Mindfulness is a practice that somebody can quickly learn & immediately use to benefit one’s mental, physical, & emotional health.
What is Mindfulness?
In the West, the field of psychology has developed a therapeutic practice beginning in the 1970s called mindfulness. Its roots in the Buddhist meditation practice of awareness. Historically, in Theravada Buddhism, people could be taught two forms of meditation which reflect the modern practice of mindfulness.
Deep breaths or shallow breaths?
This type of meditation helps settle the mind & bring the person back in to the present moment without plenty of stressful, random thoughts & movement. The second is a type of meditation is called insight or vipassana meditation. In today’s mindfulness practice in Western psychology, these elements are preserved in being aware in the present moment & having a non-judgmental attitude towards whatever is happening.
What the Benefits of Mindfulness Practice?
Mindfulness therapies have shown great promise for numerous medical & psychological conditions. Cognitive therapy could be thought about to embody plenty of mindfulness principles in terms of being aware of one’s thoughts.
Is Mindfulness a Type of Buddhism?
Well, mindfulness as explained earlier is definitely within the Buddhist traditional practices. Plenty of teachers such as Shunryu Suzuki & Thich Nhat Hanh have introduced Buddhist meditations to the West which directly helped inspire today’s forms of mindfulness in psychology & therapy. However, one could arguably find different variants of mindfulness practice in all spiritual traditions. Mindfulness is a mental practice that somebody can do & would help everyone.