View source for Mindfulness

{{Short description|Secular meditation practice}}
{{other uses}}
{{Cleanup lang |date=June 2025}}
{{Use American English|date= March 2016}}
{{use mdy dates |cs1-dates=ly |date=February 2022}}
{{Mindfulness|all}}
'''Mindfulness''' is the [[cognitive skill]],{{sfn|Kvamme|Sandberg|Silvanto|2024}}{{sfn|Gkintoni|Vassilopoulos|Nikolaou|2025}}{{sfn|Matiz|2025}} usually developed through exercises, of sustaining [[Metacognition|metacognitive awareness]] towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment.{{sfn|Deatherage|1975}}{{sfn|Baer|2003}}{{efn-la|name=Baer}}{{sfn|Slagter|Davidson|Lutz|2011}}{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}{{sfn|Creswell|2017}} The term ''mindfulness'' derives from the [[Pali]] word [[Sati (Buddhism)|''sati'']], a significant element of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] traditions,{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}{{sfn|Van Gordon|Shonin|Griffiths|Singh|2014}} and the practice is based on ''[[Anapanasati|ānāpānasati]]'', [[Chan Buddhism|Chan]], and [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan meditation]] techniques.{{sfn|Nisbet|2017}}{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=35}}{{efn-la|name="sati_translation"}}

Since the 1990s, secular mindfulness has gained popularity in the West.{{sfn|Wilks|2014}} Individuals who have contributed to the popularity of secular mindfulness in the modern [[Western culture|Western]] context include  [[Jon Kabat-Zinn]] and [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]].{{sfn|Buchholz|2015}}{{sfn|Harrington|Dunne|2015}}

[[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.{{sfn|Harrington|Dunne|2015}}
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<!-- ***START OF NOTE -->{{efn-la|name="therapeutic_aplications"|Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce [[depression (mood)|depression]],{{sfn|Blanck et al.|2018}}<ref name=Khoury2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Khoury B, Sharma M, Rush SE, Fournier C | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 78 | issue = 6 | pages = 519–528 | date = June 2015 | pmid = 25818837 | doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.009 | quote = We conducted a meta-analysis to provide a review of MBSR for healthy individuals. The meta-analysis included 29 studies enrolling 2668 participants... The results obtained are robust and are maintained at follow-up. When combined, mindfulness and compassion strongly correlated with clinical effects. }}</ref><ref name=Jain>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jain FA, Walsh RN, Eisendrath SJ, Christensen S, Rael Cahn B | title = Critical analysis of the efficacy of meditation therapies for acute and subacute phase treatment of depressive disorders: a systematic review | journal = Psychosomatics | volume = 56 | issue = 2 | pages = 140–152 | year = 2015 | pmid = 25591492 | pmc = 4383597 | doi = 10.1016/j.psym.2014.10.007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Reangsing C, Punsuwun S, Schneider JK | title = Effects of mindfulness interventions on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis | journal = International Journal of Nursing Studies | volume = 115 | article-number = 103848 | date = March 2021 | pmid = 33383273 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103848 | s2cid = 229940390 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Galante |first1=Julieta |last2=Friedrich |first2=Claire |last3=Dawson |first3=Anna F. |last4=Modrego-Alarcón |first4=Marta |last5=Gebbing |first5=Pia |last6=Delgado-Suárez |first6=Irene |last7=Gupta |first7=Radhika |last8=Dean |first8=Lydia |last9=Dalgleish |first9=Tim |last10=White |first10=Ian R. |last11=Jones |first11=Peter B. |date=2021-01-11 |title=Mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in adults in nonclinical settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials |journal=PLOS Medicine |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |article-number=e1003481 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003481 |issn=1549-1676 |pmc=7799763 |pmid=33428616 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Psychological stress|stress]],<ref name="Khoury2015"/>{{sfn|Hofmann|Sawyer|Witt|Oh|2010}}<ref name=":1" /> [[anxiety]],{{sfn|Blanck et al.|2018}}<ref name="Khoury2015"/><ref name="Hofmann">{{harvnb|Hofmann|Sawyer|Witt|Oh|2010}}.</ref><ref name=":1" /> and in the treatment of [[drug addiction]].<ref name=Chiesa>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chiesa A, Serretti A | title = Are mindfulness-based interventions effective for substance use disorders? A systematic review of the evidence | journal = Substance Use & Misuse | volume = 49 | issue = 5 | pages = 492–512 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 23461667 | doi = 10.3109/10826084.2013.770027 | s2cid = 34990668 }}</ref><ref name=Garland>{{cite journal | vauthors = Garland EL, Froeliger B, Howard MO | title = Mindfulness training targets neurocognitive mechanisms of addiction at the attention-appraisal-emotion interface | journal = Frontiers in Psychiatry | volume = 4 | page = 173 | date = January 2014 | pmid = 24454293 | pmc = 3887509 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00173 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name= Sancho2018>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sancho M, De Gracia M, Rodríguez RC, Mallorquí-Bagué N, Sánchez-González J, Trujols J, Sánchez I, Jiménez-Murcia S, Menchón JM | display-authors = 3 | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Substance and Behavioral Addictions: A Systematic Review | journal = Frontiers in Psychiatry | volume = 9 | issue = 95 | article-number = 95 | year = 2018 | pmid = 29651257 | pmc = 5884944 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00095 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Dexing |last2=Lee |first2=Eric K P |last3=Mak |first3=Eva C W |last4=Ho |first4=C Y |last5=Wong |first5=Samuel Y S |title=Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review |journal=British Medical Bulletin |date=10 June 2021 |volume=138 |issue=1 |pages=41–57 |doi=10.1093/bmb/ldab005|pmid=33884400 |pmc=8083197 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Xiao-Gang |last2=Wang |first2=Le-Peng |last3=Rong |first3=Guang |last4=Zhang |first4=Dao-Ning |last5=Zhang |first5=A-Yuan |last6=Liu |first6=Chao |title=Effects of online mindfulness-based interventions on the mental health of university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=8 February 2023 |volume=14 |article-number=1073647 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1073647|pmid=36844353 |pmc=9944037 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for [[healthy aging]], [[weight management]], athletic performance,<ref name=Noetel2019>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/1750984X.2017.1387803 |title=Mindfulness and acceptance approaches to sporting performance enhancement: a systematic review |journal=International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=139–175 |year=2019 |last1=Noetel |first1=Michael |last2=Ciarrochi |first2=Joseph |last3=Van Zanden |first3=Brooke |last4=Lonsdale |first4=Chris |s2cid=149040404 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> helping children with [[special needs]], and as an intervention during early pregnancy.}}<!-- ***END OF NOTE*** -->
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Clinical studies have documented both physical- and mental-health benefits of mindfulness in different patient categories as well as in healthy adults and children.<ref name=Goldberg22>{{cite journal |last1=Goldberg |first1=Simon B. |last2=Riordan |first2=Kevin M. |last3=Sun |first3=Shufang |last4=Davidson |first4=Richard J. |title=The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |date=January 2022 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=108–130 |doi=10.1177/1745691620968771|pmid=33593124 |pmc=8364929 }}</ref><ref name=Paulus2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Paulus MP | title = Neural Basis of Mindfulness Interventions that Moderate the Impact of Stress on the Brain | journal = Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 41 | issue = 1 | page = 373 | date = January 2016 | pmid = 26657952 | pmc = 4677133 | doi = 10.1038/npp.2015.239 }}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=David Creswell |first1=J. |last2=Lindsay |first2=Emily K. |last3=Villalba |first3=Daniella K. |last4=Chin |first4=Brian |date=April 1, 2020 |title=Mindfulness Training and Physical Health: Mechanisms and Outcomes |journal=Psychosomatic Medicine |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=224–232 |doi=10.1097/PSY.0000000000000675 |issn=0033-3174 |pmc=6613793 |pmid=30806634}}</ref>
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<!-- ***START OF NOTE*** -->{{efn-la|Studies have shown a positive relationship between trait mindfulness (which can be cultivated through the practice of mindfulness-based interventions) and psychological health.<ref name=Tomlinson2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tomlinson ER, Yousaf O, Vittersø AD, Jones L | title = Dispositional Mindfulness and Psychological Health: a Systematic Review | journal = Mindfulness | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 23–43 | date = 2018 | pmid = 29387263 | pmc = 5770488 | doi = 10.1007/s12671-017-0762-6 }}</ref><ref name="KengSmoskiRobins2011">{{cite journal | vauthors = Keng SL, Smoski MJ, Robins CJ | title = Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: a review of empirical studies | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 31 | issue = 6 | pages = 1041–1056 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 21802619 | pmc = 3679190 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006 }}</ref> The practice of mindfulness appears to provide therapeutic benefits to people with [[psychiatric disorders]],<ref name=Goldberg2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Goldberg SB, Tucker RP, Greene PA, Davidson RJ, Wampold BE, Kearney DJ, Simpson TL | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 59 | pages = 52–60 | date = February 2018 | pmid = 29126747 | pmc = 5741505 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011 }}</ref><ref name=Boyd2018>{{cite journal | vauthors = Boyd JE, Lanius RA, McKinnon MC | title = Mindfulness-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of the treatment literature and neurobiological evidence | journal = Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 7–25 | date = January 2018 | pmid = 29252162 | pmc = 5747539 | doi = 10.1503/jpn.170021 }}</ref><ref name=Rodrigues2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rodrigues MF, Nardi AE, Levitan M | title = Mindfulness in mood and anxiety disorders: a review of the literature | journal = Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 207–215 | date = 2017 | pmid = 28767927 | doi = 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0051 | doi-access = free }}</ref> including moderate benefits to those with [[psychosis]].<ref name=Bradshaw>{{cite journal | vauthors = Aust J, Bradshaw T | title = Mindfulness interventions for psychosis: a systematic review of the literature | journal = Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing | volume = 24 | issue = 1 | pages = 69–83 | date = February 2017 | pmid = 27928859 | doi = 10.1111/jpm.12357 | s2cid = 206143093 }}</ref><ref name=Cramer2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cramer H, Lauche R, Haller H, Langhorst J, Dobos G | title = Mindfulness- and Acceptance-based Interventions for Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | journal = Global Advances in Health and Medicine | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 30–43 | date = January 2016 | pmid = 26937312 | pmc = 4756771 | doi = 10.7453/gahmj.2015.083 | quote = Moderate evidence was found for short-term effects on total psychotic symptoms, positive symptoms, hospitalization rates, duration of hospitalization, and mindfulness and for long-term effects on total psychotic symptoms and duration of hospitalization. }}</ref><ref name=Louise2018 >{{cite journal | vauthors = Louise S, Fitzpatrick M, Strauss C, Rossell SL, Thomas N | title = Mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions for psychosis: Our current understanding and a meta-analysis | journal = Schizophrenia Research | volume = 192 | pages = 57–63 | date = February 2018 | pmid = 28545945 | doi = 10.1016/j.schres.2017.05.023 | s2cid = 3374099 }}</ref> Studies also indicate that [[rumination (psychology)|rumination]] and [[worry]] contribute to a variety of mental disorders,<ref name=Kaplan2018>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kaplan DM, Palitsky R, Carey AL, Crane TE, Havens CM, Medrano MR, Reznik SJ, Sbarra DA, O'Connor MF | display-authors = 6 | title = Maladaptive repetitive thought as a transdiagnostic phenomenon and treatment target: An integrative review | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | volume = 74 | issue = 7 | pages = 1126–1136 | date = July 2018 | pmid = 29342312 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.22585 }}</ref><ref name=Querstret>{{cite journal | vauthors = Querstret D, Cropley M | title = Assessing treatments used to reduce rumination and/or worry: a systematic review | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 33 | issue = 8 | pages = 996–1009 | date = December 2013 | pmid = 24036088 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2013.08.004 | hdl-access = free | hdl = 2164/3892 }}</ref> and that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance trait mindfulness<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kiken LG, Garland EL, Bluth K, Palsson OS, Gaylord SA | title = From a state to a trait: Trajectories of state mindfulness in meditation during intervention predict changes in trait mindfulness | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 81 | pages = 41–46 | date = July 2015 | pmid = 25914434 | pmc = 4404745 | doi = 10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.044 | series = Dr. Sybil Eysenck Young Researcher Award }}</ref> and reduce both rumination and worry.<ref name="Querstret" /><ref name=Gu2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gu J, Strauss C, Bond R, Cavanagh K | title = How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 37 | pages = 1–12 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25689576 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006 | s2cid = 4117449 }}</ref><ref name=Perestelo-Perez2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Perestelo-Perez L, Barraca J, Peñate W, Rivero-Santana A, Alvarez-Perez Y | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of depressive rumination: Systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | pages = 282–295 | date = 2017 | pmid = 30487903 | pmc = 6220915 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijchp.2017.07.004 }}</ref> Further, the practice of mindfulness may be a preventive strategy to halt the development of mental-health problems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Galante |first1=Julieta |last2=Friedrich |first2=Claire |last3=Aeamla-Or |first3=Napaporn |last4=Arts-de Jong |first4=Marieke |last5=Barrett |first5=Bruce |last6=Bögels |first6=Susan M. |last7=Buitelaar |first7=Jan K. |last8=Checovich |first8=Mary M. |last9=Christopher |first9=Michael S. |last10=Davidson |first10=Richard J. |last11=Errazuriz |first11=Antonia |last12=Goldberg |first12=Simon B. |last13=Greven |first13=Corina U. |last14=Hirshberg |first14=Matthew J. |last15=Huang |first15=Shu-Ling |last16=Hunsinger |first16=Matthew |last17=Hwang |first17=Yoon-Suk |last18=Jones |first18=Peter B. |last19=Medvedev |first19=Oleg N. |last20=Rosenkranz |first20=Melissa A. |last21=Schellekens |first21=Melanie P. J. |last22=Siebelink |first22=Nienke M. |last23=Singh |first23=Nirbhay N. |last24=Speckens |first24=Anne E. M. |last25=Tang |first25=Feng-Cheng |last26=Tomfohr-Madsen |first26=Lianne |last27=Dalgleish |first27=Tim |last28=Jones |first28=Peter B. |last29=White |first29=Ian R.| display-authors = 3 |title=Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing mindfulness-based programs for mental health promotion |journal=Nature Mental Health |date=10 July 2023 |volume=1 |issue=7 |pages=462–476 |doi=10.1038/s44220-023-00081-5|pmid=37867573 |pmc=7615230 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Tang_2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tang YY, Leve LD | title = A translational neuroscience perspective on mindfulness meditation as a prevention strategy | journal = Translational Behavioral Medicine | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 63–72 | date = March 2016 | pmid = 27012254 | pmc = 4807201 | doi = 10.1007/s13142-015-0360-x }}</ref><ref name=Cheng2016>{{cite journal |vauthors=Cheng FK |title= Is meditation conducive to mental well-being for adolescents? An integrative review for mental health nursing |journal= International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences |volume= 4 |pages= 7–19 |date= 2016 |doi= 10.1016/j.ijans.2016.01.001|doi-access= free }}</ref> Mindfulness practices have been said to enable individuals to respond more effectively to stressful situations by helping them strike the balance between over-identification and suppression of their emotional experiences by finding the middle point which is recognition and acceptance.'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kappes |first1=Cathleen |last2=Marion-Jetten |first2=Ariane S. |last3=Taylor |first3=Geneviève |last4=Schad |first4=Daniel J. |last5=Dreßler |first5=Birte |last6=El-Hayek |first6=Samira |last7=Hansemann |first7=Jule |last8=Heine |first8=Rebecca |last9=Lindner |first9=Sarah |last10=Melzner |first10=Lena |last11=Meyer |first11=Cedric |last12=Pfister |first12=Benjamin |last13=Rogowski |first13=Kaja |last14=Rose |first14=Rebekka |last15=Simson |first15=Katharina |date=2023-12-01 |title=The role of mindfulness and autonomous motivation for goal progress and goal adjustment: an intervention study |journal=Motivation and Emotion |language=en |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=946–964 |doi=10.1007/s11031-023-10033-2 |issn=1573-6644|doi-access=free }}</ref>'''}}<!-- *** END OF NOTE *** -->
<!-- ***START OF NOTE*** -->{{efn-la|For example, the psychological habit of [[Rumination (psychology)|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.<ref name=Karunamuni2020>{{cite journal | vauthors = Karunamuni N, Imayama I, Goonetilleke D | title = Pathways to well-being: Untangling the causal relationships among biopsychosocial variables | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 272 | article-number = 112846 | date = March 2021 | pmid = 32089388 | doi = 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112846 | s2cid = 211262159 | url = https://osf.io/dfu59/ }}</ref><ref name= Grierson2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Grierson AB, Hickie IB, Naismith SL, Scott J | title = The role of rumination in illness trajectories in youth: linking trans-diagnostic processes with clinical staging models | journal = Psychological Medicine | volume = 46 | issue = 12 | pages = 2467–2484 | date = September 2016 | pmid = 27352637 | pmc = 4988274 | doi = 10.1017/S0033291716001392 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name= Verkuil2010>{{cite journal |vauthors= Verkuil B, Brosschot JF, Gebhardt WA, Thayer JF |title= When worries make you sick: a review of perseverative cognition, the default stress response and somatic health |journal= J. Exp. Psychopathol. |volume=1| issue=1 |pages=87–118|date=2010 |article-number= jep.009110 |doi=10.5127/jep.009110|doi-access= free}}</ref> Studies indicate that mindfulness meditation, which brings about reductions in [[Rumination (psychology)|rumination]], may alter these biological clinical pathways.<ref name="Karunamuni2020" /><ref name="Querstret" /><ref name="Pascoe2017" /> Further, research indicates that mindfulness may favorably influence the [[immune system]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Dimolareva |first2=Mirena |title=The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on immunity-related biomarkers: a comprehensive meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials |journal=Clinical Psychology Review |date=March 2022 |volume=92 |article-number=102124 |doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102124|pmid=35078038 |s2cid=245951867 |url=https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/14565/1/14565.pdf }}</ref> as well as inflammation,{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=}}{{page needed |date=June 2025}}<ref name= BlackSlavich2016 >{{cite journal | vauthors = Black DS, Slavich GM | title = Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 1373 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–24 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 26799456 | pmc = 4940234 | doi = 10.1111/nyas.12998 | bibcode = 2016NYASA1373...13B }}
</ref><ref name="Creswell2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Creswell JD, Lindsay EK, Villalba DK, Chin B | title = Mindfulness Training and Physical Health: Mechanisms and Outcomes | journal = Psychosomatic Medicine | volume = 81 | issue = 3 | pages = 224–232 | date = April 2019 | pmid = 30806634 | pmc = 6613793 | doi = 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000675 }}</ref> which can consequently impact physical health, especially considering that inflammation has been linked to the development of several chronic health conditions.<ref name= Liu2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Liu YZ, Wang YX, Jiang CL | title = Inflammation: The Common Pathway of Stress-Related Diseases | journal = Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | volume = 11 | issue = 316 | article-number = 316 | date = 2017 | pmid = 28676747 | pmc = 5476783 | doi = 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00316 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name= Kelly2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kelly SJ, Ismail M | title = Stress and type 2 diabetes: a review of how stress contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes | journal = Annual Review of Public Health | volume = 36 | pages = 441–462 | date = March 2015 | pmid = 25581145 | doi = 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122921 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Other studies support these findings.<ref name="Pascoe2017">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pascoe MC, Thompson DR, Jenkins ZM, Ski CF | title = Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Psychiatric Research | volume = 95 | pages = 156–178 | date = December 2017 | pmid = 28863392 | doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.08.004 }}</ref><ref name="Scott-Sheldon2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Scott-Sheldon LA, Gathright EC, Donahue ML, Balletto B, Feulner MM, DeCosta J, Cruess DG, Wing RR, Carey MP, Salmoirago-Blotcher E | display-authors = 6 | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Adults with Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | journal = Annals of Behavioral Medicine | volume = 54 | issue = 1 | pages = 67–73 | date = January 2020 | pmid = 31167026 | pmc = 6922300 | doi = 10.1093/abm/kaz020 }}</ref><ref name="Schutte2014">{{cite journal | vauthors = Schutte NS, Malouff JM | title = A meta-analytic review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on telomerase activity | journal = Psychoneuroendocrinology | volume = 42 | pages = 45–48 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 24636500 | doi = 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.017 | s2cid = 39094183 }}</ref>}}<!-- ***END OF NOTE*** -->

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 trial|randomized controlled studies]], for more methodological details in reported studies and for the use of larger [[sample size determination|sample sizes]].{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=}}{{page needed |date=June 2025}}{{request quotation|date=February 2020}}<ref name="KengSmoskiRobins2011"/><ref group=web>{{cite web |last1= Farias |first1= Miguel | name-list-style = vanc |title= Mindfulness Has Lost Its Buddhist Roots, and it may not be doing you good |url= https://theconversation.com/mindfulness-has-lost-its-buddhist-roots-and-it-may-not-be-doing-you-good-42526 |website= The Conversation |date= June 5, 2015 |access-date= 5 February 2020 | quote = What was once a tool for spiritual exploration has been turned into a panacea for the modern age — a cure-all for common human problems, from stress, to anxiety, to depression. [...] Yet the potential for emotional and psychological disturbance is rarely talked about by mindfulness researchers, the media, or mentioned in training courses. [...] Mindfulness has been separated from its roots, stripped of its ethical and spiritual connotations, and sold to us as a therapeutic tool. [...] Instead, as Giles Coren recently claimed, this technique has been turned into a McMindfulness which only reinforces one's egocentric drives. }}</ref>
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==Definitions==
Mindfulness is the [[cognitive skill]],{{sfn|Kvamme|Sandberg|Silvanto|2024}}{{sfn|Gkintoni|Vassilopoulos|Nikolaou|2025}}{{sfn|Matiz|2025}} usually developed through [[meditation]] or sustained practice, of sustaining [[Metacognition|metacognitive awareness]] towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment.{{sfn|Deatherage|1975}}{{sfn|Baer|2003}}{{efn-la|name=Baer}}{{sfn|Slagter|Davidson|Lutz|2011}}{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}{{sfn|Creswell|2017}} In particular, it is a type of [[metacognitive]] skill{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004|pp=230–241}}<ref name="g183">{{cite journal | last=Weder | first=Bruno J. | title=Mindfulness in the focus of the neurosciences - The contribution of neuroimaging to the understanding of mindfulness | journal=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience | volume=16 | date=2022-10-17 | issn=1662-5153 | pmid=36325155 | pmc=9622333 | doi=10.3389/fnbeh.2022.928522 | doi-access=free | article-number=928522 }}</ref> involving cognitive processes such as attentional monitoring, attentional regulation, attentional focus reorientation,<ref name="n358">{{cite journal | last1=Jong | first1=Freda Jia Xin | last2=Ng | first2=Alvin Lai Oon | last3=Phang | first3=Cheng Kar | last4=Omran | first4=Safa | last5=Teoh | first5=Siew Li | title=The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Cognitive Functions in Tertiary Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology | volume=39 | issue=3 | date=2025 | issn=0888-4080 | doi=10.1002/acp.70056 | doi-access=free | article-number=e70056 }}</ref> and subpersonal thought inhibition.<ref name="b618">{{cite journal |last1=Zanesco |first1=Anthony P. |last2=King |first2=Brandon G. |last3=MacLean |first3=Katherine A. |last4=Jacobs |first4=Tonya L. |last5=Aichele |first5=Stephen R. |last6=Wallace |first6=B. Alan |last7=Smallwood |first7=Jonathan |last8=Schooler |first8=Jonathan W. |last9=Saron |first9=Clifford D. |title=Meditation Training Influences Mind Wandering and Mindless Reading |journal=Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice |date=2016 |volume=3 |pages=12–33 |url=https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/schooler/jonathan/sites/labs.psych.ucsb.edu.schooler.jonathan/files/pubs/zanesco_et_al_meditation_influences_mind_wandering_2016.pdf |access-date=2025-07-03 |doi=10.1037/cns0000082}}</ref> Mindful awareness can be oriented towards both internal phenomena, such as thoughts and emotions, and external phenomena, such as speech or other volitional motor actions.<ref name="e413">{{cite journal | last1=Davis | first1=James M. | last2=Manley | first2=Alison R. | last3=Goldberg | first3=Simon B. | last4=Smith | first4=Stevens S. | last5=Jorenby | first5=Douglas E. | title=Randomized trial comparing mindfulness training for smokers to a matched control | journal=Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment | volume=47 | issue=3 | date=2014 | pmid=24957302 | pmc=4121076 | doi=10.1016/j.jsat.2014.04.005 | doi-access=free | pages=213–221 }}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/clipsy/bph080 |title=Clarifying the Construct of Mindfulness in the Context of Emotion Regulation and the Process of Change in Therapy |journal=Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=255–62 |year=2004 | vauthors = Hayes AM |citeseerx= 10.1.1.168.5070}}</ref> Mindfulness can also be viewed as a means to develop self-knowledge and wisdom.{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}

