mindfulness mindfulness mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of hindu and buddhist traditions, and is based on zen, vipassanā, and tibetan meditation techniques. though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, buddhist traditions explain what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena. individuals who have contributed to the popularity of mindfulness in the modern western context include thích nhất hạnh, herbert benson, jon kabat-zinn, richard j. davidson, and sam harris. part of a series onmindfulness buddhism buddhist meditation sati anussati sampajañña satipatthana anapanasati mental noting appamāda vipassanā zen psychology mindfulness-based stress reduction mindfulness-based cognitive therapy mindfulness-based pain management acceptance and commitment therapy dialectical behavior therapy mode deactivation therapy morita therapy hakomi therapy mindfulness (journal) other buddhism and psychology mindful yoga similar concepts wakefulness attention alertness prudence conscientiousness awareness observation choiceless awareness category mindfulnessmeshd064866 clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce depression, stress, anxiety, and in the treatment of drug addiction. programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for healthy aging, weight management, athletic performance, helping children with special needs, and as an intervention during the perinatal period. clinical studies have documented both physical- and mental-health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children. studies have shown a positive relationship between trait mindfulness (which can be cultivated through the practice of mindfulness-based interventions) and psychological health. the practice of mindfulness appears to provide therapeutic benefits to people with psychiatric disorders, including moderate benefits to those with psychosis. studies also indicate that rumination and worry contribute to a variety of mental disorders, and that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance trait mindfulness and reduce both rumination and worry. further, the practice of mindfulness may be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental-health problems. however, according to one opinion article, too much mindfulness may produce negative effects. evidence suggests that engaging in mindfulness meditation may influence physical health. for example, the psychological habit of repeatedly dwelling on stressful thoughts appears to intensify the physiological effects of the stressor (as a result of the continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) with the potential to lead to physical health related clinical manifestations. studies indicate that mindfulness meditation, which brings about reductions in rumination, may alter these biological clinical pathways. further, research indicates that mindfulness may favorably influence the immune system as well as inflammation, which can consequently impact physical health, especially considering that inflammation has been linked to the development of several chronic health conditions. other studies support these findings. additionally, mindfulness appears to bring about lowered activity of the default mode network of the brain, and thereby contribute towards a lowered risk of developing conditions such as dementia and alzheimer's disease. however, critics have questioned both the commercialization and the over-marketing of mindfulness for health benefits—as well as emphasizing the need for more randomized controlled studies, for more methodological details in reported studies and for the use of larger sample-sizes. while mindfulness-based interventions may be effective for youth, research still needs to determine the most appropriate methods in which mindfulness could be introduced and delivered in schools. practice mindfulness practice involves the process of developing the skill of bringing one's attention to whatever is happening in the present moment. watching the breath, body-scan and other techniques there are several exercises designed to develop mindfulness meditation, which may be aided by guided meditations "to get the hang of it". as forms of self-observation and interoception, these methods increase awareness of the body, so they are usually beneficial to people with low self-awareness or low awareness of their bodies or emotional state, and can provoke anxiety, distress, flashbacks, pain, and even trigger substance abuse in people who are very focused on themselves, their bodies, and their emotions. one method is to sit in a straight-backed chair or sit cross-legged on the floor or a cushion, close one's eyes and bring attention to either the sensations of breathing in the proximity of one's nostrils or to the movements of the abdomen when breathing in and out. in this meditation practice, one does not try to control one's breathing, but attempts to simply be aware of one's natural breathing process/rhythm. when engaged in this practice, the mind will often run off to other thoughts and associations, and if this happens, one passively notices that the mind has wandered, and in an accepting, non-judgmental way, returns to focusing on breathing. in body-scan meditation the attention is directed at various areas of the body and noting body sensations that happen in the present moment. one could also focus on sounds, sensations, thoughts, feelings and actions that happen in the present. in this regard, a famous exercise, introduced by kabat-zinn in his mbsr program, is the mindful tasting of a raisin, in which a raisin is being tasted and eaten mindfully. by enabling reconnection with internal hunger and satiety cues, mindful eating has been suggested to be a means of maintaining healthy and conscious eating patterns. other approaches include practicing yoga asanas while attending to movements and body sensations, and walking meditation. timings meditators are recommended to start with short periods of 10 minutes or so of meditation practice per day. as one practices regularly, it becomes easier to keep the attention focused on breathing. an old zen saying suggests, "you should sit in meditation for 20 minutes every day — unless you're too busy. then you should sit for an hour." in buddhist context; moral precepts in a buddhist context the keeping of moral precepts is an essential preparatory stage for mindfulness or meditation. vipassana also includes contemplation and reflection on phenomena as dukkha, anatta and anicca, and reflections on causation and other buddhist teachings. translations mindfulness meditation is part of buddhist psychological