What is mindful therapy?
When I say I practice mindful therapy, I mean first and foremost that I rely on interventions that are based on the principles of mindfulness. These include things like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, and Mindful Self-Compassion. As a group, these are known as third wave cognitive behavioral strategies. Grounded in age-old wisdom traditions, these interventions are evidence-based, their effectiveness demonstrated over decades through hundreds if not thousands of studies.
But mindfulness is also an attitude, one that prioritizes the present moment. This is important because research demonstrates that we are in the present moment only about half of the time, which might not by itself by such a bad thing, except that the same research demonstrates that we are more unhappy when we are not in the present. (The article is titled, “A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind”). This is not surprising if you think about where our attention often is when it is not in the present: either worrying about the future, ruminating about the past, or engaged in self-criticism. So mindful therapy involves developing skills to keep our attention in the present moment.
In addition, we want to hold our present moment awareness in a very particular manner, one that is best equipped to deal with the nature of reality. Life will present us with good times and bad times, easy times and challenging times, and a host of circumstances in between. Our emotions will fluctuate. Sadness will have its season, as will joy. No human escapes a sense of anxiety. Through it all, we have the capacity to assume a dual position, both participating in what is happening while observing it all at the same time. This is the stance to help us deal skillfully and retain an inner calm in the face of fluctuating events and emotional ups and downs. Hence, mindful therapy involves the acquisition of certain virtues or traits, like wisdom, equanimity, patience, compassion (including self-compassion), that will move us towards this goal.
But to say we place emphasis on the present does not mean we ignore the past or neglect the future. Our actions in the past have made us who we are today. So coming to understand how those actions shaped us is part of coming to terms with the present. We cannot change the past. But we can change how we understand that past, and when we view it with compassion, much can change. In the same way, our actions today will shape who we will be in the future. So we want to be sure we are showing up today in a maximally present and joyful manner.
Finally, a mindful therapy takes its cue from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau:
“A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts. We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it; and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call doing our duty. We loiter in winter while it is already spring.”
MINDFULNESS RESOURCES
BEGINNING MINDFULNESS BOOKS
—Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
—How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind by Pema Chödrön
—The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
—Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg
—Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield
—10% Happier by Dan Harris
—Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
GENERAL MINDFULNESS BOOKS
—Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Rick Hanson
—The Mindful Way through Depression: Greeing yourself from Chronic Unhappiness by Mark Willians, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn
—The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook:A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength and Thrive
—Better in Every Sense: How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life by Norman Farb and Zindel Segal
—Full Catastrophe LIving by Jon Kabat-Zinn
—Mindfulness for Health by VIdyamal Burch
WEBSITES
—Palouse mindfulness (www.palousemindfulness.com) : A free version of the classic 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) class.
—Greater Good Berkeley (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu): Home of Greater Good Magazine: Science Based Insights for a Meaningful Life. This is the website for the Science of Happiness Podcast mentioned above
—Jack Kornfield (www.jackkornfield.com): The website of psychologist, meditation teacher, and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, this site contains both free lectures and paid teachings.
—Tara Brach (www.tarabrach.com): The website of psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach, this site contains both free lectures and paid teachings.
PODCASTS
—Mindfulness Exercises Podcast: Guest lecturers from meditation teacher Sean Fargo’s meditation training as well as sample practices
—Science of Happiness: Hosted by UC Berkeley professor Dacher Keltner. Each week a participant is given an evidence-based positive psychology practice to carry out and report on. Keltner then speaks to the researchers behind the study
—Tara Brach: Lectures and meditations form psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach
—10% Happier: Former ABC news anchor Dan Harris, best-selling author of the book for which the podcast is named, interviews people across the mindfulness community.
—Untangle: Hosts Patricia Karpas and Ariel Garten interview authors, experts and thought-leaders in areas related to mindfulness, brain health practices, leadership, life and so much more!
—Mind & Life: The Mind & Life podcast explores frontiers of contemplative science. Hosted by Science Director Wendy Hasenkamp, each episode dives into fundamental questions that arise through bridging science and contemplative wisdom.
—Tricycle Talks: Interviews from the Buddhist magazine Tricycle with a decidedly Buddhist slant
—Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield: Lectures from meditation teacher Jack Kornfield
APPS
—Ten Percent Happier: Meditation and Mindfulness training and lectures. Most of the trainings require a paid subscription.
—Headspace: Meditation and Mindfulness training. Most of the trainings require a paid subscription.
—Calm: Meditation and Mindfulness training. Most of the trainings require a paid subscription.
—Insight Timer: The best resource out there for free meditations, although they do have a paid subscription as well.
—Breathe2Relax: A very basic breath training app put out by the Defense Department with no paid content.
—Mindfulness Coach: A very basic mindfulness training app put out by the Defense Department with no paid content.
MINDFULNESS TRAINING
—Insight Meditation Society (www.dharma.org): Home of the Insight Meditation Society, offering both online and in person retreats
—Vipassana Center (www.dhamma.org): Offering free ten-day Vipassana trainings at centers around the U.S. and the world. Participants donate what they can after the event.
—UCSD Center for Mindfulness (https://cih.ucsd.edu/mindfulness): Offering in person and online trainings in mindfulness, both individual development and for teachers. One of the few institutes in the country to train teachers of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.
—UMass Memorial Center for Mindfulness (https://www.ummhealth.org/center-mindfulness): Where it all began. Offering in person and online trainings in mindfulness, both individual development and for teachers.