====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.<ref name="Brown et al 2007">{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/10478400701598298 |title=Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects |journal=Psychological Inquiry |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=211–37 |year=2007 |last1=Brown |first1=Kirk Warren |last2=Ryan |first2= Richard M |last3=Creswell |first3=J. David |s2cid=2755919 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> A distinction can also be made between the ''state'' of mindfulness and the ''trait'' of mindfulness.{{sfn|Gehart|2012|pp=7–8}}

According to David S. Black, whereas "mindfulness" originally was associated with esoteric beliefs and religion, and "a capacity attainable only by certain people",{{sfn|Black|2011|p=1}} scientific researchers have translated the term into measurable terms, providing a valid operational definition of mindfulness.{{sfn|Black|2011|p=2}}{{refn|group=note|Black: "[S]everal decades of research methodology and scientific discovery have defrayed these myths; mindfulness is now widely considered to be an inherent quality of human consciousness. That is, a capacity of attention and awareness oriented to the present moment that varies in degree within and between individuals, and can be assessed empirically and independent of religious, spiritual, or cultural beliefs.{{sfn|Black|2011|p=1}}}} Black mentions three possible domains:{{sfn|Black|2011|p=2}}
# A trait, a dispositional characteristic (a relatively long-lasting trait),{{sfn|Black|2011|p=2}} a person's tendency to more frequently enter into and more easily abide in mindful states;{{sfn|Gehart|2012|p=7}}
# A state, an outcome (a state of awareness resulting from mindfulness training),{{sfn|Black|2011|p=2}} being in a state of present-moment awareness;{{sfn|Gehart|2012|p=7}}
# A practice (mindfulness meditation practice itself).{{refn|group=note|"Mindfulness meditation" may refer to either the secular, western practice of mindfulness,{{sfn|Zgierska|Rabago|Chawla|Kushner|2009}} or to modern Buddhist [[Vipassana|Vipassana-meditation]].{{sfn|Didonna|2008|p=27}}{{sfn|Kristeller|2007|p=393}}{{sfn|Germer|2005|p=15}}}}

====Trait-like constructs====
According to Brown, mindfulness is:
{{blockquote|A quality of consciousness manifest in, but not isomorphic with, the activities through which it is enhanced."<ref name="Brown et al 2007" />}}

Several mindfulness measures have been developed which are based on self-reporting of trait-like constructs:{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=10}}
* 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."{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004}}

* The Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) measures mindfulness as a state-like phenomenon, that is evoked and maintained by regular practice.{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=10}}
* 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).<ref name="Tanay">{{harvnb|Tanay|Bernstein|2013|pp=1286–1299}}.{{Page range too broad|date=August 2022}}</ref>

====Mindfulness-practice====
Mindfulness as a practice is described as:
* "a way of paying attention that originated in Eastern meditation practices"{{sfn|Marlatt|Kristeller|1999|p=68}}
* "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally"{{sfn|Baer|2003}}{{efn-la|name=Baer|Baer cites Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994): ''Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life''. New York: Hyperion, p.4.}}
* "Bringing one's complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis"{{sfn|Baer|2003}}

According to Steven F. Hick, mindfulness practice involves both formal and informal meditation practices, and nonmeditation-based exercises.{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=6}} Formal mindfulness, or meditation, is the practice of sustaining attention on body, breath or sensations, or whatever arises in each moment.{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=6}} Informal mindfulness is the application of mindful attention in everyday life.{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=6}} Nonmeditation-based exercises are specifically used in [[dialectical behavior therapy]] and in [[acceptance and commitment therapy]].{{sfn|Hick|2010|p=6}}

=== Buddhism ===
Secular mindfulness is derived from Buddhist meditation techniques, and translates the terms ''sati'' and ''smriti''.{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}<ref name=Aggregates>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/2158244015583860 |title=The Five-Aggregate Model of the Mind |journal=SAGE Open |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=215824401558386 |year=2015 | vauthors = Karunamuni ND |article-number=2158244015583860 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Brown et al 2007" />

====Sati and smṛti====
{{Main|Sati (Buddhism)}}

The Buddhist term translated into English as "mindfulness" originates in the Pali term ''[[Sati (Buddhism)|sati]]'' and in its Sanskrit counterpart [[smriti|''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.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=942}}

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 [traditional Buddhist] commentary, and ... without the memory component, the notion of mindfulness cannot be properly understood or applied, as mindfulness requires memory for its effectiveness".<ref name=levman17>{{cite journal | url = http://www.jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/article/view/167 | last = Levman | first = Bryan | title = Putting smṛti back into sati (Putting remembrance back into mindfulness) | journal = Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies | year = 2017 | volume = 13 | page = 121 at 122 }}</ref>

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 [[dharma]]s, whereby the true nature of phenomena can be seen.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=942}} Sharf refers to the [[Milindapañha]], which said that the arising of ''sati'' calls to mind the wholesome [[dhamma]]s such as the four foundations of mindfulness, the five faculties, the [[Bodhipakkhiyādhammā#Five powers|five powers]], the seven awakening-factors, the noble eightfold path, and the attainment of insight.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|pp=942–943}} According to Rupert Gethin, 
{{blockquote|[''sati''] 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."{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=943}}{{refn|group=note|Quotes from Gethin, Rupert M.L. (1992), ''The Buddhist Path to Awakening: A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiȳa Dhammā''. Brill's Indological Library, 7. Leiden and New York: Brill}}}}

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."{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=943}}

[[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.<ref name="Dreyfus" />{{refn|group=note|Dreyfus concludes his examination by stating: "[T]he identification of mindfulness with bare attention ignores or, at least, underestimates the cognitive implications of mindfulness, its ability to bring together various aspects of experience so as to lead to the clear comprehension of the nature of mental and bodily states. By over-emphasizing the nonjudgmental nature of mindfulness and arguing that our problems stem from conceptuality, contemporary authors are in danger of leading to a one-sided understanding of mindfulness as a form of therapeutically helpful spacious quietness. I think that it is important not to lose sight that mindfulness is not just a therapeutic technique but is a natural capacity that plays a central role in the cognitive process. It is this aspect that seems to be ignored when mindfulness is reduced to a form of nonjudgmental present-centered form of awareness of one's experiences.<ref name="Dreyfus">[http://info-buddhism.com/Mindfulness_Present-Centered_Nonjudgmental-Attention_Introspection-A-Discussion_Dreyfus.html "Is Mindfulness Present-Centered and Nonjudgmental? A Discussion of the Cognitive Dimensions of Mindfulness"] by Georges Dreyfus</ref>}} Robert H. Sharf notes that Buddhist practice is aimed at the attainment of "correct view", not just "bare attention".<ref group=web name="Sharf" />{{refn|group=note|Sharf: "[[Mahasi Sayadaw|Mahasi]]'s technique did not require familiarity with Buddhist doctrine (notably abhidhamma), did not require adherence to strict ethical norms (notably monasticism), and promised astonishingly quick results. This was made possible through interpreting sati as a state of "bare awareness"{{mdash}}the unmediated, non-judgmental perception of things "as they are," uninflected by prior psychological, social, or cultural conditioning. This notion of mindfulness is at variance with premodern Buddhist epistemologies in several respects. Traditional Buddhist practices are oriented more toward acquiring "correct view" and proper ethical discernment, rather than "no view" and a non-judgmental attitude."<ref group=web name="Sharf">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/tag/geoffrey-samuel/|title=» Geoffrey Samuel Transcultural Psychiatry|access-date=2019-04-30 |archive-date=2020-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101041910/http://blogs.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/tag/geoffrey-samuel/}}</ref>}} [[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{{mdash}}at least in the context of Buddhism, from which modern interpretations of mindfulness are stemming.<ref>[http://info-buddhism.com/Mindfulness-and-Morality-J-Garfield.html "Mindfulness and Ethics: Attention, Virtue and Perfection"] by Jay Garfield</ref>

====Translation====
The [[Pali|Pali-language]] scholar [[Thomas William Rhys Davids]] (1843–1922) first translated ''sati'' in 1881 as English ''[[Wikt:mindfulness|mindfulness]]'' in ''sammā-sati'' "Right Mindfulness; the active, watchful mind".<ref>{{cite book |first1=T.W. Rhys |last1=Davids | name-list-style = vanc |year=1881 |title=Buddhist Suttas |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31070 |publisher=Clarendon Press |oclc=13247398 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31070/page/n157 107]}}</ref> Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered ''sammā-sati'' as "correct meditation",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gogerly |first1=D.J. |year=1845 |title=On Buddhism |journal=Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=1 |pages=7–28}}</ref> Davids said: 
{{blockquote|''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."<ref>{{cite book |first1=T.W. Rhys |last1=Davids | name-list-style = vanc |year=1881 |title=Buddhist Suttas |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31070 |publisher=Clarendon Press |oclc= 13247398 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31070/page/n193 145]}}</ref>}}

====Alternative translations====
[[John D. Dunne]] says 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.<ref>{{cite web |title= Lecture, Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education |url= http://ccare.stanford.edu/node/21 |publisher=The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121120171057/http://ccare.stanford.edu/node/21 |archive-date= 2012-11-20 |date=2011 }}</ref> [[Bhikkhu Bodhi]] also describes the meaning of ''sati'' as "memory".<ref group=web name="BB">{{cite web |url=http://www.inquiringmind.com/Articles/Translator.html |title=Translator for the Buddha: An Interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi |website=www.inquiringmind.com |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|"The word derives from a verb, sarati, meaning "to remember," and occasionally in Pali sati is still explained in a way that connects it with the idea of memory. But when it is used in relation to meditation practice, we have no word in English that precisely captures what it refers to. An early translator cleverly drew upon the word mindfulness, which is not even in my dictionary. This has served its role admirably, but it does not preserve the connection with memory, sometimes needed to make sense of a passage.<ref group=web name="BB"/>}} The terms ''sati''/''smṛti'' have been translated as:
<!-- also listed at [[Sati (Buddhism)#Alternate translations]] -->{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* Attention ([[Jack Kornfield]])
* Awareness
* Concentrated attention ([[Mahasi Sayadaw]])
* Inspection ([[Herbert V. Günther]])
* Mindful attention
* Mindfulness
* Recollecting mindfulness ([[Alexander Berzin (scholar)|Alexander Berzin]])
* Recollection ([[Erik Pema Kunsang]], [[Buddhadasa]])
* Reflective awareness ([[Buddhadasa]])
* Remindfulness ([[James H. Austin]])<ref>James H. Austin (2014), ''Zen-Brain Horizons: Toward a Living Zen'', MIT Press, p. 83</ref>
* Retention
* Self-recollection ([[Jack Kornfield]])
{{div col end}}

====Memory====
The [[Pali language|Pali]] word ''sati'', which is commonly translated as mindfulness, also carries the connotation of memory. It is described in the [[early Buddhist texts]] not only as awareness of sense perceptions but also as recollection of the Buddha's teachings<ref>{{cite web | author = [[Bhikkhu Sujato]] | title = The Linked Discourses: the blueprint for Buddhist philosophy | year = 2019 | website = SuttaCentral | url = https://suttacentral.net/sn-guide-sujato | access-date = 2025-04-26 | quote = Includes both the recollection of teachings ([[Saṃyutta Nikāya|SN]] 46.3) as well as mindful awareness of phenomena internal and external. }}</ref> and past events:
{{blockquote | ''Sati'' is required not only to fully take in the moment to be remembered, but also to bring this moment back to mind at a later time. [...] This twofold character of ''sati'' can also be found in some verses in the [[Sutta Nipāta]], which instruct the listener to set out with ''sati'', subsequent to an instruction given by the Buddha. In these instances ''sati'' seems to combine both present moment awareness and remembering what the Buddha had taught.<ref>{{cite book | author = [[Anālayo]] | title = Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization | year = 2003 | publisher = Windhorse Publications | page = 48 | url = https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/direct-path.pdf }}</ref> }}

According to American Buddhist monk Ven Bhante Vimalaramsi's book ''A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation'', the term mindfulness is often interpreted differently than what was originally formulated by the Buddha. In the context of Buddhism, he offers the following definition:
{{blockquote|Mindfulness means to remember to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to another. The first part of Mindfulness is to ''remember'' to watch the mind and remember to return to your object of meditation when you have wandered off. The second part of Mindfulness is to ''observe'' how mind's attention moves from one thing to another.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhante|first=Vimalaramsi|year=2015|title=A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=978-1-5085-6971-8|location=Annapolis, MO|page=4 |url=https://library.dhammasukha.org/uploads/1/2/8/6/12865490/a_guide_to_twim-17.pdf}}</ref>}}

In [[Thich Nhat Hanh]]'s lineage, mindfulness is closely intertwined with the concept of [[interbeing]], the notion that all things are interconnected. This school of thought emphasizes awareness of the present moment and ethical living, reflecting the interconnected nature of existence.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Community of Interbeing (UK) |work=Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism : Socially Engaged Buddhism in the UK |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |doi=10.5040/9781472552488.ch-005 |isbn=978-1-4725-5248-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thich |first=Nhat Hanh |title=Interbeing, 4th Edition: The 14 Mindfulness Trainings of Engaged Buddhism |publisher=Parallax Press |year=2020}}</ref>

===Definitions arising in modern teaching of meditation===
Since the 1970s, most books on meditation use definitions of mindfulness similar to [[Jon Kabat-Zinn]]'s definition as "present moment awareness". However, recently a number of teachers of meditation have proposed quite different definitions of mindfulness. [[Shinzen Young]] says a person is mindful when they have mindful awareness, and defines that to be when "concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity [are] working together."<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=See Hear Feel: An Introduction (Draft) |version=1.8 |url=https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SeeHearFeelIntroduction_ver1.8.pdf |last=Young |first=Shinzen |date=April 2015}}</ref> John Yates (Culadasa) defines mindfulness to be "the optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness", where he distinguishes attention and peripheral awareness as two distinct modes in which one may be conscious of things.<ref>{{cite book |page=30 |title=The Mind Illuminated |last1=Yates |first1=John |last2=Immergut |first2=Matthew |last3=Graves |first3=Jeremy |publisher=Hay House |year=2015}}</ref>

===Other uses===
The English term ''mindfulness'' already existed before it came to be used in a (western) Buddhist context. It was first recorded as ''myndfulness'' in 1530 ([[John Palsgrave]] translates French ''[[:wikt:pensée|pensée]]''), as ''mindfulnesse'' in 1561, and ''mindfulness'' in 1817. [[Morphology (linguistics)|Morphologically]] earlier terms include ''mindful'' (first recorded in 1340), ''mindfully'' (1382), and the obsolete ''mindiness'' (c. 1200).<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', second ed., 2002</ref>

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, mindfulness may also refer to "a state of being aware".<ref group=web name="MW">{{cite web |url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mindfulness|title=Thesaurus results for 'Mindfulness' |website= www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> Synonyms for this "state of being aware" are [[Wakefulness#Mindfulness|wakefulness]],{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2011|pp=22–23}}{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013a|p=65}} [[attention]],<ref group=web>{{cite web|title=Component Selection for 'mindfulness' |url= http://dico.isc.cnrs.fr/dico/en/search?b=1&r=mindfulness&send=Look+it+up |website=dico.isc.cnrs.fr |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> alertness,<ref group=web name="TC">{{cite web|title=I found great synonyms for "mindfulness" on the new Thesaurus.com! |url= http://thesaurus.com/browse/mindfulness |website= www.thesaurus.com |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> prudence,<ref group=web name="TC"/> conscientiousness,<ref group=web name="TC"/> awareness,<ref group=web name="MW"/> consciousness,<ref group=web name="MW"/> and observation.<ref group=web name="MW"/>

==Historical development==

===Buddhism===
Mindfulness as a modern, Western practice is founded on [[Zen]] and [[Vipassana movement|modern Vipassanā]],{{sfn|Nisbet|2017}}{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=35}}{{refn|group=note|Vipassana as taught by teachers from the [[Vipassana movement]] is a 19th-century development, inspired by and reacting against Western modernism.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|Sharf|1995}} See also [[Buddhist modernism]].}} and involves the training of sati, which means "moment to moment awareness of present events", but also "remembering to be aware of something".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues/past-conferences/ml18 |title=The 18th Mind and Life Dialogues meeting |access-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140322013413/http://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues/past-conferences/ml18/ |archive-date=22 March 2014}}</ref>

====Early Buddhism====
''Sati'' is one of the [[bojjhanga|seven factors of enlightenment]]. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: ''sammā-sati'', Sanskrit ''samyak-smṛti'') is the seventh element of the [[Noble Eightfold Path]]. Mindfulness is an antidote to delusion and is considered as a 'power' (Pali: ''[[Five Strengths|bala]]'') which contributes to the attainment of ''[[nirvana|Nibbana]]''. This faculty becomes a power in particular when it is coupled with [[sampajañña|clear comprehension]] of whatever is taking place. Nirvana is a state of being in which greed, hatred and [[Avidya (Buddhism)|delusion]] (Pali: ''moha'') have been overcome and abandoned, and are absent from the mind.

According to [[Paul Williams (Buddhist studies scholar)|Paul Williams]], referring to [[Erich Frauwallner]], mindfulness provided the way in [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Early Buddhism]] to liberation, "constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths."{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|2000|p=46}}{{refn|group=note|name="Frauwallner"|Frauwallner, E. (1973), ''History of Indian Philosophy'', trans. V.M. Bedekar, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Two volumes., pp.150 ff}} According to Vetter, ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|Jhanas]]'' may have been the [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism#Contents and teachings of earliest Buddhism|original core practice of the Buddha]], which aided the maintenance of mindfulness.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}

According to [[Thomas William Rhys Davids]], the doctrine of mindfulness is "perhaps the most important" after the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the [[Noble Eightfold Path]]. T.W. Rhys Davids viewed the teachings of [[Gotama Buddha]] as a rational technique for self-actualization and rejected a few parts of it, mainly the doctrine of rebirth, as residual superstitions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rhys Davids |first1=T.W. | name-list-style = vanc |title= Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II |date=1959 |orig-date=1910 |publisher=Pali Text Society |location= Oxford, Great Britain |isbn=0-86013-034-7 |pages= 322–346}}</ref>

====Zazen====
{{Main|Zazen|Shikantaza}}

The aim of [[zazen]] is just [[sitting]], that is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.<ref name="hcz2">{{cite book|last=Warner|first=Brad| name-list-style = vanc |author-link=Brad Warner|title=Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality|publisher=[[Wisdom Publications]]|pages=189–190|year=2003|isbn= 0-86171-380-X|title-link=Hardcore Zen}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Suzuki|first=Shunryū| name-list-style = vanc |author-link=Shunryū Suzuki|title=Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind|pages=15–16|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications]]|year=2011|isbn=978-1-59030-849-3|title-link=Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind}}</ref>

====Contemporary ''Vipassana''-meditation====
In modern ''vipassana''-meditation, as propagated by the [[Vipassana movement]], ''sati'' aids ''vipassana'', [[Wisdom in Buddhism|insight]] into the true nature of reality, namely the [[three marks of existence]], the [[impermanence]] of and the [[dukkha|suffering]] of every conditioned thing that exists, and [[anatta|non-self]].{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}{{sfn|Analayo|2003}} With this insight, the practitioner becomes a so-called ''[[Sotāpanna]]'', a "stream-enterer", the first stage on the [[Buddhist Paths to liberation|path to liberation]].{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi}}<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url= http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khema/allofus.html |title=All of Us |access-date= 2009-03-16|publisher=Access to Insight |last=Sister Ayya Khema}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|In [[Mahayana]] contexts, it entails insight into what is variously described as [[sunyata]], [[dharmata]], the inseparability of appearance and emptiness ([[two truths doctrine]]), clarity and emptiness, or bliss and emptiness.<ref group=web>{{cite web |author=Reginald A. Ray |title=Vipashyana |work=Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly |date=Summer 2004 |publisher=Shambhala Sun Foundation |url=http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2004/summer/dharma_dictionary.htm |access-date= 2013-05-30 |url-access=subscription |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102200123/http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2004/summer/dharma_dictionary.htm |archive-date=2014-01-02}}</ref>}}

Vipassana is practiced in tandem with [[Samatha]], and also plays a central role in other Buddhist traditions.{{sfn|Analayo|2003}}<ref>{{cite web|title=What is Theravada Buddhism?|url= http://www.accesstoinsight.org/theravada.html |publisher= Access to Insight |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> According to the contemporary Theravada orthodoxy, Samatha is used as a preparation for Vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of insight, which leads to [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|liberation]].

Vipassanā-meditation has gained popularity in the west through the modern Buddhist vipassana movement, modeled after Theravāda Buddhism meditation practices,{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} which employs vipassanā and [[anapana|ānāpāna]] meditation as its primary techniques and places emphasis on the teachings of the {{IAST|Satipaṭṭhāna}} Sutta.