traditions and the developing scholarship within empirical psychology. sati and smṛti the buddhist term translated into english as "mindfulness" originates in the pali term sati and in its sanskrit counterpart smṛti. it is often translated as "bare attention", but in the buddhist tradition it has a broader meaning and application, and the meaning of these terms has been the topic of extensive debate and discussion. according to bryan levman, "the word sati incorporates the meaning of 'memory' and 'remembrance' in much of its usage in both the suttas and the commentary, and ... without the memory component, the notion of mindfulness cannot be properly understood or applied, as mindfulness requires memory for its effectiveness". according to robert sharf, smṛti originally meant "to remember", "to recollect", "to bear in mind", as in the vedic tradition of remembering the sacred texts. the term sati also means "to remember". in the satipaṭṭhāna-sutta the term sati means to remember the dharmas, whereby the true nature of phenomena can be seen. sharf refers to the milindapañha, which explained that the arising of sati calls to mind the wholesome dhammas such as the four foundations of mindfulness, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening-factors, the noble eightfold path, and the attainment of insight. according to rupert gethin, should be understood as what allows awareness of the full range and extent of dhammas; sati is an awareness of things in relation to things, and hence an awareness of their relative value. applied to the satipaṭṭhānas, presumably what this means is that sati is what causes the practitioner of yoga to "remember" that any feeling he may experience exists in relation to a whole variety or world of feelings that may be skillful or unskillful, with faults or faultless, relatively inferior or refined, dark or pure." sharf further notes that this has little to do with "bare attention", the popular contemporary interpretation of sati, "since it entails, among other things, the proper discrimination of the moral valence of phenomena as they arise." georges dreyfus has also expressed unease with the definition of mindfulness as "bare attention" or "nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness", stressing that mindfulness in a buddhist context also means "remembering", which indicates that the function of mindfulness also includes the retention of information. robert h. sharf notes that buddhist practice is aimed at the attainment of "correct view", not just "bare attention". jay l. garfield, quoting shantideva and other sources, stresses that mindfulness is constituted by the union of two functions, calling to mind and vigilantly retaining in mind. he demonstrates that there is a direct connection between the practice of mindfulness and the cultivation of morality—at least in the context of buddhism, from which modern interpretations of mindfulness are stemming. translation the pali-language scholar thomas william rhys davids (1843–1922) first translated sati in 1881 as english mindfulness in sammā-sati "right mindfulness; the active, watchful mind". noting that daniel john gogerly (1845) initially rendered sammā-sati as "correct meditation", davids explained: sati is literally 'memory' but is used with reference to the constantly repeated phrase 'mindful and thoughtful' (sato sampajâno); and means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good buddhist." alternative translations john d. dunne asserts that the translation of sati and smṛti as mindfulness is confusing. a number of buddhist scholars have started trying to establish "retention" as the preferred alternative. bhikkhu bodhi also points to the meaning of sati as "memory". the terms sati/smṛti have been translated as: attention (jack kornfield) awareness concentrated attention (mahasi sayadaw) inspection (herbert v. günther) mindful attention mindfulness recollecting mindfulness (alexander berzin) recollection (erik pema kunsang, buddhadasa) reflective awareness (buddhadasa) remindfulness (james h. austin) retention self-recollection (jack kornfield) definitions psychology a.m. hayes and g. feldman have highlighted that mindfulness can be seen as a strategy that stands in contrast to a strategy of avoidance of emotion on the one hand and to the strategy of emotional over-engagement on the other hand. mindfulness can also be viewed as a means to develop self-knowledge and wisdom. trait, state and practice according to brown, ryan, and creswell, definitions of mindfulness are typically selectively interpreted based on who is studying it and how it is applied. some have viewed mindfulness as a mental state, while others have viewed it as a set of skills and techniques. a distinction can also be made between the state of mindfulness and the trait of mindfulness. according to david s. black, whereas "mindfulness" originally was associated with esoteric beliefs and religion, and "a capacity attainable only by certain people", scientific researchers have translated the term into measurable terms, providing a valid operational definition of mindfulness. black mentions three possible domains: a trait, a dispositional characteristic (a relatively long lasting trait), a person's tendency to more frequently enter into and more easily abide in mindful states; a state, an outcome (a state of awareness resulting from mindfulness training), being in a state of present-moment awareness; a practice (mindfulness meditation practice itself). trait-like constructs according to brown, mindfulness is: a quality of consciousness manifest in, but not isomorphic with, the activities through which it is enhanced." several mindfulness measures have been developed which are based on self-reporting of trait-like constructs: mindful attention awareness scale (maas) freiburg mindfulness inventory (fmi) kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills (kims) cognitive and affective mindfulness scale (cams) mindfulness questionnaire (mq) revised cognitive and affective mindfulness scale (cams-r) philadelphia mindfulness scale (phlms) state-like phenomenon according to bishop, et alia, mindfulness is, "a kind of nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is." the toronto mindfulness scale (tms) measures mindfulness as a state-like phenomenon, that is evoked and maintained by regular practice. the state mindfulness scale (sms) is a 21-item survey with an overall state mindfulness scale, and 2 sub-scales (state mindfulness of mind, and state mindfulness of body). mindfulness-practice mindfulness as a practice is described as: "mindfulness is a way of paying attention that