati into English as “mindfulness”(1). In the modern West, mindfulness is often spoken of as a secular term used to describe the practice of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment; thus expectantly making them more “mindful” of various aspects their lives; whether it be relationships, thoughts, or actions. The intensely studied psychological benefits behind mindfulness—which have become a focal point in its Westernized

is a 47-item self report scale that assesses the following four domains of the construct of mindfulness: a) mindfulness (α = .88), attention regulation (α = .84), acceptance (α = .74) and novelty seeking (α = .62). The MAP is intended to be a new instrument to assess mindfulness, whose componentes were drawn from earlier studies on mindfulness assessment.

1. The Mindfulness Studies certificate is offered as semester-long program for those looking to expand their knowledge in mindfulness practices. The program explores the trend of mindful living and how these practices affect the areas of medicine, psychotherapy, business and education. Students will be versed in Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) and will be strongly encouraged to apply their knowledge to their everyday life, detailing their experiences as a part of the curriculum.

Mindfulness is a concept that is well documented in the psychological world. In ancient contempla-tive traditions and religions such as Buddhism, where awareness and being conscious of surround-ings is practised in day to day life. Theorists from all schools of thought, including the personality schools of thought and psychotherapy have mentioned the “importance of observant, open awareness and attention in the optimization of self-regulation and wellbeing” (Brazier, 1995; Mar-tin, 1997). Mindfulness also shares aspects of the Openness to Experience dimension of personali-ty which has been researched by Costa and McRae who have proposed the ‘big five’, which coor-dinate how well traits go together in people’s descriptions of rating

Being mindful is a skill that I have been working on most of my adult life. I struggle the most with this component. I am mindful of myself and show high levels of “self-monitoring”, however, I show more characters still lacking mindfulness. This is a component that my husband and I agree on that needs improvement. I can improve on this component by taking in more information and not being so narrow minded. IF I listen more to others and not always trying to get what I want across, I do believe that will be a great start in helping me become more mindful. I need to get out of my own head and see the bigger picture. Always keeping in mind that I am not the only one in a group of people. I do usually keep a check on my emotions and monitor others

One of the core skills emphasized in DBT is mindfulness. Originated in ancient Buddhism principles, mindfulness and related practices have been integrated into several psychological interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT)(Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2003). Mindfulness in the context of modern psychology is generally defined as open, nonjudgmental awareness towards current experiences (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2003).

Mindfulness is the mental procedure of bringing in focus to the Internal and External encounters which is happening, implying keeping up a minute by-minute consciousness of our contemplations, sentiments, physical sensations, and the encompassing condition. Mindfulness includes acknowledgment, without passing judgment on them without accepting, there's a "right" or "wrong" approach to think or feel in a given moment. When we hone mindfulness, our contemplations tune into what we're detecting right now instead of repeating the past or envisioning what's to come.

Modern clinical investigators and meditation teachers have offered different explanations of mindfulness (Baer, 2003; Bishop et al., 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 2003b; Salzberg & Goldstein, 2001). Baer (2003) believes that mindfulness is all about awareness, which has a considerable role in individuals’ well-being. Flammia and Sadri (2011) claim that “if we are aware of the requirement to be sensitive to and considerate of the alikeness among cultures, we will be more hopeful to accomplish the crucial movements to achieve the proficiency needed to communicate mindfully” (p. 104). Likewise, according to Kabat-Zinn (1994), mindfulness is ‘‘paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (p.4).

I would explain to my friend that the practice of mindfulness was originated from the Zen and the Buddhist tradition. The person that practices mindfulness are the ones who are able to focus their attention and are aware of the activities that they are doing, they are non judgmental, they are able to accept others and feel compassion for others (Hick and Bien, 2010, p.55). People who practice mindfulness do it though the process of meditation. Through meditation the people can reach a high level of inner calm, and high awareness in their daily lives. (Fediman & Frager, 2002, p.363). A high level of Mindfulness can be difficult to achieve, but it can be done with patience and