====Anapanasati, satipaṭṭhāna, and vipassana====
[[Anapanasati]] is mindfulness of breathing. "Sati" means [[Mindfulness (Buddhism)|mindfulness]]; "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation. Anapanasati means to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body. The ''Anapanasati Sutta'' gives an exposition on this practice.{{refn|group=note|[[Majjhima Nikaya]] (MN), sutta number 118. See [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html Thanissaro, 2006]. Other discourses that describe the full four tetrads can be found in the [[Samyutta Nikaya]]'s ''Anapana-samyutta'' (Ch. 54), such as SN 54.6 (Thanissaro, 2006a), SN 54.8 (Thanissaro, 2006b) and SN 54.13 (Thanissaro, 1995a). The one-tetrad exposition of anapanasati is found, for instance, in the ''Kayagata-sati Sutta'' ([[Majjhima Nikaya|MN]] 119; Thanissaro, 1997), the ''Maha-satipatthana Sutta'' ([[Digha Nikaya|DN]] 22; Thanissaro, 2000) and the ''[[Satipatthana Sutta]]'' (MN 10; Thanissaro, 1995b).}}

[[Satipaṭṭhāna]] is the establishment of mindfulness in one's day-to-day life, maintaining as much as possible a calm awareness of one's body, feelings, mind, and [[dharma|dhammas]]. The practice of mindfulness supports analysis resulting in the arising of wisdom (Pali: ''paññā'', Sanskrit: ''prajñā'').{{sfn|Analayo|2003}}

====''Samprajaña'', ''apramāda'' and ''atappa''====
In contemporary Theravada practice, "mindfulness" also includes ''samprajaña'', meaning "clear comprehension" and ''apramāda'' meaning "vigilance".<ref group=web name="Subhuti">{{cite web |title=Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO): Buddhism and Mindfulness |last=Satyadarshin |website=madhyamavani.fwbo.org |url=http://madhyamavani.fwbo.org/8/mindfulness.html |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|[I]n Buddhist discourse, there are three terms that together map the field of mindfulness [...] [in their Sanskrit variants] ''smṛti'' (Pali: ''sati''), ''samprajaña'' (Pali: ''[[Sampajañña]]'') and ''[[apramāda]]'' (Pali: ''appamada'').<ref group=web name="Subhuti" />}} All three terms are sometimes (confusingly) translated as "mindfulness", but they all have specific shades of meaning.

In a publicly available correspondence between [[Bhikkhu Bodhi]] and [[B. Alan Wallace]], Bodhi has described Ven. [[Nyanaponika Thera]]'s views on "right mindfulness" and [[sampajañña]] as follows:
{{blockquote|He held that in the proper practice of right mindfulness, sati has to be integrated with sampajañña, clear comprehension, and it is only when these two work together that right mindfulness can fulfill its intended purpose.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shamatha.org/sites/default/files/Bhikkhu_Bodhi_Correspondence.pdf |title="The Nature of Mindfulness and Its Role in Buddhist Meditation" A Correspondence between B.A. wallace and the Venerable Bikkhu Bodhi, Winter 2006, p.4 |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref>{{refn|group=note| According to this correspondence, Ven. Nyanaponika spent his last ten years living with and being cared for by Bodhi. Bodhi refers to Nyanaponika as "my closest kalyāṇamitta in my life as a monk."}}}}

====Monitoring mental processes====
According to [[Buddhadasa]], the aim of mindfulness is to stop the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions, which arise from sense-contact.<ref name="Buddhadasa Bhikkhu">{{Citation |author=Buddhadasa Bhikkhu |year=2014 |title=Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree |publisher=Wisdom publications |pages=79, 101, 117 note 42}}</ref>

According to Grzegorz Polak, the four ''upassanā'' (foundations of mindfulness) have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four ''upassanā'' do not refer to four different foundations, but to the awareness of four different aspects of raising mindfulness:{{sfn|Polak|2011}}
* the [[Ayatana|six sense-bases]] which one needs to be aware of (''kāyānupassanā''); 
* contemplation on [[vedanā]]s, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (''vedanānupassanā'');
* the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
* the development from the [[five hindrances]] to the [[seven factors of enlightenment]] (''dhammānupassanā'').

===Stoicism===
The Greek philosophical school of [[Stoicism]] founded by [[Zeno of Citium]] included practices resembling those of mindfulness, such as visualization exercises. In his ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]]'', Stoic philosopher [[Epictetus]] addresses in particular the concept of attention (''prosoche''), an idea also found in [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] and [[Marcus Aurelius]].{{sfn|Repetti|2022}} By cultivating it over time, this skill would prevent the practitioner from becoming unattentive and moved by instinct rather than according to reason.{{sfn|Lee|2020|p=363}}

===Christianity===
Mindfulness traditions are also found in some Christian spiritual traditions. In his Rules for Eating, [[Ignatius of Loyola|St. Ignatius of Loyola]] teaches, "let him guard against all his soul being intent on what he is eating, and in eating let him not go hurriedly, through appetite, but be master of himself, as well in the manner of eating as in the quantity which he eats."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/seil33.htm | title=The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola: Third Week: Eating }}</ref> He might have been inspired by [[Enchiridion of Epictetus|Epictetus' ''Enchiridion'']].{{sfn|Repetti|2022}}

In addition, Jesus himself, in his Sermon on the Mount, said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."—Matthew 6:34, NIV,<ref>The Bible, Matthew 6:34 -- NIV</ref>

===Transcendentalism===
Mindfulness practitioner Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to Thoreau as a predecessor of the interest in mindfulness, together with other eminent [[Transcendentalism|Transcendentalists]] such as Emerson and Whitman:<ref group=web name="Kabat-Zinn web">{{cite web |last=Kabat-Zinn |first=Jon |url=http://gallery.mailchimp.com/8e752e4bbd262c334baf13009/files/Jon_Kabat_Zinn_Wherever_You_Go_There_You_Are_Mindfulness_Meditation_in_Everyday_Life.pdf |title=Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The collective experience{{refn|group=note|The resort to "experience" as the ground for religious truths is a strategy which goes back to Schleiermacher, as a defense against the growing influence of western rationality on the religious life of Europeans in the 19th century. See Sharf (1995), ''Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience''.{{sfn|Sharf|1995}}}} of sages, yogis, and Zen masters offers a view of the world which is complementary to the predominantly reductionist and materialistic one currently dominating Western thought and institutions. But this view is neither particularly "Eastern" nor mystical. Thoreau saw the same problem with our ordinary mind state in New England in 1846 and wrote with great passion about its unfortunate consequences.<ref group=web name="Kabat-Zinn web"/>}}

The forms of Asian religion and spirituality which were introduced in the west were themselves influenced by Transcendentalism and other 19th-century manifestations of [[Western esotericism]]. Transcendentalism was closely connected to the Unitarian Church,{{sfn|Harris|2009|p=268}}<ref group=web>{{cite web |last1= Finseth |first1= Ian Frederick |name-list-style= vanc |title= The Emergence of Transcendentalism |website=virginia.edu |publisher=The University of Virginia |url= http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma95/finseth/trans.html |access-date= 9 November 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141106222411/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA95/finseth/trans.html |archive-date= 6 November 2014 }}</ref> which in India collaborated with [[Ram Mohan Roy]] (1772–1833) and his [[Brahmo Samaj]].{{sfn|Harris|2009|p=268}} He found that [[Unitarianism]] came closest to true Christianity,{{sfn|Harris|2009|p=268}} and had a strong sympathy for the Unitarians.{{sfn|Kipf|1979|pp=3-8}} This influence worked through on [[Vivekananda]], whose modern but idiosyncratic interpretation of Hinduism became widely popular in the west.{{sfn|King|2001}} Vipassana meditation, presented as a centuries-old meditation system, was a 19th-century reinvention,{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=22}} which gained popularity in south-east due to the accessibility of the Buddhist sutras through English translations from the Pali Text Society.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} It was brought to western attention in the 19th century by the [[Theosophical Society]].{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=17}} Zen Buddhism first gained popularity in the west through the writings of [[D.T. Suzuki]], who attempted to present a modern interpretation of Zen, adjusted to western tastes.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}

===Jon Kabat-Zinn and MBSR===
{{further|Mindful Yoga}}

In 1979, [[Jon Kabat-Zinn]] founded the [[Mindfulness-based stress reduction|Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction]] (MBSR) program at the [[University of Massachusetts]] to treat the chronically ill.<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Stress Reduction Program |quote="The Stress Reduction Program, founded by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979..." |url=http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress/index.aspx |publisher=University of Massachusetts Worcester Campus Center for Mindfulness |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414145938/http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress/index.aspx |archive-date=2012-04-14}}</ref> This program sparked the application of mindfulness ideas and practices in Medicine<ref>{{harvnb|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004|pp=230–231}}: "Much of the interest in the clinical applications of mindfulness has been sparked by the introduction of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a manualized treatment program originally developed for the management of chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn, 1982; Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, & Burney, 1985; Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, Burney, & Sellers, 1987)."</ref> for the treatment of a variety of conditions in both healthy and unhealthy people. MBSR and similar programs are now widely applied in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.

Mindfulness practices were inspired mainly by teachings from the [[Eastern World]], particularly from Buddhist traditions. Kabat-Zinn was first introduced to meditation by [[Philip Kapleau]], a [[Zen]] missionary who came to speak at MIT where Kabat-Zinn was a student. Kabat-Zinn went on to study meditation with other Zen-Buddhist teachers such as [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]] and [[Seungsahn]].{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=35}} He also studied at the [[Insight Meditation Society]] and eventually taught there.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=35}} One of MBSR's techniques—the "body scan"—was derived from a meditation practice ("sweeping") of the Burmese [[U Ba Khin]] tradition, as taught by [[S. N. Goenka]] in his [[Vipassana]] retreats, which he began in 1976. The body scan method has since been widely adapted to secular settings, independent of religious or cultural contexts.{{refn|group=note|name="jama.ama-assn.org"|"Historically a Buddhist practice, mindfulness can be considered a universal human capacity proposed to foster clear thinking and open-heartedness. As such, this form of meditation requires no particular religious or cultural belief system." - Mindfulness in Medicine by Ludwig and Kabat-Zinn, available at [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/300/11/1350 jama.ama-assn.org]}}{{refn|group=note|"Kabat-Zinn (2000) suggests that mindfulness practice may be beneficial to many people in Western society who might be unwilling to adopt Buddhist traditions or vocabulary. Thus, Western researchers and clinicians who have introduced mindfulness practice into mental health treatment programs usually teach these skills independently of the religious and cultural traditions of their origins (Kabat-Zinn, 1982; Linehan, 1993b)."{{sfn|Baer|2003}}}}

Kabat-Zinn was also influenced by the book ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' by William James<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Varieties of Religious Experience |last=James |first=William |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |editor-last=Bradley |editor-first=Matthew}}</ref> which suggests that religions point toward the same experience, and which [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]] figures interpreted as meaning that the same universal, experiential truth could be reached in different ways, including via non-religious activities.<ref group=web>{{Cite web|title=A history of mindfulness |last=Drage|first=Matthew| name-list-style=vanc |date=22 February 2018 |website=Wellcome Collection |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/WoxJxSoAAMLuX7Pl|access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref>

===Popularization, "mindfulness movement"===
Mindfulness is gaining a growing popularity as a practice in daily life, apart from Buddhist insight meditation and its application in clinical psychology.<ref name=Time2014 /> In this context mindfulness is defined as moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, characterized mainly by "acceptance"—attention to thoughts and feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong. Mindfulness focuses the human brain on what is being sensed at each moment, instead of on its normal [[Rumination (psychology)|rumination]] on the past or the future.<ref group=web>{{Cite web |title= What Is Mindfulness? |website= The Greater Good Science Center |url= http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition |publisher= The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley |access-date= 2014-04-24}}</ref> ''Mindfulness'' may be seen as a mode of being,<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-israel/types-of-mindfulness_b_3347428.html |title= What's the Difference Between Mindfulness, Mindfulness Meditation and Basic Meditation? |website= The Huffington Post |date= 30 May 2013 |last= Israel |first= Ira| name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> and can be practiced outside a formal setting.<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url= http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201106/6-benefits-practicing-mindfulness-outside-meditation |title= 6 Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness Outside of Meditation |date= 6 Jun 2011 |website= Psychology Today |last= Bernhard |first= Toni |name-list-style= vanc}}</ref> The terminology used by scholars of religion, scientists, journalists, and popular media writers to describe this movement of mindfulness "popularization," and the many new contexts of mindfulness practice which have cropped up, has regularly evolved over the past 20 years, with some{{which|date=September 2019}} criticisms arising.<ref name="Valerio 1–27">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1080/14639947.2016.1162425 |title= Owning Mindfulness: A Bibliometric Analysis of Mindfulness Literature Trends Within and Outside of Buddhist Contexts |journal= Contemporary Buddhism |volume=17 |pages= 157–83 |year=2016 |last1= Valerio |first1=Adam |s2cid= 148411457 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> It has also recently been a common trend to see among sport teams, with mindfulness practices being integrated as parts of teams routines.<ref group="web">{{cite journal |title=Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Promoting Athletic Performance and Related Factors among Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial |date=2023 |pmc=9915077 |last1=Wang |first1=Y. |last2=Lei |first2=S. M. |last3=Fan |first3=J. |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=2038 |doi=10.3390/ijerph20032038 |doi-access=free |pmid=36767403 }}</ref>

The latest changes when people moved from real-life meditation sessions to the applications on their smart devices has been even more accelerated by the global pandemic. Modern applications are adapting to the needs of their users by using AI technology, involving professional psychologists and offering many different mindfulness approaches to serve a wider audience, such as among athletes.<ref name="wang">{{cite journal |vauthors=Wang Y, Lei SM, Fan J |title=Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Promoting Athletic Performance and Related Factors among Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=2038 |date=January 2023 |pmid=36767403 |pmc=9915077 |doi=10.3390/ijerph20032038|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Practice==
Mindfulness practice involves the process of developing the skill of bringing one's attention to whatever is happening in the present moment.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}<ref name= "Mindfulness in plain English">{{cite book |last1=Gunaratana |first1=Bhante |name-list-style=vanc |title=Mindfulness in plain English |date=2011 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-86171-906-8 |page=21 |url=http://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/preview/Mindfulness%20in%20Plain%20English%20Book%20Preview.pdf |access-date=30 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215134149/http://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/preview/Mindfulness%20in%20Plain%20English%20Book%20Preview.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2017 }}</ref>

===Watching the breath, body-scan and other techniques===
There are several exercises designed to develop mindfulness meditation, which may be aided by [[guided meditation]]s "to get the hang of it".{{sfn|Nisbet|2017}}<ref>Kabat-Zinn himself, in ''Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition)'' (2013), p. lxiv</ref>{{refn|group=note|Kabat-Zinn, in ''Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition)'' (2013), p. lxiv advises to use CD's with guided mindfulness practices: "Almost everybody finds it easier, when embarking for the first time on a daily meditation practice, to listen to an instructor-guided audio program and let it "carry them along" in the early stages, until they get the hang of it from the inside, rather than attempting to follow instructions from a book, however clear and detailed they may be."<br /><br />Compare Rupert Gethin (2004), ''On the practice of Buddhist meditation'', pp. 202–03, noting that the Buddhist sutras hardly explain how to meditate, and then stating that "the effective practice of meditation requires the personal instruction of a teacher." Gethin seems to echo Vetter (1988), ''The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism'', who notes that the ''[[:Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta]]'' describes the Buddha as instructing his first followers in turn: instructing two or three of them, while the others go out begging for food, signifying the need for personal instruction to learn how to practice ''dhyana''.}}  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. However, it may provoke anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and dissociation,<ref>{{cite news |last1=|first1=|title=How too much mindfulness can spike anxiety|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worklife/article/20210202-how-mindfulness-can-blunt-your-feelings-and-spike-anxiety|publisher=|date=}}{{author missing |date=June 2025}}{{date missing |date=June 2025}}{{publisher missing |date=June 2025}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=June 2025}} in people who are very focused on themselves, their bodies, and their emotions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=|first1=|title=7 Tips to Balance Your Work & Life with Mindfulness|url=https://www.mindfulleader.org/blog/27650-7-tips-to-balance-your-work-life-with|access-date=3 June 2021|publisher=mindfulleader.org|date=}}</ref>
* One method is to sit in a straight-backed chair or [[Meditative postures|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.{{sfn|Baer|2003}}<ref group=web name=AskDrK>{{cite web |last=Komaroff |first=Anthony |name-list-style=vanc |title=Does "mindfulness meditation" really help relieve stress and anxiety? |url=http://www.askdoctork.com/mindfulness-meditation-really-help-relieve-stress-anxiety-201403316226 |work=Ask Doctor K |publisher=Harvard Health Publications |access-date=22 April 2014 |date=March 31, 2014 |archive-date=2020-01-30  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130080037/https://www.askdoctork.com/mindfulness-meditation-really-help-relieve-stress-anxiety-201403316226 }}</ref>{{sfn|Wilson|2014 |p=}}{{page needed |date=February 2022}} 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.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}} When engaged in this practice, the mind will often run off to other thoughts and associations, if this happens, one passively notices that the mind has wandered, and in an accepting, but 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.{{sfn|Baer|2003}}{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dummies.com/religion/spirituality/the-mindfulness-body-scan/|title=The Mindfulness Body Scan}}</ref><ref group=web>{{Cite web |title=Beginner's Body Scan Meditation |website=mindful.org |date=January 27, 2023 |url=https://www.mindful.org/beginners-body-scan-meditation/}}</ref><ref group=web>{{Cite web|title=Body Scan Meditation (Greater Good in Action) |website=ggia.berkeley.edu |url=https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/body_scan_meditation}}</ref> 
* One could also focus on sounds, sensations, thoughts, feelings and actions that happen in the present.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}<ref name="Mindfulness in plain English" /> In this regard, a famous exercise, introduced by [[Jon Kabat-Zinn|Kabat-Zinn]] in his [[#Jon Kabat-Zinn and MBSR|MBSR]] program,<ref group=web>{{Cite web|url=https://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/mindfulness-based-programs/mbsr-courses/about-mbsr/history-of-mbsr/|title=History of MBSR|date=November 17, 2016|website=University of Massachusetts Medical School}}</ref> is the mindful tasting of a raisin,{{sfn|Ihnen|Flynn|2008|p=148}} in which a raisin is being tasted and eaten mindfully.{{sfn|Teasdale|Segal|2007|pp=55–56}}{{refn|group=note|See also [https://web.archive.org/web/20140114072050/https://hfhc.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/114469 ''Eating One Raisin: A First Taste of Mindfulness''] for a hand-out file}} 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.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stanszus LS, Frank P, Geiger SM | title = Healthy eating and sustainable nutrition through mindfulness? Mixed method results of a controlled intervention study | journal = Appetite | volume = 141 | article-number = 104325 | date = October 2019 | pmid = 31228507 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2019.104325 | s2cid = 195063688 }}</ref> 
* Other approaches include practicing [[Mindful Yoga|yoga asanas while attending to movements and body sensations]], and walking meditation.{{sfn|Baer|2003}}{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}

===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.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}<ref name="Time2014">{{cite magazine |vauthors=Pickert K |title=The art of being mindful. Finding peace in a stressed-out, digitally dependent culture may just be a matter of thinking differently |magazine=Time |volume=183 |issue=4 |pages=40–46 |date=February 2014 |pmid=24640415}}</ref> 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 [[Buddhist ethics|moral precepts]] is an essential preparatory stage for mindfulness or meditation.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|pp=54–55}}<ref>Mahāsi Sayādaw, ''Manual of Insight'', Chapter 5</ref> [[Vipassana]] also includes contemplation and reflection on phenomena as [[dukkha]], [[anatta]] and [[anicca]], and reflections on [[paṭiccasamuppāda|causation]] and other Buddhist teachings.<ref>Mahasi Sayadaw, ''Practical Vipassana Instructions'', pp. 22–27</ref><ref name="Art">{{cite web|url=http://www.dhamma.org/en/art.shtml |title=The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation |publisher=Dhamma.org |access-date=2013-05-30}}</ref>

==Models and frameworks for mindfulness practices==

=== Two-component model ===
A two-component model of mindfulness based upon a consensus among [[Clinical psychology|clinical psychologists]] has been proposed as an operational and testable definition,{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004}} : 
{{blockquote|The first component involves the self-regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, thereby allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment. The second component involves adopting a particular orientation toward one's experiences in the present moment, an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance.{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004|p=232}}}}

In this two-component model, self-regulated attention (the first component) "involves bringing [[awareness]] to current experience—observing and attending to the changing fields of "objects" (thoughts, feelings, sensations), from moment to moment – by regulating the focus of attention". Orientation to experience (the second component) involves maintaining an attitude of curiosity about objects experienced at each moment, and about where and how the mind wanders when it drifts from the selected focus of attention. Clients are asked to avoid trying to produce a particular state (e.g. relaxation), but rather to just notice each object that arises in the [[Stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]].{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004|p=233}}

=== The five-aggregate model ===
An ancient model of the mind, generally known as the five-aggregate model<ref name="Aggregates" /> enables one to understand the moment-to-moment manifestation of subjective conscious experience, and therefore can be a potentially useful theoretical resource to guide mindfulness interventions.  This model is based upon the traditional buddhist description of the [[Skandha]]s.

The five aggregates are described as follows:
# ''Material form:'' includes both the physical body and external matter where material elements are continuously moving to and from the material body.
# ''Feelings:'' can be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
# ''Perceptions:'' represent being aware of attributes of an object (e.g. color, shape, etc.)
# ''Volition:'' represents bodily, verbal, or psychological behavior.
# ''Sensory consciousness:'' refers to input from the five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touch sensations) or a thought that happens to arise in the mind.

