The document discusses mindfulness, which is defined as paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. It explains that mindfulness can improve mental health by countering ruminative thinking, improving emotion regulation, and teaching compassion. Mindfulness involves both informal practice during everyday activities as well as formal meditation. While mindfulness aims to accept one's present experiences rather than relax, practicing it regularly like exercise can lead to relaxation. The document emphasizes that mindfulness requires acceptance rather than changing one's experiences and encourages a nonjudgmental approach through kindness.

1. Mindfulness

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3. Mindfulness

4. What is Mindfulness?
“Mindfulness means paying
attention in a particular way; On
purpose, in the present moment,
and nonjudgmentally.”
-Jon Kabat-Zinn
Founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

5. The Human Mind
Self-Aware
 Independent agency
Symbolic Nature
 Narrative development
 Meaning-seeking
 A symbolic personal self-identity

6. Culture and Society
Planning of long-term goals
 Non-local thought processes
Social Identity Theory
 Complex social relationships
Relational Frame Theory
 “Here versus There”
 “Now versus Then”

7. The Consequences
Future-orientated
Anxiety (i.e. worry, fear, etc.)
Past-orientated
Depression (i.e. guilt, regret, etc.)

9. Mindfulness in Healthcare
In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn created Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School to
treat chronically ill patients.
Since then, a number of psychotherapeutic practices
based in mindfulness have been developed:
 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Mindfulness-
Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT); Dialectical Behavioral
Therapy (DBT).

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11. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
(MBCT)
The goal of MBCT is to prevent depressive
relapse by developing awareness of negative
thoughts, feelings, and sensations and
changing their relationship to the self.
It trains previously depressed individuals to
respond to negative thoughts intentionally and
skilfully rather than in an automatic way.
Ma & Teasdale (2004)

12. Core themes
• Recognition of negative thinking patterns
• e.g. ‘automatic pilot’ & ‘attachment to achieving
happiness’.
• Stepping out of old cognitive routines
• e.g. “decentring” & “mindful awareness”
• Experiential learning
• e.g. engaging in ‘being’ not ‘doing’ mode
• Empowerment and acceptance
AIM: To prevent re-establishment of
patterns of negative thinking

13. Originates from
the Indian word,
Sati
Meaning
awareness,
attention and
“remembering”
Mindfulness

14. Breaking it Down
 Attention:
 Purposeful and conscious, regardless of what is being
attended to.
 Present Moment:
 Awareness of how things are here and now.
 One’s experience is valid and correct just as it is.
 Non reactively:
 Considerate response to experience, as opposed to
reactions conditioned by previous experience
 A reaction is automatic and gives you no choice; a response
is a deliberate and considered action.

15.  Non-judgemental:
 Letting go of good/bad or like/dislike such as, “I want to
feel pleasure”; “I don’t like to feel afraid”
 Removing the “filters” of expectation developed from
learned experience
 Open-heartedly:
 To welcome experiences with a kindness, compassion,
and warmth
Breaking it Down

16. Is mindfulness thinking
about nothing?

17. Is mindfulness thinking
about nothing?

18. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a systemic method for
intentionally directing your attention to
your experience, which can include
awareness of your thoughts.

19. Mindfulness
Awareness of your inner dialogue can
reveal habitual patterns in one’s
thinking and the emotional reactions
which arise from these thoughts.

20. Mindfulness
The aim of mindfulness isn’t to make
you feel more relaxed. Trying to relax
only causes more tension.
Mindfulness is accepting your moment
by moment experience.

21. Mindfulness
So if you are tense, mindfulness is
being aware of that tension.
Where do you feel tense?
What is your reaction to this tension?
Doing this often leads to relaxation
but it is not the aim of the practise.

22.  Informal meditation is when you focus your mind to
which ever activity you are doing during your day.
 This may include: brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning,
etc.
 Formal meditation is when you take time out of
your day to complete a meditation practise.
 This may include a body scan, mindfulness of the breath,
mindful yoga, etc.
Informal vs Formal

23. How Does It Improve
Mental Health?
 Counteracts “ruminative thinking”
 The tendency to dwell on the same thought or theme
 Improves emotion regulation by labeling
thoughts rather than reacting to
 You experiencing an event/emotion – you are not that
event/emotion

24. How Does It Improve
Mental Health?
 Creates an awareness of preconditioning
 Providing space for an intentional response to life
events rather than automatic or emotion-driven
reactions
 Teaches compassion and nonjudgement
for ourselves as well as for experiences
and others.

25. Putting Mindfulness to Use
Mindfulness is focused on acceptance, rather than
finding solutions to problems.
If you suffer from anxiety, mindfulness teaches
you to accept the feeling rather than deny or fight
it. Through this approach, change naturally arises.
An old phrase says: “What we resist, persists”.
Mindfulness says: “What you accept, transforms”.

26. Keep in Mind…
Mindfulness is a skill and requires practice.
Meditation is like a gym for the mind.
The difficulty is avoiding the trap of “trying
not to try.” So don’t be too harsh or critical
of yourself, and remember that kindness
and compassion are crucial.

27. Keep in Mind…
Think of a meditation like a Chinese
finger trap. In order to bring the mind
under control, one must first learn to
let go of the desire for control.

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29. Let’s Practice!

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31. Quote from Buddha
“The secret of health for the mind
and body is not to mourn for the
past, worry abut the future, or
anticipate troubles, but to live in
the present moment wisely and
earnestly.”

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