‘Mindfulness’ is the English translation of the word ‘sati’ which in Pali means ‘conscious attention’. It is used to mean both mindfulness meditation and, more correctly, mindfulness understood as a pure form of knowledge that derives from intuition and direct experience rather than reasoning.
Mindfulness is the act of “paying attention in a particular way: intentionally, in the present moment and in a non-judgmental way” (Jon Kabat-Zinn). It is a mental training of attention and awareness that is done by cultivating an attitude of openness and curiosity towards every sensation, thought or image that arises.
It is intentionally cultivating the being mode instead of being trapped in the doing mode, our autopilot . It is a training to live in the here and now, so as not to get lost in thoughts that take us where they want. Like the regret over what has already happened – ‘I should have done so’, ‘if only I had known that …’ – or the anxiety about the future that is yet to come – ‘who knows if it will go well’, ‘what will I do if … ‘. It is the state of mind of someone who is focused and attentive to their experience and this leads to being calm and relaxed.
Many researches now show how being aware, in touch with one’s own experience of the moment, reduces anxiety and negative thoughts and increases happiness and efficiency.
Sometimes our mind is like a drifting boat that takes us where it wants, we get lost in our thoughts that cause us anxiety , sadness, anger and any kind of unpleasant emotion. Using body sensations as an anchor we can learn to stay in the present moment, calm and aware. And this is how we learn how thoughts are just thoughts and emotions are just emotions; we can let them go by observing them from afar, without reacting, without getting lost in them.
Sometimes even something pleasant can bring along negative emotions and thoughts
Mindfulness in recent years has established itself as the technique of choice for managing anxiety, stress , managing emotions, managing chronic pain and improving the quality of life.
The creator of mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn, began testing mindfulness with those patients for whom mainstream medicine had thrown in the towel. The basic idea was not to cure them but to increase their quality of life, reduce stress , anxiety and other symptoms of psychological distress. The first results were better than expected and also highlighted a large decrease in perceived pain – up to 90% – in patients suffering from chronic pain .Since then, mindfulness has been used on many different populations proving its effectiveness in the most diverse fields. Mindfulness is a technique that allows to reduce the psychophysiological activation typical of the anxiety of the ‘fight or flight’ system.
Mindfulness has found an important role in positive psychology whose purpose is not the cure of pathologies but the promotion of well-being and prevention .
The ancient roots of Mindfulness
Mindfulness originates from the tradition of vipassana meditation . Vipassana meditation is the oldest among Buddhist practices. It was born more than 2500 years ago from the Theravada Buddhist tradition in what is now Burma. Vipassana means ‘clear vision’, it is a thorough vision. It is a direct knowledge, from experience, that comes from the practice of observation and acceptance of oneself which is based on meditation. According to the Buddha’s teachings, this type of meditation was the means to attain enlightenment.
The modern panorama of scientific research
Kabat-Zinn is a biologist who carried out research for the University of Massachusetts. His great merit was to create a protocol (the MBSR course) with a modern version of these meditation techniques, so as to be able to experimentally verify their effectiveness. Along with other researchers and practitioners from the worlds of psychology, neuroscience and medicine, mindfulness has been incorporated into a modern and scientific theoretical framework. Mindfulness is currently supported by international research. Research in neuroscience has shown that the practice of mindfulness can induce a modification (neuroplasticity) of the prefrontal areas of the brain that reorganize in order to react more positively to any source of stress.