This model describes how sensory consciousness results in the generation of feelings, perception or volition, and how individuals' previously conditioned attitudes and past associations influence this generation. The five aggregates are described as constantly arising and ceasing in the present moment.<ref name="Aggregates" />

=== Cultivating self-knowledge and wisdom ===
The practice of mindfulness can be utilized to gradually develop self-knowledge and wisdom.{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}} In this regard, Buddhist teachings provide detailed instructions on how one can carry out an inquiry into the nature of the mind, and this guidance can help one to make sense of one's subjective experience. This could include understanding what the "present moment" is, how various thoughts, etc., arise following input from the senses, the conditioned nature of thoughts, and other realizations.{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}} In Buddhist teachings, ultimate wisdom refers to gaining deep insight into all phenomena or "seeing things as they are."{{sfn|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi}}

==Applications==
{{Globalize|section|US|date=September 2025}}
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn the practice of mindfulness may be beneficial to many people in Western society who might be unwilling to adopt Buddhist traditions or vocabulary.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2000}} Western researchers and clinicians who have introduced mindfulness practice into mental health treatment programs usually teach these skills independently of the religious and cultural traditions of their origins.{{sfn|Baer|2003}} Programs based on MBSR and similar models have been widely adopted in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1080/17508487.2014.858643 |title= Mindfulness in education at the intersection of science, religion, and healing |journal= Critical Studies in Education |volume=55 |pages=58–72 |year=2013 |last1=Ergas |first1=Oren |s2cid= 144860756 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref>

===Therapy programs===

====Mindfulness-based stress reduction====
{{Main|Mindfulness-based stress reduction}}

Mindfulness-based stress reduction ('''MBSR''') is a mindfulness-based program<ref group=web>{{cite web |title= What is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction? |publisher= Mindful Living Programs |url=http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php |access-date=April 15, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060718065653/http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php |archive-date= July 18, 2006}}</ref> developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, which uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and [[Yoga as exercise|yoga]] to help people become more mindful.{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}} While MBSR has its roots in spiritual teachings, the program itself is [[Secularism|secular]].{{sfn|Kabat-Zinn|2013}}

====Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy====
{{Main|Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy}}

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a [[psychological therapy]] designed to aid in preventing the relapse of depression, specifically in individuals with [[Major depressive disorder]] (MDD).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Piet J, Hougaard E | title = The effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of relapse in recurrent major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 31 | issue = 6 | pages = 1032–1040 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 21802618 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.05.002 }}</ref> It uses traditional [[cognitive behavioral therapy]] (CBT) methods and adds in newer psychological strategies such as mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. Cognitive methods can include educating the participant about depression.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Manicavasgar V, Parker G, Perich T | title = Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy vs cognitive behaviour therapy as a treatment for non-melancholic depression | journal = Journal of Affective Disorders | volume = 130 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 138–144 | date = April 2011 | pmid = 21093925 | doi = 10.1016/j.jad.2010.09.027 }}</ref> Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation focus on becoming aware of all incoming thoughts and feelings and accepting them, but not attaching or reacting to them.<ref name="sciencedirect">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hofmann SG, Sawyer AT, Fang A | title = The empirical status of the "new wave" of cognitive behavioral therapy | journal = The Psychiatric Clinics of North America | volume = 33 | issue = 3 | pages = 701–710 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20599141 | pmc = 2898899 | doi = 10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.006 }}</ref>

Like CBT, MBCT functions on the theory that when individuals who have historically had depression become distressed, they return to automatic cognitive processes that can trigger a depressive episode.<ref name="Felder">{{cite journal | vauthors = Felder JN, Dimidjian S, Segal Z | title = Collaboration in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | volume = 68 | issue = 2 | pages = 179–186 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 23616298 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.21832 }}</ref> The goal of MBCT is to interrupt these automatic processes and teach the participants to focus less on reacting to incoming stimuli, and instead accepting and observing them without judgment.<ref name="Felder" /> This mindfulness practice allows the participant to notice when automatic processes are occurring and to alter their reaction to be more of a reflection. 
Research supports the effects of MBCT in people who have been depressed three or more times and demonstrates reduced relapse rates by 50%.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ma SH, Teasdale JD | title = Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: replication and exploration of differential relapse prevention effects | journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology | volume = 72 | issue = 1 | pages = 31–40 | date = February 2004 | pmid = 14756612 | doi = 10.1037/0022-006x.72.1.31 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.476.9744 }}</ref>

==== Mindfulness-based pain management ====
{{Main|Mindfulness-based pain management}}
[[Mindfulness-based pain management]] (MBPM) is a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) providing specific applications for people living with chronic pain and illness.<ref group=web name=":2">{{Cite web|title=What is Mindfulness based Pain Management (MBPM)?|url=https://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/mbpm|access-date=2020-05-22|website=Breathworks CIC|date=January 22, 2019 }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cusens B, Duggan GB, Thorne K, Burch V | title = Evaluation of the breathworks mindfulness-based pain management programme: effects on well-being and multiple measures of mindfulness | journal = Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 63–78 | date = 2010 | pmid = 19911432 | doi = 10.1002/cpp.653 }}</ref> Adapting the core concepts and practices of [[mindfulness-based stress reduction]] (MBSR) and [[mindfulness-based cognitive therapy]] (MBCT), MBPM includes a distinctive emphasis on the practice of '[[Maitrī|loving-kindness]]', and has been seen as sensitive to concerns about removing mindfulness teaching from its original ethical framework.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":8">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pizutti LT, Carissimi A, Valdivia LJ, Ilgenfritz CA, Freitas JJ, Sopezki D, Demarzo MM, Hidalgo MP | display-authors = 6 | title = Evaluation of Breathworks' Mindfulness for Stress 8-week course: Effects on depressive symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, affects, self-compassion, and mindfulness facets in Brazilian health professionals | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | volume = 75 | issue = 6 | pages = 970–984 | date = June 2019 | pmid = 30689206 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.22749 | s2cid = 59306658 }}</ref> It was developed by [[Vidyamala Burch]] and is delivered through the programs of [[Breathworks]].<ref group=web name=":2"/><ref name=":5"/> It has been subject to a range of clinical studies demonstrating its effectiveness.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Mehan|first1=Suraj|last2=Morris |first2=Julia|date=2018|title=A literature review of Breathworks and mindfulness intervention|issn=1358-0574 |journal=British Journal of Healthcare Management |volume=24|issue=5|pages=235–241|doi=10.12968/bjhc.2018.24.5.235}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lopes SA, Vannucchi BP, Demarzo M, Cunha ÂG, Nunes MD | title = Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in the Management of Musculoskeletal Pain in Nursing Workers | journal = Pain Management Nursing | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 32–38 | date = February 2019 | pmid = 29779791 | doi = 10.1016/j.pmn.2018.02.065 | s2cid = 29170927 }}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite journal|last1=Llácer|first1=Lorena Alonso |last2=Ramos-Campos|first2=Marta|date=2018 |title=Mindfulness y Cáncer: Aplicación del programa MBPM de Respira Vida Breatworks en pacientes oncol´ógicos|url=https://riecs.es/index.php/riecs/article/view/101 |journal=Revista de Investigación y Educación en Ciencias de la Salud|language=es|volume=3|issue=2|pages=33–45|doi=10.37536/RIECS.2018.3.2.101|issn=2530-2787|doi-access=free|hdl=10017/35501|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Agostinis|first1=Alessio|title=Self-Selection all the Way: Improving Patients' Pain Experience and Outcomes on a Pilot Breathworks Mindfulness for Health Programme|last2=Barrow|first2=Michelle|last3=Taylor |first3=Chad|last4=Gray|first4=Callum|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316645083|date=2017}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite journal | vauthors = Long J, Briggs M, Long A, Astin F | title = Starting where I am: a grounded theory exploration of mindfulness as a facilitator of transition in living with a long-term condition | journal = Journal of Advanced Nursing | volume = 72 | issue = 10 | pages = 2445–2456 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27174075 | doi = 10.1111/jan.12998 | hdl = 2086/12077 | s2cid = 4917280 | url = http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/28435/1/Mindfullness.pdf }}</ref><ref name=":15">{{cite journal | vauthors = Doran NJ | title = Experiencing Wellness Within Illness: Exploring a Mindfulness-Based Approach to Chronic Back Pain | journal = Qualitative Health Research | volume = 24 | issue = 6 | pages = 749–760 | date = June 2014 | pmid = 24728110 | doi = 10.1177/1049732314529662 | s2cid = 45682942 }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite journal | vauthors = Brown CA, Jones AK | title = Psychobiological correlates of improved mental health in patients with musculoskeletal pain after a mindfulness-based pain management program | journal = The Clinical Journal of Pain | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 233–244 | date = March 2013 | pmid = 22874090 | doi = 10.1097/AJP.0b013e31824c5d9f | s2cid = 33688569 }}</ref>

====Acceptance and commitment therapy====
{{Main|Acceptance and commitment therapy}}

Acceptance and commitment therapy or (ACT) (typically pronounced as the word "act") is a form of [[clinical behavior analysis]] (CBA)<ref name="Plumb">{{cite journal | vauthors = Plumb JC, Stewart I, Dahl J, Lundgren T | title = In search of meaning: values in modern clinical behavior analysis | journal = The Behavior Analyst | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 85–103 | year = 2009 | pmid = 22478515 | pmc = 2686995 | doi = 10.1007/bf03392177 }}</ref> used in psychotherapy. It is a [[psychological intervention]] that uses [[acceptance]] and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways<ref name="act">{{cite web |last=Hayes |first=Steven | name-list-style = vanc |author-link= Steven C. Hayes |title=Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) |publisher= ContextualPsychology.org |url= http://www.contextualpsychology.org/act}}</ref> with commitment and behavior-change strategies, to increase [[psychological flexibility]]. The approach was originally called ''comprehensive distancing''.<ref name="baojournal.com">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1037/h0100736 |title=The evolution of a contextual approach to therapy: From comprehensive distancing to ACT |journal= International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=77–89 |year=2005 |last1=Zettle |first1= Robert D |s2cid=4835864 | name-list-style = vanc |doi-access=free }}</ref> It was developed in the late 1980s<ref>Murdock, N. L. (2009). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A case approach. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill/Pearson</ref> by [[Steven C. Hayes]], Kelly G. Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0607/1224298494422.html#.Te5oANHU5AB;facebook |title=Getting in on the Act - The Irish Times - Tue, Jun 07, 2011 |publisher=The Irish Times |date=2011-06-07 |access-date= 2012-03-16}}</ref>

====Dialectical behavior therapy====
{{main|Dialectical behavior therapy}}

Mindfulness is a "core" exercise used in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a psychosocial treatment [[Marsha M. Linehan]] developed for treating people with [[borderline personality disorder]]. DBT is [[dialectic]], says Linehan,{{sfn|Linehan|1993|p=19}} in the sense of "the reconciliation of opposites in a continual process of synthesis." As a practitioner of Buddhist meditation techniques, Linehan says:
{{blockquote|This emphasis in DBT on a balance of acceptance and change owes much to my experiences in studying meditation and Eastern spirituality. The DBT tenets of observing, mindfulness, and avoidance of judgment are all derived from the study and practice of Zen meditations.{{sfn|Linehan|1993|pp=20–21}}}}

====Mode deactivation therapy====
{{main|Mode deactivation therapy}}

Mode deactivation therapy (MDT) is a treatment methodology that is derived from the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy and incorporates elements of Acceptance and commitment therapy, Dialectical behavior therapy, and mindfulness techniques.<ref name=MDT_Book>{{Cite book |vauthors=Apsche JA, DiMeo L |title= Mode Deactivation Therapy for aggression and oppositional behavior in adolescents: An integrative methodology using ACT, DBT, and CBT |year=2010 |publisher= New Harbinger |location= Oakland, CA |isbn= 978-1-60882-107-5}}</ref> Mindfulness techniques such as simple breathing exercises are applied to assist the client in awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of unpleasant and distressing thoughts and feelings as they occur in the present moment. Mode Deactivation Therapy was developed and is established as an effective treatment for adolescents with problem behaviors and complex trauma-related psychological problems, according to recent publications by [[Jack A. Apsche]] and [[Joan Swart]].<ref name="Swart3">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1037/h0101009 |title=Family mode deactivation therapy (FMDT) mediation analysis |journal= International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy |volume=9 |pages=1–13 |year=2014 |last1=Swart |first1=Joan |last2= Apsche |first2=Jack | name-list-style = vanc |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Other programs====

;Morita therapy
The Japanese psychiatrist [[Shoma Morita]], who trained in Zen meditation, developed [[Morita therapy]] upon principles of mindfulness and non-attachment.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sugg HV, Frost J, Richards DA | title = Morita Therapy for depression (Morita Trial): an embedded qualitative study of acceptability | journal = BMJ Open | volume = 9 | issue = 5 | article-number = e023873 | date = May 2019 | pmid = 31147359 | pmc = 6549637 | doi = 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023873 }}</ref>

;IFS
[[Internal Family Systems Model]] (IFS), developed by [[Richard C. Schwartz]], emphasizes the importance of both therapist and client engaging in therapy from the Self, which is the IFS term for one's "spiritual center". The Self is curious about whatever arises in one's present experience and open and accepting toward all manifestations.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Internal Family Systems Therapy |last= Schwartz |first=Richard C. | name-list-style = vanc |publisher=Guilford Publications |year=2013 |isbn= 978-1-4625-1395-6 }}</ref>

;Mindfulness relaxation
Mindfulness relaxation uses [[breathing]] methods, [[guided imagery]], and other practices to [[Relaxation (psychology)|relax]] the body and mind and help reduce [[Stress (medicine)|stress]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/relaxation-techniques-for-stress-relief.htm |title=Relaxation Techniques |last1=Robinson |first1=Lawrence|last2=Segal|first2=Robert | name-list-style = vanc |date=December 2017 |website= Helpguide.org |last3=Segal |first3=Jeanne |last4=Smith |first4=Melinda}}</ref>

===Schools===
In 2012 Congressman [[Tim Ryan (Ohio politician)|Tim Ryan]] of Ohio published ''A Mindful Nation'', and received a $1&nbsp;million federal grant to teach mindfulness in schools in his home district.<ref name=Time2014 />

Mindful Kids Miami is a tax-exempt, [[501 (c)(3)]], non-profit corporation established in 2011 dedicated to making age-appropriate mindfulness training available to school children in [[Miami-Dade County]] public and private schools. This is primarily accomplished by training educators and other childcare providers to incorporate mindfulness practices in the children's daily activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mindfulkidsmiami.org/|title=Mindful Kids Miami, Inc &#124; Mindful Miami|website=Mindful Kids Miami}}</ref>

In 2000, [[Susan Kaiser Greenland#Work|The Inner Kids Program]], a mindfulness-based program developed for children, was introduced into public and private school curricula in the greater Los Angeles area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.susankaisergreenland.com/inner-kids.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423012026/http://www.susankaisergreenland.com/inner-kids.html |archive-date=2010-04-23 |title=Susan Kaiser Greenland -- Inner Kids |work=Susan Kaiser Greenland }}</ref>

MindUP, a classroom-based program spearheaded by [[Goldie Hawn]]'s Hawn Foundation, teaches students to self-regulate behavior and mindfully engage in focused concentration required for academic success. For the last decade, MindUP has trained teachers in over 1,000 schools in cities from Arizona to Washington.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/ |title= MindUP™ |access-date= 2015-04-17 |archive-date= 2015-04-17  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150417055040/http://thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/ }}</ref>

The Holistic Life Foundation, a non-profit organization that created an in-school mindfulness program called Mindful Moment, is currently serving almost 350 students daily at Robert W. Coleman Elementary School and approximately 1300 students at [[Patterson Park High School]] in Baltimore, Maryland. At Patterson High School, the Mindful Moment program engages the school's faculty along with the students during a 15-minute mindfulness practice at the beginning and end of each school day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hlfinc.org/programs-services/mindful-moment-program/ |title=Mindful Moment Program |work=Holistic Life Foundation |access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref>

Mindful Life Project, a non-profit 501(c)3 based out of [[Richmond, California]], teaches mindfulness to elementary school students in underserved schools in the [[West Contra Costa Unified School District|South Richmond school district]]. Utilizing curriculum, "Rise-Up" is a regular school day intervention program serving 430 students weekly, while "Mindful Community" is currently implemented at six South Richmond partner schools. These in-school mindfulness programs have been endorsed by Richmond Mayor [[Gayle McLaughlin]], who has recommended additional funding to expand the program in order to serve all Richmond youth.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

=== Education ===
Mindfulness practices are becoming more common within educational institutions including [[Elementary school (United States)|Elementary]] and [[Secondary school|Secondary]] schools. This has been referred to as part of a 'contemplative turn' in education that has emerged since the turn of the millennium.<ref name="Ergas & Todd">{{cite book |editor1-first=Oren |editor1-last=Ergas |editor2-first=Sharon |editor2-last=Todd | name-list-style = vanc |title=Philosophy East/West: Exploring intersections between educational and contemplative practices |date=2016 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |edition=1st |isbn=978-1-119-14733-6 }}{{page needed|date=October 2017}}</ref> The applications of mindfulness in schools are aimed at calming and relaxation of students as well as for students and educators to build compassion and empathy for others.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Contemplative Practices and Mental Training: Prospects for American Education | journal = Child Development Perspectives | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 146–153 | date = June 2012 | pmid = 22905038 | pmc = 3420012 | doi = 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00240.x | last1 = j. Davidson | first1 = Richard | last2 = Dunne | first2 = John | last3 = Eccles | first3 = Jacquelynne S. | last4 = Engle | first4 = Adam | last5 = Greenberg | first5 = Mark | last6 = Jennings | first6 = Patricia | last7 = Jha | first7 = Amishi | last8 = Jinpa | first8 = Thupten | last9 = Lantieri | first9 = Linda | last10 = Meyer | first10 = David | last11 = Roeser | first11 = Robert W. | last12 = Vago | first12 = David }}</ref> An additional benefit to Mindfulness in education is for the practice to reduce anxiety and stress in students.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hobby |first1=Kristen |last2=Jenkins |first2=Elizabeth | name-list-style = vanc |title=Mindfulness in schools |journal=EarthSong Journal |volume=2 |issue=7 |year=2014 |page=26 |url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=209891604858230;res=IELHSS |issn=1449-8367}}</ref> Based on a broad meta-analytical review, scholars said that the application of mindfulness practice enhances the goals of education in the 21st century, which include adapting to a rapidly changing world and being a caring and committed citizen. Within educational systems, the application of mindfulness practices shows an improvement of students' attention and focus, emotional regulation, creativity, and problem solving skills.<ref name="Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz & Walach 2014">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zenner C, Herrnleben-Kurz S, Walach H | title = Mindfulness-based interventions in schools-a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 5 | page = 603 | year = 2014 | pmid = 25071620 | pmc = 4075476 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00603 | doi-access = free }}</ref> As discussed by Ergas and Todd, the development of this field since the turn of the millennium has brought diverse possibilities as well as complexities, given the origins of mindfulness within [[Buddhism]] and the processes of its secularization and measurement based on science.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Renshaw and Cook state, "As scientific interest in the utility of Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) in schools grew steadily, popular interest in mindfulness in schools seemed to grow exponentially".<ref name="Renshaw, T. L. 2016">{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/pits.21978 |title=Introduction to the Special Issue: Mindfulness in the Schools-Historical Roots, Current Status, and Future Directions |journal=Psychology in the Schools |volume=54 |pages=5–12 |year=2017 |last1=Renshaw |first1=Tyler L |last2=Cook |first2=Clayton R | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> Despite research on mindfulness being comparatively unexamined, especially with young students, the practice has seen a spike in use within the educational arena. "A relatively recent addition to discourse around preventing school expulsion and failure, mindfulness is gaining popularity for its potential to improve students' social, emotional, behavioral, and learning-related cognitive control, thereby improving academic outcomes".<ref name="Eklund, K. 2016">{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/pits.21983 |title=Gauging Mindfulness in Children and Youth: School-Based Applications |journal=Psychology in the Schools |volume=54 |pages=101–14 |year=2017 |last1=Eklund |first1=Katie |last2=O'Malley |first2=Meagan |last3=Meyer |first3=Lauren| name-list-style = vanc  }}</ref> Researchers and educators are interested in how mindfulness can provide optimal conditions for a students' personal development and academic success. Current research on mindfulness in education is limited but can provide insight into the potential benefits for students, and areas of improvement for future studies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="McKeering2018">{{cite journal |last1=McKeering |first1=Phillipa |last2=Hwang |first2=Yoon-Suk |title=A Systematic Review of Mindfulness-Based School Interventions with Early Adolescents |journal=Mindfulness |date=18 July 2018 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=593–610 |doi=10.1007/s12671-018-0998-9|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Mindfulness in the classroom is being touted as a promising new intervention tool for young students. According to Choudhury and Moses, "Although still marginal and in some cases controversial, secular programs of mindfulness have been implemented with ambitious goals of improving attentional focus of pupils, social-emotional learning in "at-risk" children and youth, not least, to intervene in problems of poverty and incarceration".<ref name="Choudhury & Moses 2016">{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0959354316669025 |title=Mindful interventions: Youth, poverty, and the developing brain |journal=Theory & Psychology |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=591–606 |year=2016 |last1=Choudhury |first1=Suparna |last2=Moses |first2=Joshua M |s2cid=151984948 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> Emerging research is concerned with studying teachers and programs using mindfulness practices with students and is discovering tension arising from the moral reframing of eastern practices in western school settings. As cited by Renshaw and Cook, "Unlike most other approaches to contemporary school-based intervention, which are squarely grounded in behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and ecological systems theories, MBIs have their origins in Eastern religious traditions".<ref name="Renshaw, T. L. 2016" /> Some school administrators are concerned about implementing such practices, and parents have been reported to take their children out of mindfulness programs because of their personal religious beliefs. Yet, MBIs continue to be accepted by the mainstream in both primary and secondary schools because, "Mindfulness practices, particularly in relation to children who might otherwise be considered broken or unredeemable, fill a critical niche – one that allows its advocates to imagine a world where people can change, become more compassionate, resilient, reflective, and aware; a world with a viable future".<ref name="Choudhury & Moses 2016" /> As mindfulness in education continues to develop, ethical consequences will remain a controversial issue because the generic description for the "benefits" and "results" of MBIs are largely concerned with individual and inward-focused achievement, rather than the original Buddhist ideal of global human connection.

