The Modern Mindfulness Movement

Mindfulness can be described as paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgement. It has always been at the heart of Buddhist practice – and indeed of all contemplative traditions in different forms.

Its modern ‘secular’ form is largely attributable to the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who in the 1970s saw the possibility of making the essence of Buddhist meditation practices available to anyone and everyone, without reference to spiritual or religious beliefs. Working at the University of Massachusetts Medical School with patients suffering from incurable pain, he intended not to cure their pain, but to change their relationship to it by introducing them to mindfulness practices. The results were remarkable and the 8-week programme he developed, known as MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), is now in use worldwide.  

MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) developed by Mark Williams, Zindel Segal and John Teasdale, introduces into MBSR understandings of psychological processes derived from western cognitive science. MBCT is now recognised as being more effective than drugs as a treatment for recurrent depression.

Mindfulness based approaches encourage an open, compassionate and non-judgemental attitude to present experience, whatever it may be. Present-moment awareness is developed through simple practices such as mindfulness of the breath; of eating; of the body at rest and in movement; of sounds, feelings and of thoughts. They have been successfully integrated into medicine, psychology, neuroscience, healthcare, education, parenting, childbirth, business leadership, stress management and many other fields. More universally, mindfulness-based approaches are applicable to anyone, as they work with the innate capacity for awareness, which is the birth-right of every human being.

Suggested Reading


Mindfulness for Beginners
Jon Kabat-Zinn; Sounds True Inc 2012, ISBN 978-1-60407-658-5
Includes a CD of guided meditations

“Ultimately I see mindfulness as a love affair – with life, with reality and imagination, with the beauty of your own being, with your heart and body and mind, and with the world. If that sounds like a lot to take in, it is.”

Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Mark Williams and Danny Penman; Piatkus 2011 ISBN: 978-0-7499-5308-9
Includes a CD of guided meditations

“Mindfulness is not an alternative version of psychotherapy or another ‘self-help’ approach to improving your life. It’s not a technique for understanding the past or for correcting ‘aberrant’ or ‘incorrect’ ways of thinking in the present. It doesn’t paper over the cracks, but looks for patterns in them, seeing them as our teachers. Mindfulness doesn’t directly ‘treat’ our difficulties, but instead reveals and brings a penetrating yet kindly awareness to their underlying driving forces. It deals with the subliminal themes of all our lives. And when these are held up to the light of awareness, something remarkable happens: the negative themes gradually start dissolving of their own accord..”

The Miracle of Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh;  Rider 2008. ISBN 978-1-84-604106-8

“While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that’s precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. “

Full Catastrophe Living
Jon Kabat-Zinn;  Piatkus 2004. ISBN: 978-0-7499-1585-8

Heal Thyself.
Saki Santorelli; Three Rivers Press 1999. ISBN: 978-0-609-80504-6

Diamond  Mind 
Rob Nairn;  Shambala Publications Inc 1999. ISBN: 978-1-57062-763-7