Is It Mindfulness or Meditation?

I get asked that question a lot, and the answer is, yes, and . . .

Yes, mindfulness is a form of meditation practice. Other names for such meditation are insight and Vipassana. Mindfulness was popularized thirty years ago by Jon Kabat-Zinn with his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The genius of Jon Kabat-Zinn has been to make this ancient form of meditation accessible to the mainstream. Mindfulness meditation is now taught in a wide range of settings including hospitals, clinics, schools, prisons, businesses, and other venues all other the U.S. and the rest of the world. It is the form of meditation that has been the subject of much attention from neuroscience research. It is the practice I teach in my Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care and other mindfulness-based programs for caregivers. Mindfulness as commonly taught these days, draws its roots from the most ancient tradition of Buddhism know as Theravada. It has been stripped of all its religious context, and only the methods for de-stressing the brain have been kept, thereby making it accessible to all, independent of their religious orientation. It is important to stress that contemporary mindfulness practice is completely agnostic. 

Other forms of meditation include zen, Tibetan, transcendental meditation (TM), Christian centering prayer, Sufism, and yoga meditation. 

5 Tips For Wannabe Mindfulness Teachers

From being a student, and also a teacher of mindfulness, I have learned a few things that I would like to pass along to 'wannabe' teachers:

1. Have integrity as a teacher

Learn from a reputable teacher. Sit every day for 30 minutes at least, and go on a long silent retreat at least once a year. Do not follow someone else's script. Instead let the words flow from your in-the-moment experience and your own practice. If not able, better have your 'student' listen to a recording of a more experienced teacher.

2. Do not add to the moment

Mindfulness practice is simply about being aware of what is. It is not about visualizing what is not there, or forcing your breath into a different rhythm. Those techniques belong to other types of meditation practices with a different goal.

3. Stay away from 'I' and 'You'

Instead go for 'we' statements, or even better, action oriented instructions without personal pronouns, e.g. "body sitting still, being breathed", or, "turning our attention to the experience of hearing sounds", etc. This way, the possibility of experiencing not self gets introduced.

4. Leave the space open for the wide range of possible experiences

Do not impose your idea of what the now ought to be. During body scan, make room for possibility not just of sensations but also of no sensations. During mindfulness of emotions, give examples of many emotions, and also possibility of not knowing. Also, do not tell people that they should not think - such a common misconception, that get unfortunately passed on by so many untrained 'teachers'!

5. Talk, but not too much

Guiding means you need to use verbal guidance throughout the meditation to hold students' experience. It does not mean placating the whole time with non stop talking. You want to give students a chance to take in your instructions, and then experience for themselves. 

With deep gratitude to those teachers from which I learned much about the art of teaching mindfulness: Gil Fronsdal, Bob Stahl, Jon Kabat-Zinn

20 Mindfulness-Based Approaches to Healing

'Mindfulness-Based'. Add these two words to pretty much anything to do with psychotherapy, or healthcare, and you are sure to make a splash. A Google search turned no less that 20 mindfulness-based therapeutic approaches, all of them hybrids between Jon Kabat-Zinn's pioneering protocol for MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Reduction), and traditional healing techniques. Here they are, all 20 of them:

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Behavioral Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention

Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy 

Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy

Mindfulness-Based Relationship Enhancement

Mindfulness-Based Couples Therapy 

Mindfulness-Based Family Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting

Mindfulness-Based Anxiety Reduction

Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training

Mindfulness Based Eldercare 

Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness

Mindfulness-Based Biofeedback Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Somatic Therapy

Radical Acceptance Therapy

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Mentalization Based Therapy

And the list keeps on growing . . .