Available research reveals a relationship between mindfulness and attention. Semple, Lee, Rosa, & Miller say, "Anxiety can impair attention and promote emotionally reactive behaviors that interfere with the development of good study skills, so it seems reasonable that increased mindfulness would be associated with less anxiety".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10826-009-9301-y |title=A Randomized Trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children: Promoting Mindful Attention to Enhance Social-Emotional Resiliency in Children |journal=Journal of Child and Family Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=218–29 |year=2009 |last1=Semple |first1=Randye J |last2=Lee |first2=Jennifer |last3=Rosa |first3=Dinelia |last4=Miller |first4=Lisa F|s2cid=143769629 | name-list-style = vanc  }}</ref> They conducted a randomized trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) that found promise in managing anxiety for elementary school-aged children, and suggests that those who completed the program displayed fewer attention problems. In addition, Flook shows how an eight-week mindfulness awareness program was evaluated in a random and controlled school setting and measured the effects of awareness practices on executive functions in elementary school children. Their findings concluded, "Participation in the mindfulness awareness program was associated with improvements in behavioral regulation, metacognition, and overall executive functions".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/15377900903379125 |title=Effects of Mindful Awareness Practices on Executive Functions in Elementary School Children |journal=Journal of Applied School Psychology |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=70–95 |year=2010 |last1=Flook |first1=Lisa |last2=Smalley |first2=Susan L |last3=Kitil |first3=M. Jennifer |last4=Galla |first4=Brian M |last5=Kaiser-Greenland |first5=Susan |last6=Locke |first6=Jill |last7=Ishijima |first7=Eric |last8=Kasari |first8=Connie |s2cid=16258631 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> In the study by Flook, parents and teachers completed questionnaires which propose that participation in mindfulness programs is associated with improvements in child behavioral regulation. These perspectives are a valuable source of data given that caregivers and educators interact with the children daily and across a variety of settings. According to Eklund, Omalley, and Meyer, "School-based practitioners should find promise in the evidence supporting mindfulness-based practices with children, parents, and educators".<ref name="Eklund, K. 2016" /> Lastly, a third study by Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, and Walach concluded, "Analysis suggest that mindfulness-based interventions for children and youths are able to increase cognitive capacity of attending and learning by nearly one standard deviation and yield".<ref name="Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz & Walach 2014" /> Application of Mindfulness-Based Interventions continue to increase in popularity and practice.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}<ref>{{Cite journal |date=16 July 2021 |title=Trends and Developments in Mindfulness Research over 55 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications Indexed in Web of Science |journal=Springer Nature |volume=12 |pages=2099–2116|doi=10.1007/S12671-021-01681-X |last1=Baminiwatta |first1=Anuradha |last2=Solangaarachchi |first2=Indrajith |issue=9 |pmid=34306245 |pmc=8282773 }}</ref>

Mindfulness-Based Interventions are rising across western culture, but its effectiveness in school programs is still being determined. Research contends, "Mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness among young people".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kuyken W, Weare K, Ukoumunne OC, Vicary R, Motton N, Burnett R, Cullen C, Hennelly S, Huppert F | display-authors = 6 | title = Effectiveness of the Mindfulness in Schools Programme: non-randomised controlled feasibility study | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 203 | issue = 2 | pages = 126–131 | date = August 2013 | pmid = 23787061 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.126649 | hdl-access = free | s2cid = 13942589 | hdl = 10871/11441 }}</ref> Although much of the available studies find a high number of mindfulness acceptability among students and teachers, more research needs to be conducted on its effects on well-being and mental health for students. In a firmly controlled experiment, Johnson, Burke, Brinkman, and Wade evaluated "the impact of an existing and widely available school-based mindfulness program". According to their research, "no improvements were demonstrated on any outcome measured either immediately post-intervention or at three-month follow-up".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnson C, Burke C, Brinkman S, Wade T | title = Effectiveness of a school-based mindfulness program for transdiagnostic prevention in young adolescents | journal = Behaviour Research and Therapy | volume = 81 | pages = 1–11 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 27054828 | doi = 10.1016/j.brat.2016.03.002 }}</ref> Many questions remain on which practices best implement effective and reliable mindfulness programs at schools, and further research is needed to identify the optimal methods and measurement tools for mindfulness in education.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

===Business===
Mindfulness training appears to be getting popular in the business world, and many large corporations have been incorporating mindfulness practices into their culture.<ref name=Good2015>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0149206315617003 |title=Contemplating Mindfulness at Work |journal=Journal of Management |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=114–42 |year=2015 |last1=Good |first1=Darren J |last2=Lyddy |first2=Christopher J |last3=Glomb |first3=Theresa M |last4=Bono |first4=Joyce E |last5=Brown |first5=Kirk Warren |last6=Duffy |first6=Michelle K |last7=Baer |first7=Ruth A |last8=Brewer |first8=Judson A |last9=Lazar |first9=Sara W |s2cid=15676226 | name-list-style = vanc |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>[[Boyatzis, R. E.]], & McKee, A. (2005). ''Resonant Leadership: Renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope, and compassion''. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.</ref><ref name="Carroll, M. 2007">{{cite book|last1=Carroll|first1=Michael | name-list-style = vanc |title=The Mindful Leader: Ten Principles for Bringing Out the Best in Ourselves and Others|date=2007|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-59030-347-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OCY-v_YwNMcC&q=The%20mindful%20leader%3A%20Ten%20principles%20for%20bringing%20out%20the%20best%20in%20ourselves%20and%20others&pg=PP1}}</ref> For example, companies such as [[Google]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Procter & Gamble]], [[General Mills]], [[Mayo Clinic]], and the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] offer mindfulness coaching, meditation breaks and other resources to their employees to improve workplace functioning.<ref name="Good2015" /><ref name=Schultz2015>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s12671-014-0338-7 |title=Mindfulness, Work Climate, and Psychological Need Satisfaction in Employee Well-being |journal=Mindfulness |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=971 |year=2014 |last1=Schultz |first1=Patricia P |last2=Ryan |first2=Richard M |last3=Niemiec |first3=Christopher P |last4=Legate |first4=Nicole |last5=Williams |first5=Geoffrey C |s2cid=145360486 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref>

The introduction of mindfulness in corporate settings still remains in early stages and its potential long-term impact requires further assessment. Mindfulness has been found to result in better employee well-being,<ref name="Janssen2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Janssen M, Heerkens Y, Kuijer W, van der Heijden B, Engels J | title = Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees' mental health: A systematic review | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | article-number = e0191332 | date = 2018 | pmid = 29364935 | pmc = 5783379 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0191332 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2018PLoSO..1391332J }}</ref> lower levels of frustration, lower absenteeism and burnout as well as an improved overall work environment.<ref name="Schultz2015" />

===Law===
Legal and law enforcement organizations are also showing interest in mindfulness:<ref>Meditation classes raise attorneys mindfulness (2009). ''New Orleans CityBusiness''.</ref>
* Harvard Law School's [[Program on Negotiation]] hosted a workshop on "Mindfulness in the Law & Alternative Dispute Resolution."<ref>Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (2008). Program on Negotiation Webcasts.</ref>
* Many law firms offer mindfulness classes.<ref name="Carroll, M. 2007" />

===Prison-programs===
Mindfulness has been taught in prisons, reducing hostility and mood disturbance among inmates, and improving their self-esteem.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0032885507303753 |title=Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Massachusetts Correctional Facilities |journal=The Prison Journal |volume=87 |issue=2 |pages=254–68 |year=2016 |last1=Samuelson |first1=Marlene |last2=Carmody |first2=James |last3=Kabat-Zinn |first3=Jon |last4=Bratt |first4=Michael A |s2cid=51730633 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> Additional studies indicate that mindfulness interventions can result in significant reductions in anger, reductions in substance use, increased relaxation capacity, self-regulation and optimism.<ref name=Shonin>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.avb.2013.01.002 |title=Mindfulness and other Buddhist-derived interventions in correctional settings: A systematic review |journal=Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=365–72 |year=2013 |last1=Shonin |first1=Edo |last2=Van Gordon |first2=William |last3=Slade |first3=Karen |last4=Griffiths |first4=Mark D | name-list-style = vanc |url=http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15494/1/PubSub3165_Griffiths.pdf }}</ref><ref name=Dafoe>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/10509674.2012.752774 |title=Mindfulness Meditation as an Adjunct Approach to Treatment Within the Correctional System |journal=Journal of Offender Rehabilitation |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=198–216 |year=2013 |last1=Dafoe |first1=Terra |last2=Stermac |first2=Lana |s2cid=144734159 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref>

===Government===
Many government organizations offer mindfulness training.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Rochman B | date= September 6, 2009 | chapter = Samurai Mind Training for Modern American Warriors. | title = Time }}</ref> [[Coping Strategies]] is an example of a program utilized by [[United States Armed Forces]] personnel.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] organized a mindfulness-session for its members in 2014, led by [[Ruby Wax]].<ref group=web>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/07/politicians-ruby-wax-parliament-mindfulness-meditation|title=Politicians joined by Ruby Wax as parliament pauses for meditation|first=Robert|last=Booth |newspaper=The Guardian | name-list-style = vanc |date=May 7, 2014|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

==Scientific research==
{{Main|Research on meditation|Neural mechanisms of mindfulness meditation|Brain activity and meditation}}

===Effects and efficacy of mindfulness practice===
Mindfulness has gained increasing empirical attention since 1970{{sfn|Harrington|Dunne|2015}}<ref name="ReferenceA" /> and has been studied often as an intervention for [[stress reduction]].<ref name="Garland" /><ref name="Sequeira" /> Meta analyses indicate its beneficial effects for healthy adults,<ref name="Khoury2015" /><ref name="Vonderlin2020">{{cite journal |last1=Vonderlin |first1=Ruben |last2=Biermann |first2=Miriam |last3=Bohus |first3=Martin |last4=Lyssenko |first4=Lisa |title=Mindfulness-Based Programs in the Workplace: a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials |journal=Mindfulness |date=2 March 2020 |volume=11 |issue=7 |pages=1579–1598 |doi=10.1007/s12671-020-01328-3|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Dawson2019" /> for adolescents and children,<ref name="Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz & Walach 2014" /><ref name=":0" /> as well as for different health-related outcomes including weight management,<ref name="Sala2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sala M, Shankar Ram S, Vanzhula IA, Levinson CA | title = Mindfulness and eating disorder psychopathology: A meta-analysis | journal = The International Journal of Eating Disorders | volume = 53 | issue = 6 | pages = 834–851 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32100320 | doi = 10.1002/eat.23247 | doi-access =  }}</ref><ref name="Carrière2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Carrière K, Khoury B, Günak MM, Knäuper B | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Obesity Reviews | volume = 19 | issue = 2 | pages = 164–177 | date = February 2018 | pmid = 29076610 | doi = 10.1111/obr.12623 | s2cid = 44877765 }}</ref><ref name=Rogers2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rogers JM, Ferrari M, Mosely K, Lang CP, Brennan L | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for adults who are overweight or obese: a meta-analysis of physical and psychological health outcomes | journal = Obesity Reviews | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 51–67 | date = January 2017 | pmid = 27862826 | doi = 10.1111/obr.12461 | hdl-access = free | s2cid = 3977651 | hdl = 10072/393029 }}</ref> psychiatric conditions,<ref name="Xue2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Xue J, Zhang Y, Huang Y | title = A meta-analytic investigation of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on ADHD symptoms | journal = Medicine | volume = 98 | issue = 23 | article-number = e15957 | date = June 2019 | pmid = 31169722 | pmc = 6571280 | doi = 10.1097/MD.0000000000015957 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Cavicchioli2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cavicchioli M, Movalli M, Maffei C | title = The Clinical Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Treatments for Alcohol and Drugs Use Disorders: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized and Nonrandomized Controlled Trials | journal = European Addiction Research | volume = 24 | issue = 3 | pages = 137–162 | date = 2018 | pmid = 30016796 | doi = 10.1159/000490762 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Spijkerman2016">{{cite journal | vauthors = Spijkerman MP, Pots WT, Bohlmeijer ET | title = Effectiveness of online mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health: A review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 45 | pages = 102–114 | date = April 2016 | pmid = 27111302 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.03.009 | doi-access = free }}</ref> heart disease,<ref name="Scott-Sheldon2020" /><ref name="Pascoe2017" /> sleep disorders,<ref name="Wang2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wang YY, Wang F, Zheng W, Zhang L, Ng CH, Ungvari GS, Xiang YT | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Insomnia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials | journal = Behavioral Sleep Medicine | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–9 | date = 2020 | pmid = 30380915 | doi = 10.1080/15402002.2018.1518228 | s2cid = 53201885 }}</ref><ref name="Kanen2015">{{cite journal |last1=Kanen |first1=Jonathan |last2=Nazir |first2=Racha |last3=Sedky |first3=Karim |last4=Pradhan |first4=Basant |title=The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Sleep Disturbance: A Meta-Analysis |journal=Adolescent Psychiatry |date=30 April 2015 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=105–115 |doi=10.2174/2210676605666150311222928}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JvkcstJ6Bk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/1JvkcstJ6Bk |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=The Science of Relaxation - Lectures by neuroscientist Martin Dresler and psychiatrist Anne Speckens|date=2020-12-09|publisher=Radboud Reflects and Donders Institute}}{{cbignore}}</ref> cancer care,<ref name="Xunlin2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Xunlin NG, Lau Y, Klainin-Yobas P | title = The effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions among cancer patients and survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Supportive Care in Cancer | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | pages = 1563–1578 | date = April 2020 | pmid = 31834518 | doi = 10.1007/s00520-019-05219-9 | s2cid = 209331542 }}</ref><ref name="Xie2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Xie C, Dong B, Wang L, Jing X, Wu Y, Lin L, Tian L | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction can alleviate cancer- related fatigue: A meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 130 | article-number = 109916 | date = March 2020 | pmid = 31927347 | doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.109916 | s2cid = 210166679 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nnate DA, Anyachukwu CC, Igwe SE, Abaraogu UO | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for psychological wellbeing and quality of life in men with prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Psycho-Oncology | volume = 30 | issue = 10 | pages = 1680–1690 | date = October 2021 | pmid = 34139035 | doi = 10.1002/pon.5749 | s2cid = 235470939 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cillessen L, Johannsen M, Speckens AE, Zachariae R | title = Mindfulness-based interventions for psychological and physical health outcomes in cancer patients and survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials | journal = Psycho-Oncology | volume = 28 | issue = 12 | pages = 2257–2269 | date = December 2019 | pmid = 31464026 | doi = 10.1002/pon.5214 | pmc = 6916350 }}</ref> adult autism treatment,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Benevides TW, Shore SM, Andresen ML, Caplan R, Cook B, Gassner DL, Erves JM, Hazlewood TM, King MC, Morgan L, Murphy LE, Purkis Y, Rankowski B, Rutledge SM, Welch SP, Wittig K | display-authors = 6 | title = Interventions to address health outcomes among autistic adults: A systematic review | journal = Autism | volume = 24 | issue = 6 | pages = 1345–1359 | date = August 2020 | pmid = 32390461 | pmc = 7787674 | doi = 10.1177/1362361320913664 | doi-access = free }}</ref> multiple sclerosis,<ref name="Simpson2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Simpson R, Simpson S, Ramparsad N, Lawrence M, Booth J, Mercer SW | title = Effects of Mindfulness-based interventions on physical symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis - a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders | volume = 38 | article-number = 101493 | date = February 2020 | pmid = 31835209 | doi = 10.1016/j.msard.2019.101493 | s2cid = 209232064 | url = http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/202343/7/202343.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Di Cara M, Grezzo D, Palmeri R, Lo Buono V, Cartella E, Micchia K, Formica C, Rifici C, Sessa E, D'Aleo G, Maresca G, Bramanti P, Corallo F | display-authors = 6 | title = Psychological well-being in people with multiple sclerosis: a descriptive review of the effects obtained with mindfulness interventions | journal = Neurological Sciences | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 211–217 | date = January 2022 | pmid = 34697659 | pmc = 8724219 | doi = 10.1007/s10072-021-05686-1 }}</ref> and other health-related conditions.<ref name="DiRenzo2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = DiRenzo D, Crespo-Bosque M, Gould N, Finan P, Nanavati J, Bingham CO | title = Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Rheumatoid Arthritis | journal = Current Rheumatology Reports | volume = 20 | issue = 12 | article-number = 75 | date = October 2018 | pmid = 30338418 | pmc = 6233984 | doi = 10.1007/s11926-018-0787-4 }}</ref><ref name="Guo2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Guo J, Wang H, Luo J, Guo Y, Xie Y, Lei B, Wiley J, Whittemore R | display-authors = 6 | title = Factors influencing the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on diabetes distress: a meta-analysis | journal = BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | article-number = e000757 | date = 11 December 2019 | pmid = 31908794 | pmc = 6936501 | doi = 10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-000757 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Demarzo2015">{{cite journal | vauthors = Demarzo MM, Montero-Marin J, Cuijpers P, Zabaleta-del-Olmo E, Mahtani KR, Vellinga A, Vicens C, López-del-Hoyo Y, García-Campayo J | display-authors = 6 | title = The Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Primary Care: A Meta-Analytic Review | journal = Annals of Family Medicine | volume = 13 | issue = 6 | pages = 573–582 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 26553897 | pmc = 4639383 | doi = 10.1370/afm.1863 | doi-access = free }}</ref> An often-cited meta-analysis on meditation research published in JAMA in 2014,<ref name="PMID 24395196">{{cite journal | vauthors = Goyal M, Singh S, Sibinga EM, Gould NF, Rowland-Seymour A, Sharma R, Berger Z, Sleicher D, Maron DD, Shihab HM, Ranasinghe PD, Linn S, Saha S, Bass EB, Haythornthwaite JA | display-authors = 6 | title = Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = JAMA Internal Medicine | volume = 174 | issue = 3 | pages = 357–368 | date = March 2014 | pmid = 24395196 | pmc = 4142584 | doi = 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018 }}</ref> found insufficient evidence of any effect of meditation programs on positive mood, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep, and weight, but found that there is moderate evidence that meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and pain. However, this study included a highly heterogeneous group of meditation styles (i.e., it did not focus exclusively on mindfulness meditation), which is a significant limitation of this study. Additionally, while mindfulness is well known to have positive psychological effects among individuals diagnosed with various types of cancers,<ref name=":3" /> the evidence is unclear regarding its effectiveness in men with prostate cancer.<ref name=":2" />

Thousands of studies on meditation have been conducted, though the methodological quality of some of the studies is poor. Recent reviews have described many of these issues.{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=}}{{page needed |date=June 2025}}<ref name="Tomlinson2017" /><ref name=Tang2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tang YY, Hölzel BK, Posner MI | title = The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation | journal = Nature Reviews. Neuroscience | volume = 16 | issue = 4 | pages = 213–225 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25783612 | doi = 10.1038/nrn3916 | s2cid = 54521922 }}</ref> Nonetheless, mindfulness meditation is a popular subject for research, and many present potential benefits for a wide array of conditions and outcomes. For example, the practice of mindfulness has also been used to improve athletic performance,<ref name=Colzato2017>{{cite journal |doi= 10.1007/s41465-017-0018-3 |title=How Different Types of Meditation Can Enhance Athletic Performance Depending on the Specific Sport Skills |journal=Journal of Cognitive Enhancement |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=122–26 |year=2017 |last1=Colzato |first1= Lorenza S |last2=Kibele |first2=Armin| name-list-style = vanc |doi-access=free |hdl=1887/58305 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Noetel2019 /> as a beneficial intervention for children with special needs and their caregivers,<ref name= Petcharat2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Petcharat M, Liehr P | title = Mindfulness training for parents of children with special needs: Guidance for nurses in mental health practice | journal = Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing | volume = 30 | issue = 1 | pages = 35–46 | date = February 2017 | pmid = 28449389 | doi = 10.1111/jcap.12169 | s2cid = 3775407 }}</ref><ref name= Fuchs2017>{{cite journal |doi= 10.9782/2159-4341-20.2.56 |title=A Promising Practice: School-Based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Children with Disabilities |journal=Journal of International Special Needs Education |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=56–66 |year=2017 |last1=Fuchs |first1=Wendy W |last2=Mundschenk |first2=Nancy J |last3=Groark |first3=Brian |s2cid=152021458 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref><ref name= Cachia2016 >{{cite journal |doi= 10.1007/s40489-016-0074-0 |title= Mindfulness in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Narrative Analysis |journal=Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=165–78 |year=2016 |last1=Cachia |first1=Renee L |last2= Anderson |first2= Angelika |last3=Moore |first3=Dennis W |s2cid= 146901638 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> as a viable treatment option for people with insomnia<ref name=Garland2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Garland SN, Zhou ES, Gonzalez BD, Rodriguez N | title = The Quest for Mindful Sleep: A Critical Synthesis of the Impact of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Insomnia | journal = Current Sleep Medicine Reports | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 142–151 | date = September 2016 | pmid = 28191449 | pmc = 5300077 | doi = 10.1007/s40675-016-0050-3 }}</ref><ref name=Ong2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong JC, Smith CE | title = Using Mindfulness for the Treatment of Insomnia | journal = Current Sleep Medicine Reports | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 57–65 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 30294523 | pmc = 6171769 | doi = 10.1007/s40675-017-0068-1 }}</ref> an effective intervention for healthy aging,<ref name= Kurth2017>{{cite journal |doi= 10.1007/s41465-017-0027-2 |title=Aging Mindfully to Minimize Cognitive Decline |journal=Journal of Cognitive Enhancement |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=108–14 |year=2017 |last1=Kurth |first1=Florian |last2=Cherbuin |first2=Nicolas |last3=Luders |first3=Eileen |s2cid=148812598 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref><ref name=Xu2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Xu J | title = A Tripartite Function of Mindfulness in Adjustment to Aging: Acceptance, Integration, and Transcendence | journal = The Gerontologist | volume = 58 | issue = 6 | pages = 1009–1015 | date = November 2018 | pmid = 30395235 | doi = 10.1093/geront/gnx100 | s2cid = 53218725 }}</ref><ref name= Acevedo2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Acevedo BP, Pospos S, Lavretsky H | title = The Neural Mechanisms of Meditative Practices: Novel Approaches for Healthy Aging | journal = Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports | volume = 3 | issue = 4 | pages = 328–339 | year = 2016 | pmid = 27909646 | pmc = 5110576 | doi = 10.1007/s40473-016-0098-x }}</ref> as a strategy for managing dermatological conditions<ref name=Hutton2016>{{cite journal |last1=Hutton |first1=Jane | name-list-style = vanc |author-link= Jane Hutton |title=How can mindfulness help patients with skin conditions |journal= Dermatological Nursing |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=32–35 |date=Sep 2016 |oclc=6841989774 }}</ref> and as a useful intervention during early pregnancy.<ref name= Isgut2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Isgut M, Smith AK, Reimann ES, Kucuk O, Ryan J | title = The impact of psychological distress during pregnancy on the developing fetus: biological mechanisms and the potential benefits of mindfulness interventions | journal = Journal of Perinatal Medicine | volume = 45 | issue = 9 | pages = 999–1011 | date = December 2017 | pmid = 28141546 | doi = 10.1515/jpm-2016-0189 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name= Dhillon2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dhillon A, Sparkes E, Duarte RV | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions During Pregnancy: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | journal = Mindfulness | volume = 8 | issue = 6 | pages = 1421–1437 | year = 2017 | pmid = 29201244 | pmc = 5693962 | doi = 10.1007/s12671-017-0726-x }}</ref><ref name= MatvinekoSikar2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Matvienko-Sikar K, Lee L, Murphy G, Murphy L | title = The effects of mindfulness interventions on prenatal well-being: A systematic review | journal = Psychology & Health | volume = 31 | issue = 12 | pages = 1415–1434 | date = December 2016 | pmid = 27539908 | doi = 10.1080/08870446.2016.1220557 | s2cid = 30061019 }}</ref> Recent studies have also demonstrated that mindfulness meditation significantly attenuates physical pain through multiple, unique mechanisms.<ref name=Zeidan>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zeidan F, Vago DR | title = Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 1373 | issue = 1 | pages = 114–127 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 27398643 | pmc = 4941786 | doi = 10.1111/nyas.13153 | bibcode = 2016NYASA1373..114Z }}</ref> Meditation also may allow one to modulate pain. When exposed to pain from heating, the brain scans of the mindfulness meditation participants (by use of [[functional magnetic resonance imaging]]) showed their brains notice the pain equally, however it does not get converted to a perceived pain signal. As such they experienced up to 40–50% less pain.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zeidan F, Martucci KT, Kraft RA, Gordon NS, McHaffie JG, Coghill RC | title = Brain mechanisms supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation | journal = The Journal of Neuroscience | volume = 31 | issue = 14 | pages = 5540–5548 | date = April 2011 | pmid = 21471390 | pmc = 3090218 | doi = 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5791-10.2011 }}</ref>

Research has also investigated mindful movements and mindful exercises for different patient populations.<ref name="Li2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Li J, Shen J, Wu G, Tan Y, Sun Y, Keller E, Jiang Y, Wu J | display-authors = 6 | title = Mindful exercise versus non-mindful exercise for schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials | journal = Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice | volume = 32 | pages = 17–24 | date = August 2018 | pmid = 30057047 | doi = 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.04.003 | s2cid = 51865864 }}</ref><ref name="Zou2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zou L, Zhang Y, Yang L, Loprinzi PD, Yeung AS, Kong J, Chen KW, Song W, Xiao T, Li H | display-authors = 6 | title = Are Mindful Exercises Safe and Beneficial for Treating Chronic Lower Back Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials | journal = Journal of Clinical Medicine | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | page = 628 | date = May 2019 | pmid = 31072005 | pmc = 6571780 | doi = 10.3390/jcm8050628 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Mindfulness practices have also been associated with the development of psychological resilience. Regular mindfulness meditation can help individuals facing trauma or chronic stress to regulate emotions, reduce rumination, and strengthen adaptive coping mechanisms.<ref>Southwick, S.M., & Charney, D.S. (2012). Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges. Cambridge University Press.</ref>

===Neurological studies===
Research studies have also focused on the effects of mindfulness on the brain using neuroimaging techniques, physiological measures and behavioral tests.{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=505}}<ref name=Sequeira>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sequeira S | title = Foreword to Advances in Meditation Research: neuroscience and clinical applications | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 1307 | issue = 1 | pages = v-vi | date = January 2014 | pmid = 24571183 | doi = 10.1111/nyas.12305 | s2cid = 30918843 | bibcode = 2014NYASA1307D...5S }}</ref><ref name="Tang">{{cite journal | vauthors = Tang YY, Posner MI | title = Special issue on mindfulness neuroscience | journal = Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–3 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 22956677 | pmc = 3541496 | doi = 10.1093/scan/nss104 }}</ref> Research on the neural perspective of how mindfulness meditation works suggests that it exerts its effects in components of attention regulation, body awareness and emotional regulation.<ref name="Holzel" /> When considering aspects such as sense of responsibility, authenticity, compassion, self-acceptance and character, studies have shown that mindfulness meditation contributes to a more coherent and healthy sense of self and identity.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Crescentini C, Capurso V | title = Mindfulness meditation and explicit and implicit indicators of personality and self-concept changes | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 6 | page = 44 | year = 2015 | pmid = 25688222 | pmc = 4310269 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00044 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=Crescentini>{{cite journal | vauthors = Crescentini C, Matiz A, Fabbro F | title = Improving personality/character traits in individuals with alcohol dependence: the influence of mindfulness-oriented meditation | journal = Journal of Addictive Diseases | volume = 34 | issue = 1 | pages = 75–87 | year = 2015 | pmid = 25585050 | doi = 10.1080/10550887.2014.991657 | s2cid = 8250105 }}</ref> Neuroimaging techniques suggest that mindfulness practices such as mindfulness meditation are associated with "changes in the [[anterior cingulate cortex]], [[Insular cortex|insula]], [[temporo-parietal junction]], [[fronto-limbic network]] and [[default mode network]] structures."<ref name=Holzel>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hölzel BK, Lazar SW, Gard T, Schuman-Olivier Z, Vago DR, Ott U | title = How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | journal = Perspectives on Psychological Science | volume = 6 | issue = 6 | pages = 537–559 | date = November 2011 | pmid = 26168376 | doi = 10.1177/1745691611419671 | s2cid = 2218023 }}</ref><ref name=Gotink2>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gotink RA, Meijboom R, Vernooij MW, Smits M, Hunink MG | title = 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction induces brain changes similar to traditional long-term meditation practice - A systematic review | journal = Brain and Cognition | volume = 108 | pages = 32–41 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27429096 | doi = 10.1016/j.bandc.2016.07.001 | s2cid = 205791079 }}</ref> Further, mindfulness meditation may prevent or delay the onset of [[mild cognitive impairment]] and [[Alzheimer's]] disease.<ref name=Larouche>{{cite journal | vauthors = Larouche E, Hudon C, Goulet S | title = Potential benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: an interdisciplinary perspective | journal = Behavioural Brain Research | volume = 276 | pages = 199–212 | date = January 2015 | pmid = 24893317 | doi = 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.05.058 | hdl-access = free | s2cid = 36235259 | hdl = 20.500.11794/39836 }}</ref> Additionally, mindfulness-induced emotional and behavioral changes have been found to be related to functional and structural changes in the brain.<ref name="Gotink2" /><ref name=Last2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Last N, Tufts E, Auger LE | title = The Effects of Meditation on Grey Matter Atrophy and Neurodegeneration: A Systematic Review | journal = Journal of Alzheimer's Disease | volume = 56 | issue = 1 | pages = 275–286 | year = 2017 | pmid = 27983555 | doi = 10.3233/JAD-160899 }}</ref> It has also been suggested that the [[default mode network]] of the brain can be used as a potential biomarker for monitoring the therapeutic benefits of meditation.<ref name=biomarker>{{cite journal | vauthors = Simon R, Engström M | title = The default mode network as a biomarker for monitoring the therapeutic effects of meditation | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 6 | page = 776 | year = 2015 | pmid = 26106351 | pmc = 4460295 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00776 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Recent research also suggest that the practice of mindfulness could influence genetic expression leading to a reduced risk of inflammation-related diseases and favourable changes in biomarkers.<ref name= Buric2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Buric I, Farias M, Jong J, Mee C, Brazil IA | title = What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind-Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices | journal = Frontiers in Immunology | volume = 8 | article-number = 670 | year = 2017 | pmid = 28670311 | pmc = 5472657 | doi = 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00670 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=Sanada2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sanada K, Alda Díez M, Salas Valero M, Pérez-Yus MC, Demarzo MM, Montero-Marín J, García-Toro M, García-Campayo J | display-authors = 3 | title = Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on biomarkers in healthy and cancer populations: a systematic review | journal = BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | article-number = 125 | date = February 2017 | pmid = 28231775 | pmc = 5324275 | doi = 10.1186/s12906-017-1638-y | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Grey matter concentrations in brain regions that regulate emotion, self-referential processing, learning and memory processes have shown changes in density following MBSR.<ref name= HolzelCarmody2011 >{{cite journal | vauthors = Hölzel BK, Carmody J, Vangel M, Congleton C, Yerramsetti SM, Gard T, Lazar SW | title = Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density | journal = Psychiatry Research | volume = 191 | issue = 1 | pages = 36–43 | date = January 2011 | pmid = 21071182 | pmc = 3004979 | doi = 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006 }}</ref><ref name="biomarker" /> Additionally, MBSR practice has been associated with improvement of the immune system{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=497}}<ref name="BlackSlavich2016"/> which could explain the correlation between stress reduction and increased quality of life.<ref name=deVibe2017>{{cite journal |vauthors= de Vibe M, Bjørndal A, Fattah S, Dyrdal GM, Halland E, Tanner-Smith EE |title= Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for improving health, quality of life and social functioning in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis |journal= Campbell Systematic Reviews |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=1–264| doi=10.4073/csr.2017.11 |year=2017|doi-access= free|hdl=11250/2488002 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Part of these changes are a result of the thickening of the [[prefrontal cortex]] (executive functioning) and [[hippocampus]] (learning and memorisation ability), the shrinking of the [[amygdala]] (emotion and stress response) and the strengthening of the connections between brain cells.<ref name=pmid22393318>{{cite journal | vauthors = Luders E, Kurth F, Mayer EA, Toga AW, Narr KL, Gaser C | title = The unique brain anatomy of meditation practitioners: alterations in cortical gyrification | journal = Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | volume = 6 | page = 34 | year = 2012 | pmid = 22393318 | pmc = 3289949 | doi = 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00034 | doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Mark Wheeler |date=March 14, 2012 |title=Evidence builds that meditation strengthens the brain, UCLA researchers say |work=UCLA Newsroom |url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/evidence-builds-that-meditation-230237 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505002155/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/evidence-builds-that-meditation-230237 |archive-date=2014-05-05}}</ref><ref name=CRD>{{cite journal | pmid = 21534932 | year = 2011 | last1 = Fjorback | first1 = L. O. | last2 = Arendt | first2 = M. | last3 = Ornbøl | first3 = E. | last4 = Fink | first4 = P. | last5 = Walach | first5 = H. | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials | journal = Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume = 124 | issue = 2 | pages = 102–119 | doi = 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01704.x | s2cid = 8410167 }}</ref><ref name=SAMHSA>{{cite web |url= http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=238 |publisher= [[Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration]] |title= Intervention Summary: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) |access-date= February 8, 2015 |archive-date= 2015-02-09  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150209023621/http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=238 }}</ref> Long-term meditators have larger amounts of [[gyrification]] ("folding" of the cortex, which may allow the brain to process information faster) than people who do not meditate. Further, a direct correlation was found between the amount of gyrification and the number of meditation years, possibly providing further proof of the brain's neuroplasticity, or ability to adapt to environmental changes.<ref name=pmid22393318 />

===Associations of mindfulness with other variables===
Mindfulness (as a trait, distinguished from mindfulness ''practice'') has been linked to many outcomes. In an overview,<ref name=KengSmoskiRobins2011/> Keng, Smoski, and Robins summarize: "Trait mindfulness has been associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, agreeableness, conscientiousness, vitality, self esteem, empathy, sense of autonomy, competence, optimism, and pleasant affect. A 2020 study found links between dispositional mindfulness and prosocial behavior.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Xiao|first1=Qianguo|last2=Hu|first2=Chunmei|last3=Wang|first3=Ting|date=2020-11-01|title=Mindfulness Practice Makes Moral People More Moral|journal=Mindfulness|volume=11|issue=11 |pages=2639–2650|doi=10.1007/s12671-020-01478-4|s2cid=225428262|issn=1868-8535}}</ref> Studies have also demonstrated significant negative correlations between mindfulness and depression, neuroticism, absentmindedness, dissociation, rumination, cognitive reactivity, social anxiety, difficulties in emotion regulation, experiential avoidance, [[alexithymia]], intensity of delusional experience in the context of psychosis, and general psychological symptoms." (References to underlying studies omitted from quotation.)

===Effects on mindfulness===
The mechanisms that make people less or more mindful have been researched less than the effects of mindfulness programmes, so little is known about which components of mindfulness practice are relevant for promoting mindfulness. For example, meta-analyses have shown that mindfulness practice does increase mindfulness when compared to active control groups.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dunning DL, Griffiths K, Kuyken W, Crane C, Foulkes L, Parker J, Dalgleish T | title = Research Review: The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents - a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials | journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines | volume = 60 | issue = 3 | pages = 244–258 | date = March 2019 | pmid = 30345511 | pmc = 6546608 | doi = 10.1111/jcpp.12980 }}</ref><ref name="Dawson2019">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dawson AF, Brown WW, Anderson J, Datta B, Donald JN, Hong K, Allan S, Mole TB, Jones PB, Galante J | display-authors = 6 | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions for University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials | journal = Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | pages = 384–410 | date = July 2020 | pmid = 31743957 | doi = 10.1111/aphw.12188 | s2cid = 208186271 | url = https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/298200 }}</ref> This may be because we do not know how to measure mindfulness. It could also be that mindfulness is dose-dependent and increases with more experience.<ref name=Baer2006>{{cite journal | vauthors = Baer RA, Smith GT, Hopkins J, Krietemeyer J, Toney L | title = Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness | journal = Assessment | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 27–45 | date = March 2006 | pmid = 16443717 | doi = 10.1177/1073191105283504 | s2cid = 16304094 }}</ref><ref name=Baer2012>{{Cite journal|title=Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators|first1=Ruth A.|last1=Baer|first2=Emily L. B.|last2=Lykins|first3=Jessica R. | name-list-style = vanc |last3=Peters|s2cid=15972961|date=May 1, 2012|journal=The Journal of Positive Psychology|volume=7|issue=3|pages=230–238|doi=10.1080/17439760.2012.674548}}</ref> To counter that, Bergomi et al.<ref name=Bergomi2015>{{Cite journal|title=Meditation Practice and Self-Reported Mindfulness: a Cross-Sectional Investigation of Meditators and Non-Meditators Using the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME)|first1=Claudia|last1=Bergomi|author2-link=Wolfgang Tschacher|first2=Wolfgang|last2=Tschacher|first3=Zeno|last3=Kupper |s2cid=141621092| name-list-style = vanc |date=December 1, 2015|journal=Mindfulness|volume=6|issue=6|pages=1411–1421|doi=10.1007/s12671-015-0415-6|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/331880/files/12671_2015_Article_415.pdf}}</ref> found that "results provide evidence for the associations between self-reported mindfulness and meditation practice and suggest that mindfulness is particularly associated with continued practice in the present, rather than with accumulated practice over years."

Some research into other mechanisms has been done. One study<ref name=Suelmann2018>{{cite journal | vauthors = Suelmann H, Brouwers A, Snippe E | title = Explaining Variations in Mindfulness Levels in Daily Life | journal = Mindfulness | volume = 9 | issue = 6 | pages = 1895–1906 | date = December 1, 2018 | pmid = 30524516 | pmc = 6244631 | doi = 10.1007/s12671-018-0932-1 }}</ref> conceptualized such mechanisms in terms of competition for attention. In a test of that framework, mindfulness was found to be associated (as predicted) with having an activated intention to be mindful, with feeling good, and with not being hurried or very busy. Regarding the relationship between feeling good and being mindful, a different study<ref name=Gotink2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gotink RA, Hermans KS, Geschwind N, De Nooij R, De Groot WT, Speckens AE | title = Mindfulness and mood stimulate each other in an upward spiral: a mindful walking intervention using experience sampling | journal = Mindfulness | volume = 7 | issue = 5 | pages = 1114–1122 | date = December 1, 2016 | pmid = 27642373 | pmc = 5010615 | doi = 10.1007/s12671-016-0550-8 }}</ref> found that causality probably works both ways: feeling good increases mindfulness, and mindfulness increases feeling good.

One theory suggests an additional mechanism termed as ''reperceiving''. Reperceiving is the beneficial effect that comes after the process of being mindful after all the intention, attention, and attitude has been experienced. Through reperceiving there is a shift in perspective. Reperceiving permits disassociation from thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, and allows one to exist with them instead of being defined by them.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Shapiro SL, Carlson LE, Astin JA, Freedman B | title = Mechanisms of mindfulness | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | volume = 62 | issue = 3 | pages = 373–386 | date = March 2006 | pmid = 16385481 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.20237 | s2cid = 6968813 }}</ref>

==Adverse effects==
{{Main|Effects of meditation#Potential adverse effects and limits of meditation}}

Meditation (of which mindfulness is just a version) has also been correlated with unpleasant experiences.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/does-meditation-carry-a-risk-of-harmful-side-effects/ |title=Does meditation carry a risk of harmful side effects? |website=nhs.uk |date=2017-05-26 |access-date=2018-05-07 |archive-date=2021-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103073652/https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/does-meditation-carry-a-risk-of-harmful-side-effects/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-wellbeing/201603/dangers-meditation |title=Dangers of Meditation |date=2016 |website=Psychology Today |access-date=2018-05-07 |archive-date=2023-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317095215/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-wellbeing/201603/dangers-meditation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2nB1psRz3JFQpzDh6J2Z6xl/is-mindfulness-meditation-dangerous |title=Seriously... – Seriously... – Is Mindfulness Meditation Dangerous? |website=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=2018-05-07 |archive-date=2018-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701142238/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2nB1psRz3JFQpzDh6J2Z6xl/is-mindfulness-meditation-dangerous |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/meditation-is-touted-as-a-cure-for-mental-instability-but-can-it-actually-be-bad-for-you-10268291.html?amp |title=Meditation is touted as a cure for mental instability but can it actually be bad for you? |date=2015 |website=www.independent.co.uk |access-date=2018-05-08 |archive-date=2018-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508185621/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/meditation-is-touted-as-a-cure-for-mental-instability-but-can-it-actually-be-bad-for-you-10268291.html?amp |url-status=live }}</ref> In some cases, it has also been linked to psychosis and suicide.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Chan-Ob | first1=T | last2=Boonyanaruthee | first2=V | title=Meditation in association with psychosis | journal=Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand = Chotmaihet Thangphaet | volume=82 | issue=9 | year=1999 | issn=0125-2208 | pmid=10561951 | pages=925–30 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12739139}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1= Farias  | first1=M. | last2= Maraldi | first2=E. | last3= Wallenkampf | first3=K. C.| last4= Lucchetti | first4=G. | title= Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. | journal= Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume=142 | issue=5 |  year=2020 | pages=374–393  |  pmid=32820538 |doi= 10.1111/acps.13225 |url= https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acps.13225}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Goud | first1=S. S. | title=A Double-Edged Sword-A Case Report of Psychosis Associated with Excessive Unguided Meditation.  | journal= Case Reports in Psychiatry | volume=2022 | issue=2661824 | year=2022 | pmid=36316997 | pmc= 9617715 | doi=10.1155/2022/2661824 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1= Yadav  | first1=J. | last2= Bhardwaj | first2=A. | last3= Jangid | first3=P.| last4= Singh | first4=P. | last5= Gupta | first5=R. | title= Meditation-A Slippery Slope for Psychosis: A Case Series With Review of Evidence | journal= The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease | volume=211 | issue=8 |  year=2023 | pages=634–638  |  pmid=37505896 |doi= 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001656 |url=https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/abstract/2023/08000/meditation_a_slippery_slope_for_psychosis__a_case.12.aspx}}</ref> Both the soundness of its scientific foundations and the desirability of its societal effects have been questioned.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Farias | first1=M | last2=Wikholm | first2=C | title=Has the science of mindfulness lost its mind? | journal=BJPsych Bulletin| volume=40 | issue=6 | year=2016 | pmid=28377813 | pages=329–332 | doi=10.1192/pb.bp.116.053686 | pmc=5353526 }}</ref><ref>''The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You?'' by M. Farias and C. Wikholm, 2019 {{ISBN|9781780287188}}</ref><ref>''Mindlessness: The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism'' by  T. Joiner, 2017 {{ISBN|0190200626}}</ref><ref>''McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality'' by  R. Purser, 2019 {{ISBN|191224831X}}</ref>

In one study, published in 2019, of 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience, about a quarter reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences (such as anxiety, fear, distorted emotions or thoughts, altered sense of self or the world), which they thought may have been caused by their meditation practice. Meditators with high levels of repetitive negative thinking and those who only engage in deconstructive meditation were more likely to report unpleasant side effects. Adverse effects were less frequently reported in women and religious meditators.<ref name="plos">{{Cite journal |title=Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=14 |issue=5 |article-number=e0216643 |date=2019 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0216643 |pmid=31071152 |pmc=6508707 |last1=Schlosser |first1=Marco |last2=Sparby |first2=Terje |last3=Vörös |first3=Sebastjan |last4=Jones |first4=Rebecca |last5=Marchant |first5=Natalie L. |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1416643S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Another study from 2021 on the effects of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) found negative side-effects in 37% of the sample while lasting bad effects in 6–14% of the sample.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Britton |first1=W. B. |last2=Lindahl |first2=J. R. |last3=Cooper |first3=D. J. |last4=Canby |first4=N. K. |last5=Palitsky |first5=R |title= Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs |journal= Clinical Psychological Science |volume=9 |issue=6 |year=2021 |pmid=35174010 | pages=1185–1204 |pmc=8845498 |doi= 10.1177/2167702621996340}}</ref> Most of the side effects were related to signs of dysregulated arousal (i.e., [[hyperarousal]] and [[Dissociation (psychology)|dissociation]]). The majority of these adverse events occurred as a result of regular practice at home or during class, something that challenges the notion that it is only intense practice that can give rise to negative experiences; as it turns out intense all-day retreats or working with difficulty practice accounts for only 6% of adverse effects. The symptoms most readily recognized as negative were those of hyperarousal (e.g., anxiety and insomnia). On the other hand,

{{Blockquote
|text=while dissociation symptoms (e.g., [[emotional blunting]], [[derealization]], and self-disturbance) were both less frequent and less likely to be appraised as negative, they were still associated with more than 5–10 times greater risk for lasting bad effects… This means that re-appraisal of dissociative symptoms via non-judgmental acceptance is not sufficient to prevent impairment in functioning and should not constitute the only response. Instead, training in how to recognize dissociative symptoms as potential indicators of the need for intervention, which have recently been added to some mindfulness teacher training programs may be important.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Britton |first1=W. B. |last2=Lindahl |first2=J. R. |last3=Cooper |first3=D. J. |last4=Canby |first4=N. K. |last5=Palitsky |first5=R |title= Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs |journal= Clinical Psychological Science |volume=9 |issue=6 |year=2021 |pages=1185–1204 |pmid=35174010 |doi= 10.1177/2167702621996340 |pmc=8845498}}</ref>}}

There is also mounting evidence that meditation can disturb various prosocial behaviors. By blunting emotions, in particular the social emotions of guilt and shame, it may produce deficits in the feelings of empathy and remorse thus creating calm but callous practitioners. In one study with 1400 participants researchers found that focused-breathing meditation can dampen the relationship between transgressions and the desire to engage in reparative prosocial behaviors.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Hafenbrack | first1= A. C. | last2=LaPalme | first2=M. L. | last3=Solal | first3=I. | title=Mindfulness meditation reduces guilt and prosocial reparation | journal= Journal of Personality and Social Psychology  | volume=123 | issue=1 | year=2022 | pmid=34941333 | pages=28–54 | doi=10.1037/pspa0000298 |url= https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpspa0000298 }}</ref> Another study found that meditation can increase the trait of [[selfishness]]. The study, consisting of two interrelated parts and totaling 691 participants, found that a mindfulness induction, compared to a control condition, led to decreased prosocial behavior. This effect was moderated by self-construals such that people with relatively independent self-construals became less prosocial while people with relatively interdependent self-construals became more so. In the western world where independent self-construals generally predominate meditation may thus have potentially detrimental effects.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Poulin | first1=M. J. | last2=Ministero | first2=L. M.  | last3=Gabriel | first3=S. | last4=Morrison | first4=C. D. | last5=Naidu | first5=E. | title= Minding Your Own Business? Mindfulness Decreases Prosocial Behavior for People With Independent Self-Construals | journal= Psychological Science | volume=32 | issue=11 | year=2021 | pmid= 34705576 | pages=1699–1708 | doi= 10.1177/09567976211015184 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976211015184}}</ref> These new findings about meditation's socially problematic effects imply that it can be contraindicated to use meditation as a tool to handle acute personal conflicts or relational difficulties; in the words of Andrew Hafenbrack, one of the authors of the study, "If we 'artificially' reduce our guilt by meditating it away, we may end up with worse relationships, or even fewer relationships".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220302-how-mindfulness-can-make-you-a-darker-person |title=How mindfulness can make you a darker person |website=bbc.com |date=2022-03-03 |access-date=2024-07-09 }}</ref>

Difficult experiences encountered in meditation are mentioned in traditional sources; and some may be considered to be an expected part of the process, e.g., seven stages of purification mentioned in [[Theravada|Theravāda Buddhism]]. Possible "unwholesome or frightening visions" are mentioned in a practical manual on [[vipassanā]] meditation.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sitting with the Demons – Mindfulness, Suffering, and Existential Transformation |url=https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/6416 |journal=Asian Studies |year=2016 |doi=10.4312/as.2016.4.2.59-83 |access-date=31 January 2020 |last1=Vörös |first1=Sebastjan |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=59–83 |doi-access=free |archive-date=20 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820085422/https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/6416 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Classical sources have various terms for "meditation sickness" and related difficulties, such as ''[[zouhuorumo]]'' ({{lang-zh|c=走火入魔|l=fire possession|labels=no}}), ''chanbing'' ({{lang-zh|c=禪病|l=Chan disease|labels=no}}) and ''mojing'' ({{lang-zh|c=魔境|l=demonic states|labels=no}}).<ref name="salguero2023">{{cite journal |title="Meditation Sickness" in Medieval Chinese Buddhism and the Contemporary West |journal=Journal of Buddhist Ethics |year=2023 |access-date=14 February 2024 |last1=Salguero |first1=C. Pierce |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=169–211 |issn=1076-9005 |url=https://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/files/2023/08/Salguero-Finalized-ms-for-publication47.pdf |archive-date=2024-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603231854/https://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/files/2023/08/Salguero-Finalized-ms-for-publication47.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

An article from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics states,
{{Blockquote
|text=Problematic experiences such as strange sensations, unexplained pains, psychological instability, undesired hallucinations, sexual anomalies, uncontrollable behaviors, demonic possession, suicidality, and so forth seem to be quite well-known and well-documented across traditions.<ref name="salguero2023"/>
}}

==Concerns and criticism==

===Scholarly research===
Many of the above cited review studies also indicate the necessity for more high-quality research in this field such as conducting intervention studies using larger sample sizes, the use of more randomized controlled studies and the need for providing more methodological details in reported studies.{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=}}{{page needed |date=June 2025}}<ref name="KengSmoskiRobins2011"/> The majority of studies also either measure mindfulness as a trait, and in research that use mindfulness interventions in clinical practice, the lack of true randomisation poses a problem for understanding the true effectiveness of mindfulness. Experimental methods using randomised samples, though, suggest that mindfulness as a state or temporary practice can influence felt emotions such as disgust and promote abstract decision-making.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.08.014| vauthors = Chan EY|year=2019|title=Mindfulness and willingness to try insects as food: The role of disgust|journal=Food Quality and Preference|volume=71|pages=375–383| s2cid = 150289273}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chan EY, Wang Y | title = Mindfulness changes construal level: An experimental investigation | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology. General | volume = 148 | issue = 9 | pages = 1656–1664 | date = September 2019 | pmid = 31355654 | doi = 10.1037/xge0000654 | s2cid = 198965872 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wachs K, Cordova JV | title = Mindful relating: exploring mindfulness and emotion repertoires in intimate relationships | journal = Journal of Marital and Family Therapy | volume = 33 | issue = 4 | pages = 464–481 | date = October 2007 | pmid = 17935530 | doi = 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2007.00032.x | doi-access = free }}</ref> There are also a few review studies that have found little difference between mindfulness interventions and control groups, though they did also indicate that their intervention group was treated too briefly for the research to be conclusive.<ref name= McLean2017 >{{cite journal | vauthors = McLean G, Lawrence M, Simpson R, Mercer SW | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review | journal = BMC Neurology | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | article-number = 92 | date = May 2017 | pmid = 28506263 | pmc = 5433018 | doi = 10.1186/s12883-017-0876-4 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=Taylor2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lever Taylor B, Cavanagh K, Strauss C | title = The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in the Perinatal Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 11 | issue = 5 | article-number = e0155720 | year = 2016 | pmid = 27182732 | pmc = 4868288 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0155720 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2016PLoSO..1155720L }}</ref> In some domains, such as sport, a lack of internal validity across studies prevents any strong claims being made about the effects of mindfulness.<ref name=Noetel2019 /> These studies also list the need for more robust research investigations. Several issues pertaining to the assessment of mindfulness have also been identified including the current use of self-report questionnaires.{{sfn|Creswell|2017|p=}}{{page needed |date=June 2025}}<ref name="KengSmoskiRobins2011"/><ref name=Grossman_2008>{{cite journal | vauthors = Grossman P | title = On measuring mindfulness in psychosomatic and psychological research | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 64 | issue = 4 | pages = 405–408 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 18374739 | doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.02.001 }}</ref> Potential for bias also exists to the extent that researchers in the field are also practitioners and possibly subject to pressures to publish positive or significant results.{{sfn|Nisbet|2017}}

Various scholars have criticized how mindfulness has been defined or represented in recent Western psychology publications.{{sfn|Bishop|Lau|Shapiro|Carlson|2004}}<ref name="wallace06">{{cite book |title=The attention revolution: Unlocking the power of the focused mind |last=Wallace |first=B. Alan | name-list-style = vanc  |author-link=B. Alan Wallace |year=2006 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-86171-276-2 |url= https://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip065/2005037195.html }}</ref>
These modern understandings depart significantly from the accounts of mindfulness in early Buddhist texts and authoritative commentaries in the Theravada and Indian Mahayana traditions.<ref name="wallace06" />{{rp|62}}<ref name="chiesa13">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s12671-012-0123-4 |title=The Difficulty of Defining Mindfulness: Current Thought and Critical Issues |journal=Mindfulness |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=255–68 |year=2012 |last1=Chiesa |first1=Alberto |s2cid=2244732 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref> Adam Valerio has introduced the idea that conflict between academic disciplines over how mindfulness is defined, understood, and popularly presented may be indicative of a personal, institutional, or paradigmatic battle for ownership over mindfulness, one where academics, researchers, and other writers are invested as individuals in much the same way as religious communities.<ref name="Valerio 1–27" />

===Shortcomings===
The popularization of mindfulness as a "commodity"<ref group="web" name="Safran"/> has been criticized, being termed "McMindfulness" by some critics.<ref group=web name="McMindfulness">{{Cite web|last1=Purser|first1=Ron |last2=Loy |first2=David |date=July 1, 2013|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beyond-mcmindfulness_b_3519289|title=Beyond McMindfulness|website=HuffPost}}</ref><ref group=web name="TriMc">{{Cite web|url=https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/trike-contributing-editor-david-loy-takes-mcmindfulness/ |title=Trike Contributing Editor David Loy takes on "McMindfulness"|first=Alex |last=Caring-Lobel |name-list-style=vanc |date=July 2, 2013|website=Tricycle: The Buddhist Review}}</ref>{{sfn|Bazzano|2014}}  For example, Ronald Purser discusses that there is certainly a beneficial aspect to mindfulness, such as reducing stress, however, the issue is the "product they are selling and how its been packaged."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Purser |first=Ronald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmeEDwAAQBAJ |title=McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality |date=2019-07-09 |publisher=Watkins Media Limited |isbn=978-1-912248-49-0 |language=en}}</ref> According to Harrington and Dunne, critics argue that "Mindfulness [...] was never supposed to be about weight loss, better sex, helping children perform better in school, helping employees be more productive in the workplace, or even improving the functioning of anxious, depressed people. It was never supposed to be a merchandized commodity to be bought and sold."{{sfn|Harrington|Dunne|2015}} According to John Safran, the popularity of mindfulness is the result of a marketing strategy:<ref group="web" name="Safran"/> "McMindfulness is the marketing of a constructed dream; an idealized lifestyle; an identity makeover."<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/677842 |title=Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity |year=2014 |last1=Giesler |first1=Markus|last2=Veresiu |first2=Ela | name-list-style = vanc |author-link1=Markus Giesler |author-link2=Ela Veresiu |journal=Journal of Consumer Research |volume=41 |issue=October |pages=849–67 |s2cid=145622639 }}</ref><ref group="web" name="Safran">{{cite web|last=Safran|first= Jeremy D. |title=McMindfulness|website=www.psychologytoday.com |date= 13 June 2014|access-date=2 April 2015|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/straight-talk/201406/mcmindfulness}}</ref> The psychologist [[Thomas Joiner]] says that modern mindfulness meditation has been "corrupted" for commercial gain by self-help celebrities, and suggests that it encourages unhealthy narcissistic and self-obsessed mindsets.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bond |first1=Michael |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531430-900-lost-in-meditation-two-books-argue-over-mindfulness/ |title=Lost in meditation: Two books argue over mindfulness |journal=New Scientist |date=13 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/mindlessness-9780190200626?cc=gb&lang=en& |title=Mindlessness: The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism |first=Thomas |last=Joiner |year=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-020062-6}}</ref>

According to Purser and Loy, mindfulness is not being used as a means to awaken to insight in the "unwholesome roots of greed, ill will and delusion,"<ref group=web name="McMindfulness" /> but reshaped into a "banal, therapeutic, self-help technique" that has the opposite effect of reinforcing those passions.<ref group=web name="McMindfulness" /> While mindfulness is marketed as a means to reduce stress, in a Buddhist context it is part of an all-embracing ethical program to foster "wise action, social harmony, and compassion."<ref group=web name="McMindfulness" /> Purser explains that ultimately mindfulness is being stripped from its original Buddhist roots, losing its emphasis on ethical training and liberation from attachment, and is instead presented mainly as a therapeutic self-help method.<ref name=":1" /> The privatization of mindfulness neglects the societal and organizational causes of stress and discomfort, instead propagating adaptation to these circumstances.<ref group=web name="McMindfulness" /> According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, "[A]bsent a sharp social critique, Buddhist practices could easily be used to justify and stabilize the status quo, becoming a reinforcement of [[consumer capitalism]]."<ref group=web name="McMindfulness" /> The popularity of this new brand of mindfulness has resulted in the commercialization of meditation through self-help books, guided meditation classes, and mindfulness retreats.

{{Blockquote| Mindfulness is said to be a $4bn industry. More than 60,000 books for sale on Amazon have a variant of "mindfulness" in their title, touting the benefits of Mindful Parenting, Mindful Eating, Mindful Teaching, Mindful Therapy, Mindful Leadership, Mindful Finance, a Mindful Nation, and Mindful Dog Owners, to name just a few.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Purser |first1=Ronald | name-list-style = vanc |title=The mindfulness conspiracy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/14/the-mindfulness-conspiracy-capitalist-spirituality |website=The Guardian |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref>}}

Buddhist commentators have criticized the movement as being presented as equivalent to Buddhist practice, while in reality it is very possibly denatured with undesirable consequences, such as being ungrounded in the traditional reflective morality and therefore, astray from traditional Buddhist ethics. Criticisms suggest it to be either de-moralized or re-moralized into clinically based ethics. The conflict is often presented with concern to the teacher's credentials and qualifications, rather than the student's actual practice. Reformed Buddhist-influenced practices are being standardized and manualized in a distinct separation from Buddhism - which is seen as a religion based in monastic temples - and expressed as "mindfulness" in a new psychology ethic, practiced in modern meditation centers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shonin|first1=Edo | name-list-style = vanc |title=Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness (Mindfulness in Behavioral Health)|date=August 27, 2015|publisher=Springer|pages=90–94|edition=1st}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Alexander Technique]]
* [[Affect labeling]]
* [[Buddhism and psychology]]
* [[Buddhist meditation]] 
* [[Choiceless awareness]]
* [[Coping (psychology)]]
* [[Coping Planning]]
* [[Eternal Now (New Age)]]
* [[Four stages of competence]]
*''[[Full Catastrophe Living]]''
* [[John Garrie]]
* [[Richard Geller (meditation instructor)|Richard Geller]]
* [[S.N. Goenka]]
* [[Henepola Gunaratana]]
* [[Dennis Lewis]]
* [[Mahasati Meditation]]
* [[Metacognition]]
* [[Mindfulness (journal)|''Mindfulness'' (journal)]]
* [[Mindfulness and technology]]
* [[Mindfulness Day]]
* [[Mindful Education]]
* [[Mindful yoga]]
* [[Mindstream]]
* [[Murder Mindfully]]
* [[Nonviolent communication]]
* [[Nepsis]]
* [[Ovsiankina effect]]
* [[Phronesis]]
* [[Sacca (Buddhism)|Sacca]]
* [[Satya]]
* [[Satyagraha]]
* [[Sampajanna]]
* [[Samu (Zen)]]
* [[Satipatthana]]
* [[Self-compassion]]
* [[Taqwa]] and [[dhikr]], related Islamic concepts
* [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]]
* [[Transcendental Meditation]]
* [[Watchfulness (Christian)]]
* [[Hasidic philosophy#Other concepts|Hasidic Meditation]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist |30em |group=lower-alpha |refs=
<!-- S -->
<!-- "sati_translation" -->
<ref group=lower-alpha name="sati_translation">While translated as "mindfulness," and often interpreted as "bare attention," the term ''sati'' has broader connotations: "memory,"{{harv|PTS}} "retention,"{{harv|Dreyfus|2013|pp=44–48}} "mindfulness, alertness, self-possession."{{harv|PTS}} In a Buddhist context it has a wider meaning and purpose, related to ''[[vipassana]]'', namely [[Sampajañña]] discerning what is beneficial and what is not, and calming the mind by this discernment ({{harvnb|Polak|2011|pp= 153–56}}, {{harvnb|Williams|Tribe|2000|p= 46}}, {{harvnb|Buddhadasa Bhikkhu|2014|pp= 79, 101, 117 note 42}} Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging {{harv|Thompson|2020|p=120}}, [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] traditions describe what constitutes mindfulness, such as how perceptions of the past, present and future arise and cease as momentary sense-impressions and [[mental phenomena]] ({{harvnb|Karunamuni|Weerasekera|2019}}, {{harvnb|Analayo|2003}}, {{harvnb|Bhikkhu Bodhi}}).</ref>
<!-- T -->
<!-- "therapeutic_aplications" -->
<!-- {{efn-la|name="therapeutic_aplications"|Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce [[depression (mood)|depression]],{{sfn|Blanck et al.|2018}}<ref name=Khoury2015>{{cite journal | vauthors = Khoury B, Sharma M, Rush SE, Fournier C | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 78 | issue = 6 | pages = 519–528 | date = June 2015 | pmid = 25818837 | doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.009 | quote = We conducted a meta-analysis to provide a review of MBSR for healthy individuals. The meta-analysis included 29 studies enrolling 2668 participants... The results obtained are robust and are maintained at follow-up. When combined, mindfulness and compassion strongly correlated with clinical effects. }}</ref><ref name=Jain>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jain FA, Walsh RN, Eisendrath SJ, Christensen S, Rael Cahn B | title = Critical analysis of the efficacy of meditation therapies for acute and subacute phase treatment of depressive disorders: a systematic review | journal = Psychosomatics | volume = 56 | issue = 2 | pages = 140–152 | year = 2015 | pmid = 25591492 | pmc = 4383597 | doi = 10.1016/j.psym.2014.10.007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Reangsing C, Punsuwun S, Schneider JK | title = Effects of mindfulness interventions on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis | journal = International Journal of Nursing Studies | volume = 115 | article-number = 103848 | date = March 2021 | pmid = 33383273 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103848 | s2cid = 229940390 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Galante |first1=Julieta |last2=Friedrich |first2=Claire |last3=Dawson |first3=Anna F. |last4=Modrego-Alarcón |first4=Marta |last5=Gebbing |first5=Pia |last6=Delgado-Suárez |first6=Irene |last7=Gupta |first7=Radhika |last8=Dean |first8=Lydia |last9=Dalgleish |first9=Tim |last10=White |first10=Ian R. |last11=Jones |first11=Peter B. |date=2021-01-11 |title=Mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in adults in nonclinical settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials |journal=PLOS Medicine |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |article-number=e1003481 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003481 |issn=1549-1676 |pmc=7799763 |pmid=33428616 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Psychological stress|stress]],<ref name="Khoury2015"/>{{sfn|Hofmann|Sawyer|Witt|Oh|2010}}<ref name=":1" /> [[anxiety]],{{sfn|Blanck et al.|2018}}<ref name="Khoury2015"/><ref name="Hofmann">{{harvnb|Hofmann|Sawyer|Witt|Oh|2010}}.</ref><ref name=":1" /> and in the treatment of [[drug addiction]].<ref name=Chiesa>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chiesa A, Serretti A | title = Are mindfulness-based interventions effective for substance use disorders? A systematic review of the evidence | journal = Substance Use & Misuse | volume = 49 | issue = 5 | pages = 492–512 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 23461667 | doi = 10.3109/10826084.2013.770027 | s2cid = 34990668 }}</ref><ref name=Garland>{{cite journal | vauthors = Garland EL, Froeliger B, Howard MO | title = Mindfulness training targets neurocognitive mechanisms of addiction at the attention-appraisal-emotion interface | journal = Frontiers in Psychiatry | volume = 4 | page = 173 | date = January 2014 | pmid = 24454293 | pmc = 3887509 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00173 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name= Sancho2018>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sancho M, De Gracia M, Rodríguez RC, Mallorquí-Bagué N, Sánchez-González J, Trujols J, Sánchez I, Jiménez-Murcia S, Menchón JM | display-authors = 3 | title = Mindfulness-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Substance and Behavioral Addictions: A Systematic Review | journal = Frontiers in Psychiatry | volume = 9 | issue = 95 | page = 95 | year = 2018 | pmid = 29651257 | pmc = 5884944 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00095 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans' centers, and other environments,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Dexing |last2=Lee |first2=Eric K P |last3=Mak |first3=Eva C W |last4=Ho |first4=C Y |last5=Wong |first5=Samuel Y S |title=Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review |journal=British Medical Bulletin |date=10 June 2021 |volume=138 |issue=1 |pages=41–57 |doi=10.1093/bmb/ldab005|pmid=33884400 |pmc=8083197 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Xiao-Gang |last2=Wang |first2=Le-Peng |last3=Rong |first3=Guang |last4=Zhang |first4=Dao-Ning |last5=Zhang |first5=A-Yuan |last6=Liu |first6=Chao |title=Effects of online mindfulness-based interventions on the mental health of university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=8 February 2023 |volume=14 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1073647|pmid=36844353 |pmc=9944037 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for [[healthy aging]], [[weight management]], athletic performance,<ref name=Noetel2019>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/1750984X.2017.1387803 |title=Mindfulness and acceptance approaches to sporting performance enhancement: a systematic review |journal=International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=139–175 |year=2019 |last1=Noetel |first1=Michael |last2=Ciarrochi |first2=Joseph |last3=Van Zanden |first3=Brooke |last4=Lonsdale |first4=Chris |s2cid=149040404 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> helping children with [[special needs]], and as an intervention during early pregnancy.}} -->
}}
{{Reflist |30em |group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist |30em}}

== Sources ==

===Printed sources===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
<!-- A -->
* {{cite book |last1=Analayo |first1=Bhikku |date=2003 |title= Satipaṭṭhāna, the direct path to realization |publisher= Windhorse Publications}}
<!-- B -->
* {{cite journal|last1=Baer |first1=Ruth A. | year =2003 |title=Mindfulness Training as a Clinical Intervention: A Conceptual and Empirical Review |journal=Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice |volume=10 |pages=125–143|issue=2 |doi=10.1093/clipsy.bpg015 |url=http://www.wisebrain.org/papers/MindfulnessPsyTx.pdf}}
* {{cite book | last =Bazzano | first =Manu | name-list-style = vanc |year= 2014 |title=After Mindfulness: New Perspectives on Psychology and Meditation |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}
* {{Cite web |last=Bhikkhu Bodhi|title= The Noble Eightfold Path|url= http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html  |access-date= 2009-03-16 |publisher=Access to Insight }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1093/clipsy.bph077 |title=Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition |journal=Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=230–241 |year=2004 |last1=Bishop |first1=Scott R |last2=Lau |first2=Mark |last3=Shapiro |first3=Shauna |last4=Carlson |first4=Linda |last5=Anderson |first5=Nicole D |last6=Carmody |first6=James |last7=Segal |first7=Zindel V |last8=Abbey |first8=Susan |last9=Speca |first9=Michael |last10=Velting |first10=Drew |last11=Devins |first11=Gerald | name-list-style = vanc |citeseerx=10.1.1.168.6212 }}
* {{cite web|last= Black|first= David S.|year= 2011|title= A Brief Definition of Mindfulness|url= http://www.mindfulexperience.org/resources/brief_definition.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110727084755/http://www.mindfulexperience.org/resources/brief_definition.pdf|archive-date= July 27, 2011}} 
* {{cite journal | last1 = Blanck | first1 =P. | date =2018 | last2 =Perleth | first2 =S | last3 =Heidenreich | first3 =T | last4 =Kröger | first4 =P | last5 =Ditzen | first5 =B. | last6 =Bents | first6 =H. | last7 =Mander | first7 =J. | title = Effects of mindfulness exercises as stand-alone intervention on symptoms of anxiety and depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Behaviour Research and Therapy | volume = 102 | pages = 25–35 | pmid = 29291584 | doi = 10.1007/s12671-014-0379-y | doi-access = free | ref={{harvid|Blanck et al.|2018}}}}
* {{cite journal | last =Buchholz | first =L.  | date = 2015 | title =Exploring the Promise of Mindfulness as Medicine | journal = JAMA | volume = 314 | issue = 13 | pages = 1327–1329| pmid = 26441167 | doi = 10.1001/jama.2015.7023 }}
<!-- C -->
* {{cite journal |last=Creswell |first=J.D. |date=January 2017 |title=Mindfulness Interventions |pages=491–516 |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=68 |pmid=27687118 |doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-042716-051139 |doi-access=free |quote=Methodologically rigorous RCTs have demonstrated that mindfulness interventions improve outcomes in multiple domains (e.g., chronic pain, depression relapse, addiction). }}
<!-- D -->
* {{cite journal | last =Deatherage | first =Gary |date= 1975  |title= The clinical use of "mindfulness" meditation techniques in short-term psychotherapy |journal= Journal of Transpersonal Psychology |volume= 7 |issue= 2 |pages= 133–43 |url= http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-07-75-02-133.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last=Didonna |first=Fabrizio | name-list-style = vanc |year=2008 |title=Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media}}
* {{cite book | last =Dreyfus | first =Georges | year =2013 | chapter =Is mindfulness present-centered and non-judgmental? A discussion of the cognitive dimensions of mindfulness | url=https://info-buddhism.com/Mindfulness_Present-Centered_Nonjudgmental-Attention_Introspection-A-Discussion_Dreyfus.html | editor-last1 =Williams | editor-first1=J. Mark G. |editor-last2 =Kabat-Zinn | editor-first2 =Jon | name-list-style = vanc | title =Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on its Meaning, Origins and Applications | publisher =Routledge}}
<!-- G -->
* {{cite book |last=Gehart |first=Diane R. | name-list-style = vanc |year=2012 |title=Mindfulness and Acceptance in Couple and Family Therapy |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media}}
* {{cite book |last=Germer |first=Christopher K. |year=2005 | chapter = Mindfulness. What Is It? What does It Matter? | veditors = Germer CK, Siegel RD, Fulton PR | title = Mindfulness and Psychotherapy |publisher= Guilford Press }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Gkintoni | first1=Evgenia | last2=Vassilopoulos | first2=Stephanos P. | last3=Nikolaou | first3=Georgios | title=Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review of Neurocognitive Outcomes and Applications for Mental Health and Well-Being | journal=Journal of Clinical Medicine | publisher=MDPI AG | volume=14 | issue=5 | date=2025-03-03 | issn=2077-0383 | doi=10.3390/jcm14051703 | doi-access=free | page=1703| pmid=40095733 | pmc=11900371 }}
<!-- H -->
* {{cite journal | last1 =Harrington  | first1 =A | last2 =Dunne | first2 =JD | date =2015 | title = When mindfulness is therapy: Ethical qualms, historical perspectives | journal = The American Psychologist | volume = 70 | issue = 7 | pages = 621–631 | pmid = 26436312 | doi = 10.1037/a0039460 | s2cid = 43129186 | url = http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:25757884}} 
* {{cite book |last=Harris |first=Mark W. |name-list-style=vanc |year=2009 |title=The A to Z of Unitarian Universalism |publisher=Scarecrow Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pk4yL-oB1JQC&dq=The+A+to+Z+of+Unitarian+Universalism&pg=PR7 |isbn=978-0-8108-6333-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hick |first=Steven F. |year= 2010 | chapter = Cultivating Therapeutic Relationships: The Role of Mindfulness. | veditors = Hick SF, Bien T | title = Mindfulness and the Therapeutic Relationship |publisher= Guilford Press}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Hofmann SG, Sawyer AT, Witt AA, Oh D | title = The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review | journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology | volume = 78 | issue = 2 | pages = 169–183 | date = April 2010 | pmid = 20350028 | pmc = 2848393 | doi = 10.1037/a0018555 }}
<!-- I -->
* {{cite book |last1=Ihnen |first1=Anne |last2=Flynn |first2=Carolyn | name-list-style = vanc |year=2008 |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mindfulness |publisher= Penguin}}
<!-- K -->
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Kabat-Zinn J | title = Participatory medicine | journal = Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology | volume = 14 | issue = 4 | pages = 239–240 | date = July 2000 | pmid = 11204505 | doi = 10.1046/j.1468-3083.2000.00062.x | s2cid = 35760167 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kabat-Zinn |first=Jon |year= 2011 |title=Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment--and Your Life |publisher=Sounds True}}
* {{cite book | last =Kabat-Zinn | first =J. |year=2013 |title=Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness |publisher=Bantam Dell |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-53972-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Kabat-Zinn |first=Jon |year= 2013a |title=Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness |publisher=Hyperion |isbn=978-1-306-75229-9}}
* {{cite journal |last1= Karunamuni |first1= Nandini |last2= Weerasekera |first2= Rasanjala |year= 2019 |title= Theoretical Foundations to Guide Mindfulness Meditation: A Path to Wisdom|journal= Current Psychology |volume= 38|issue= 3|pages= 627–646|s2cid= 149024504| name-list-style = vanc |doi= 10.1007/s12144-017-9631-7 |url= http://mindrxiv.org/mfs63/}}
* {{cite book |last=King |first=Richard | name-list-style = vanc |year=2001 |title=Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East" |publisher= Taylor & Francis e-Library}}
* {{cite book |last=Kipf |first=David |name-list-style=vanc |year=1979 |title=The Brahmo Samaj and the shaping of the modern Indian mind |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUcY_IRKDHQC&pg=PA313 |isbn=978-0-691-03125-5 }}
* {{cite book |vauthors=Kristeller JL |year= 2007 | chapter = Mindfulness Meditation | veditors = Lehrer PM, Woolfolk RL, Sime WE | title = Principles and Practice of Stress Management | edition = 3rd | publisher= Guilford Press}}
* {{cite journal | last1=Kvamme | first1=Timo L. | date=2024 | last2=Sandberg | first2=Kristian | last3=Silvanto | first3=Juha | title=Mental imagery as part of an 'inwardly focused' cognitive style | journal=Neuropsychologia | volume=204 | doi=10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108988 | article-number=108988| doi-access=free | pmid=39222775 }}
<!-- L -->
* {{cite book | last = Lee | first = Max J | name-list-style = vanc |  date = 2020 | title = Moral Transformation in Greco-Roman Philosophy of Mind: Mapping the Moral Milieu of the Apostle Paul and his Diaspora Jewish Contemporaries | publisher = Mohr Siebeck | isbn = 978-3-1614-9660-8}}
* {{cite book | last = Linehan | first = Marsha | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1993 | title = Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder | publisher = Guilford Press }}
<!-- M -->
* {{cite book | vauthors = Marlatt GA, Kristeller J | chapter = Mindfulness and meditation | veditors = Miller WE | title = Integrating spirituality in treatment: Resources for practitioners | publisher = American Psychological Association Books | location = Washington, DC | date = 1999 | pages = 67–84 }}
* {{cite web | last=Matiz | first=Alessio | title=Psychological and neuroscientific correlates of mindfulness in clinical and educational settings | publisher=Università degli Studi di Roma &quot;La Sapienza' | date=2025-01-30 | url=https://iris.uniroma1.it/handle/11573/1734392 | language=it | access-date=2025-05-27}}
* {{cite book |last=McMahan |first=David L. | name-list-style = vanc |year= 2008 |title=The Making of Buddhist Modernism |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518327-6 }}
<!-- N -->
* {{cite journal |last1=Nisbet |first1=Matthew|date=2017  |title=The Mindfulness Movement: How a Buddhist Practice Evolved into a Scientific Approach to Life |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=24–26 |url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_mindfulness_movement |access-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002171906/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_mindfulness_movement |archive-date=2018-10-02 }}
<!-- P -->
* {{cite book | last =Polak | first = Grzegorz | name-list-style = vanc | year =2011 | title =Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology | publisher =UMCS}}
* {{cite web|last =PTS|title= Sati |url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:2991.pali |archive-url= https://archive.today/20121212102108/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:2991.pali |archive-date= 2012-12-12|work= The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary |publisher= Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago}}
<!--  -->
* {{cite book  | last =Repetti | first = Rick | name-list-style = vanc |  date = 2022 | title = Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-1-0005-7574-3}}
<!-- S -->
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1163/1568527952598549 |title=Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience |journal=Numen |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=228–283 |year=1995 |last1=Sharf |first1=Robert |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43810/1/11076_1995_Article_1568527952598549.pdf |hdl=2027.42/43810 |hdl-access=free |jstor=3270219 |name-list-style=vanc }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1353/pew.2014.0074 |title=Mindfulness and Mindlessness in Early Chan |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=933–64 |year=2014 |last1=Sharf |first1=Robert |s2cid=144208166 | name-list-style = vanc }}
* Siegel, Ronald D. (2010). [http://www.mindfulness-solution.com ''The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems'']. The Guilford Press. {{ISBN|978-1-60623-294-1}}
* {{cite journal | last1 =Slagter | first1 =H.A. | last2 =Davidson | first2 =R.J. | last3 =Lutz | first3 =A. | year = 2011 | title = Mental training as a tool in the neuroscientific study of brain and cognitive plasticity | journal = Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | volume = 5 | page = 17 | pmid = 21347275 | pmc = 3039118 | doi = 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00017 | doi-access = free }}
<!-- T -->
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Tanay G, Bernstein A | title = State Mindfulness Scale (SMS): development and initial validation | journal = Psychological Assessment | volume = 25 | issue = 4 | pages = 1286–1299 | date = December 2013 | pmid = 24059475 | doi = 10.1037/a0034044 | s2cid = 8659383 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Teasdale |first1=John D. |last2=Segal |first2=Zindel V. | name-list-style = vanc |year=2007 |title=The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness |publisher= Guilford Press}}
* {{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Evan| author-link1= Evan Thompson |title=Why I Am Not a Buddhist|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2020 |isbn=978-0-300-22655-3|location=New Haven and London|page=120| quote=Buddhism has no single, agreed-upon traditional definition of mindfulness. Rather, Buddhism offers multiple and sometimes incompatible conceptions of mindfulness.}}
<!-- V -->
* {{cite journal |last1 = Van Gordon |first1= William |year= 2014 |last2= Shonin |first2= Edo |last3= Griffiths |first3= Mark D |last4= Singh |first4= Nirbhay N. |author-link4= Nirbhay N. Singh|title= There is Only One Mindfulness: Why Science and Buddhism Need to Work Together |journal= Mindfulness |volume= 6 |pages= 49–56 |doi= 10.1007/s12671-014-0379-y |doi-access= free| name-list-style = vanc  }}
* {{cite book |last=Vetter |first=Tilmann | name-list-style = vanc |year= 1988 |title=The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism |publisher= BRILL}}
<!-- W -->
* {{cite journal | last =Wilks | first =Jenny | year =2014 | title =Secular mindfulness: potential & pitfalls | journal =Insight Journal | url =https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/secular-mindfulness-potential-pitfalls/}}
* {{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Paul |last2=Tribe |first2=Anthony | name-list-style = vanc |year=2000 |title= Buddhist Thought |publisher= Routledge}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Jeff | name-list-style = vanc |year= 2014 |title=Mindful America: the Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture |publisher= Oxford University Press}}
<!-- Z -->
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Zgierska A, Rabago D, Chawla N, Kushner K, Koehler R, Marlatt A | title = Mindfulness meditation for substance use disorders: a systematic review | journal = Substance Abuse | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 266–294 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19904664 | pmc = 2800788 | doi = 10.1080/08897070903250019 | bibcode = 2009JPkR...30..266Z }}
{{Refend}}

===Web sources===
{{Reflist |30em |group=web}}

== Further reading ==
{{Wiktionary|念}}
{{Wiktionary|Mindfulness}}

===Origins===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last=McMahan |first=David L. | name-list-style = vanc |year=2008 |title=The Making of Buddhist Modernism |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-518327-6}}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last=Braun |first =Erik Braun| name-list-style = vanc  | year =2016 | title =The Birth of Insight. Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw | publisher =The University Of Chicago Press}}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last=Wilson |first=Jeff | name-list-style = vanc |year=2014 |title= Mindful America: Meditation and the Mutual Transformation of Buddhism and American Culture |publisher= Oxford University Press}}
{{Refend}}

===Buddhism===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Guenther | first1 = Herbert V. | first2 = Leslie S. | last2 = Kawamura | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1975 | title = Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding" | publisher = Dharma Publishing | edition = Kindle }}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last=[[Nyanaponika]] | date=1962 |title=The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: Satipaṭṭhāna: a Handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha's Way of Mindfulness, with an Anthology of Relevant Texts Translated from the Pali and Sanskrit | url=https://www.bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=bp509s |publisher= Buddhist Publication Society}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Nyanaponika | date=1968 | title=The Power of Mindfulness | url=https://www.bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=bp526s | publisher = [[Buddhist Publication Society]]}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | first = William | last = Hart | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2011 | title = The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation As Taught by S.N. Goenka | publisher = Pariyatti }}
{{Refend}}

===Psychology===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Benhard JD, Kristeller J, Kabat-Zinn J | title = Effectiveness of relaxation and visualization techniques as an adjunct to phototherapy and photochemotherapy of psoriasis | journal = Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 572–574 | date = September 1988 | pmid = 3049703 | doi = 10.1016/S0190-9622(88)80329-3 | doi-access = free }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Bowen S, Chawla N, Marlatt GA | author-link3 = G. Alan Marlatt | date = 2010 | title = Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors: A Clinician's Guide | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-60623-987-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Brantley | first = Jeffrey | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2007 | title = Calming Your Anxious Mind: How Mindfulness & Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, & Panic | edition = 2nd | publisher = New Harbinger | isbn = 978-1-57224-487-0 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Deckersbach T, Hölzel B, Eisner L, Lazar SW, Nierenberg AA | date = 2014 | title = Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-4625-1406-9 }}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last=Didonna |first=Fabrizio | name-list-style = vanc |year=2008 |title=Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | first1 = Amanda | last1 = Ie | first2 = Christelle T. | last2 = Ngnoumen | first3 = Ellen J. | last3 = Langer | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2014 | title = The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness (Two Volumes) | publisher = John Wiley & Sons  }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Ockene JK, Ockene IS, Kabat-Zinn J, Greene HL, Frid D | title = Teaching risk-factor counseling skills to medical students, house staff, and fellows | journal = American Journal of Preventive Medicine | volume = 6 | issue = 2 Suppl | pages = 35–42 | year = 1990 | pmid = 2383411 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Ockene JK, Sorensen G, Kabat-Zinn J, Ockene IS, Donnelly G | title = Benefits and costs of lifestyle change to reduce risk of chronic disease | journal = Preventive Medicine | volume = 17 | issue = 2 | pages = 224–234 | date = March 1988 | pmid = 3047727 | doi = 10.1016/0091-7435(88)90065-5 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Orsillo SM, Roemer L | date = 2011 | title = The Mindful Way through Anxiety: Break Free from Chronic Worry and Reclaim Your Life | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-60623-464-8 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Pollak SM, Pedulla T, Siegel RD | date = 2014 | title = Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-4625-1398-7}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Segal ZV, Williams JM, Teasdale JD | author-link1 = Zindel Segal | author-link2 = J. Mark G. Williams | date = 2012 | title = Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression | edition = 2nd | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-4625-0750-4 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Teasdale JD, Williams JM, Segal ZV | author-link1 = J. Mark G. Williams | author-link3 = Zindel Segal | date = 2014 | title = The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-4625-0814-3 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Williams M, Teasdale J, Segal Z, Kabat-Zinn J | author-link1 = J. Mark G. Williams | author-link2 = John D. Teasdale | author-link3 = Zindel Segal | author-link4 = Jon Kabat-Zinn | date = 2007 | title = The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-59385-128-6}}
{{Refend}}

===Other===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
* {{cite journal |doi= 10.1080/19349630902864275 |title=Mindful Psychotherapy |journal=Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health |volume=11 |issue=1–2 |pages=126–44 |year=2009 |last1=Bell |first1=Linda G |s2cid=218637476 | name-list-style = vanc }}
* {{cite book | last = Brahm | first = Ajahn | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2005 | title = Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook | publisher = Wisdom Publications | isbn = 978-0-86171-275-5 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Boccio FJ | author-link1 = Frank Jude Boccio | date = 2004 | title = Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body and Mind | publisher = Simon and Schuster | isbn = 0-86171-335-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/mindfulnessyogaa0000bocc }}
* {{cite book | last = Buddhadasa | first = Bhikkhu | year =2014 | title =Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree | publisher =Wisdom publications}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Germer CK | date = 2009 | title = The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-59385-975-6 }}
* {{cite book | veditors = Germer CK, Siegel R, Fulton PR | date = 2013 | title = Mindfulness and Psychotherapy | edition = 2nd | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-4625-1137-2 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Germer | first1 = Christopher K. | first2 = Ronald | last2 = Siegel | first3 = Paul R. | last3 = Fulton | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2005 | title = Mindfulness and Psychotherapy | publisher = The Guilford Press | isbn = 1-59385-139-1 }} (The use of mindfulness in psychology, and the history of mindfulness)
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Grossman P, Niemann L, Schmidt S, Walach H | title = Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits. A meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 57 | issue = 1 | pages = 35–43 | date = July 2004 | pmid = 15256293 | doi = 10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00573-7 }}
* {{cite book | last = Gunaratana | first = Bhante Henepola | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2002 | url = http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm | title = Mindfulness in Plain English | publisher = Wisdom Publications | isbn = 978-0-86171-906-8 | access-date = 2008-07-28  | archive-date = 2013-09-02  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130902154105/http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm }}
* {{cite book | last = Hanh | first = Thich Nhat | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1996 | title = The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation | publisher = Beacon Press }}
* {{cite book | veditors = Hayes SC, Follette VM, Linehan MM | date = 2011 | title = Mindfulness and Acceptance: Expanding the Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-60918-989-1 }}
* {{cite book | last = Hoopes | first = Aaron | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2007 | title = Zen Yoga: A Path to Enlightenment through Breathing, Movement and Meditation | publisher = Kodansha International }}
* {{cite book | last = Kapleau | first = Phillip | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1989 | title = The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice and Enlightenment | publisher = Anchor Books }}
* {{cite book |last=King |first=Winston L. | name-list-style = vanc |year=1992 |title=Theravada Meditation. The Buddhist Transformation of Yoga |place=Delhi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass}}
* {{cite book |last=Koster |first=Frits | name-list-style = vanc |year= 2009 |title= Basisprincipes Vipassana-meditatie. Mindfulness als weg naar bevrijdend inzicht |publisher= Asoka}}
* {{cite book | last = Langer | first = Ellen J | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1989 | title = Mindfulness | publisher = [[Merloyd Lawrence Books]]}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | title = Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life | publisher = Hyperion Books | date = 2005 | isbn = 1-4013-0778-7 }}
* {{cite book|ref=none | first = Peter | last = Mack | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2020 | title = The Misted Mirror - Mindfulness for Schools and Universities | publisher = From the Heart Press}}
* {{cite book |last1=McCown |first1=Donald |last2=Micozzi |first2=Marc S. | name-list-style = vanc |year=2011 |title=New World Mindfulness: From the Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to Your Personal Practice |publisher= Inner Traditions / Bear & Co}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = McCracken LM, Gauntlett-Gilbert J, Vowles KE | title = The role of mindfulness in a contextual cognitive-behavioral analysis of chronic pain-related suffering and disability | journal = Pain | volume = 131 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 63–69 | date = September 2007 | pmid = 17257755 | doi = 10.1016/j.pain.2006.12.013 | s2cid = 14841265 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Melemis |first1=Steven M. |date=2008 |title=Make Room for Happiness: 12 Ways to Improve Your Life by Letting Go of Tension. Better Health, Self-Esteem and Relationships |publisher=Modern Therapies |isbn=978-1-897572-17-7 |language=en}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Miller JJ, Fletcher K, Kabat-Zinn J | title = Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders | journal = General Hospital Psychiatry | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | pages = 192–200 | date = May 1995 | pmid = 7649463 | doi = 10.1016/0163-8343(95)00025-M }}
* {{cite book |last=Nyanaponika |year=1998 |title=Het hart van boeddhistische meditatie | trans-title = The heart of Buddhist Meditation | language = nl |publisher= Asoka}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Saxe GA, Hébert JR, Carmody JF, Kabat-Zinn J, Rosenzweig PH, Jarzobski D, Reed GW, Blute RD | display-authors = 6 | title = Can diet in conjunction with stress reduction affect the rate of increase in prostate specific antigen after biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer? | journal = The Journal of Urology | volume = 166 | issue = 6 | pages = 2202–2207 | date = December 2001 | pmid = 11696736 | doi = 10.1016/S0022-5347(05)65535-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Siegel | first = Daniel J. | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2007 | title = The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being | publisher = Norton | isbn = 978-0-393-70470-9 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/mindfulbrain00dani }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Siegel RD | date = 2009 | title = The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems | publisher = Guilford Press | isbn = 978-1-60623-294-1 }}
* {{cite book | last = Singer | first = Michael Alan | author-link = Michael Alan Singer | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2007 | title = The Untethered Soul | publisher = New Harbinger Publications/ Noetic Books | isbn =  978-1-57224-537-2}}
* {{cite book | last = Singer | first = Michael Alan | author-link = Michael Alan Singer | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2015 | title = The Surrender Experiment | publisher = Harmony/Rodale | isbn =  978-0-8041-4110-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Weiss | first = Andrew | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2004 | title = Beginning Mindfulness: Learning the Way of Awareness | publisher = New World Library }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Williams JM, Duggan DS, Crane C, Fennell MJ | title = Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of recurrence of suicidal behavior | journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | pages = 201–210 | date = February 2006 | pmid = 16342287 | doi = 10.1002/jclp.20223 }}
{{Refend}}

===Critical===
{{Refbegin |30em}}
* {{cite journal|ref=none |last1=Levman |first1=Bryan | name-list-style = vanc |title=Putting smṛti back into sati (Putting remembrance back into mindfulness) |journal=Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies |date=2017 |volume=13 |pages=121–49 |url=http://www.jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/article/view/167 |issn=2047-1076}}
* {{cite journal|ref=none |doi=10.1163/1568527952598549 |title=Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience |journal=Numen |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=228–283 |year=1995 |last1=Sharf |first1=Robert |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43810/1/11076_1995_Article_1568527952598549.pdf |hdl=2027.42/43810 |hdl-access=free |jstor=3270219 | name-list-style = vanc }}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last1=Carrette |first1=Jeremy R. |last2=King |first2=Richard | name-list-style = vanc |year=2005 |title= Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion |publisher= Psychology Press}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last1 = Kabat-Zinn | first1 = Jon | last2 = Williams | first2 = Mark | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2013 | title = Mindfulness – Diverse perspectives on its meanings, origins and applications | publisher  = Routledge }}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last1=Thompson |first1=Evan|author-link1=Evan Thompson |title=Why I am Not a Buddhist |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book|ref=none |last1=Wallis |first1=Glenn|title=A Critique of Western Buddhism: Ruins of the Buddhist Real |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic}}[https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781474283588 Open access]
{{Refend}}

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{{Meditation}}
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{{Subject bar |auto=y |wikt=mindfulness |b=Dialectical Behavioral Therapy/Core Mindfulness Skills |portal1=Philosophy |portal2=Psychology |portal3=Buddhism }}
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[[Category:Mindfulness| ]]
[[Category:Mindfulness (Buddhism)| 01]]
[[Category:Mindfulness (psychology)| 01]]
[[Category:Mindfulness movement|*]]
[[Category:Buddhist meditation]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Mind–body interventions]]
[[Category:Plum Village Tradition]]

[[sv:Medveten närvaro (buddhism)]]