Mindfulness & Budhism

Mindfulness has been theoretically and empirically associated with psychological
well-being. The elements of mindfulness, namely awareness and nonjudgmental

acceptance of one's moment-to-moment experience, are regarded as potentially
effective antidotes against common forms of psychological distress—rumination,
anxiety, worry, fear, anger, and so on—many of which involve the maladaptive
tendencies to avoid, suppress, or over-engage with one's distressing thoughts and
emotions (Hayes & Feldman, 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Though promoted for
centuries as a part of Buddhist and other spiritual traditions, the application of
mindfulness to psychological health in Western medical and mental health contexts is
a more recent phenomenon, largely beginning in the 1970s (e.g., Kabat-Zinn, 1982).
Along with this development, there has been much theoretical and empirical work
illustrating the impact of mindfulness on psychological health. The goal of this paper
is to offer a comprehensive narrative review of the effects of mindfulness on
psychological health. We begin with an overview of the construct of mindfulness,
differences between Buddhist and Western psychological conceptualizations of
mindfulness, and how mindfulness has been integrated into Western medicine and
psychology. We then review evidence from three areas of research that shed light on
the relationship between mindfulness and psychological health: 1. correlational, cross-
sectional research that examines the relations between individual differences in trait
or dispositional mindfulness and other mental-health related traits, 2. intervention
research that examines the effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions on
psychological functioning, and 3. laboratory-based research that examines,
experimentally, the effects of brief mindfulness inductions on emotional and
behavioral processes indicative of psychological health. We conclude with an
examination of mechanisms of effects of mindfulness interventions and suggestions
for future research directions.
The word mindfulness may be used to describe a psychological trait, a practice of

cultivating mindfulness (e.g., mindfulness meditation), a mode or state of awareness,
or a psychological process (Germer, Siegel, & Fulton, 2005). To minimize possible
confusion, we clarify which meaning is intended in each context we describe
(Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009). One of the most commonly cited definitions of
mindfulness is the awareness that arises through “paying attention in a particular way:
on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4).
Descriptions of mindfulness provided by most other researchers are similar. Baer
(2003), for example, defines mindfulness as “the nonjudgmental observation of the
ongoing stream of internal and external stimuli as they arise” (p. 125). Though some
researchers focus almost exclusively on the attentional aspects of mindfulness (e.g.,
Brown & Ryan, 2003), most follow the model of Bishop et al. (2004), which proposed
that mindfulness encompasses two components: self-regulation of attention, and
adoption of a particular orientation towards one's experiences. Self-regulation of
attention refers to non-elaborative observation and awareness of sensations, thoughts,
or feelings from moment to moment. It requires both the ability to anchor one's
attention on what is occurring, and the ability to intentionally switch attention from
one aspect of the experience to another. Orientation to experience concerns the kind
of attitude that one holds towards one's experience, specifically an attitude of
curiosity, openness, and acceptance. It is worth noting that “acceptance” in the
context of mindfulness should not be equated with passivity or resignation
(Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman, Moitra, & Farrow, 2008). Rather, acceptance in this
context refers to the ability to experience events fully, without resorting to either
extreme of excessive preoccupation with, or suppression of, the experience. To sum
up, current conceptualizations of mindfulness in clinical psychology point to two
primary, essential elements of mindfulness: awareness of one's moment-to-moment
experience nonjudgmentally and with acceptance.
As alluded to earlier, mindfulness finds its roots in ancient spiritual traditions, and is
most systematically articulated and emphasized in Buddhism, a spiritual tradition that
is at least 2550 years old. As the idea and practice of mindfulness has been introduced
into Western psychology and medicine, it is not surprising that differences emerge
with regard to how mindfulness is conceptualized within Buddhist and Western
perspectives. Several researchers (e.g., Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Rosch,
2007) have argued that in order to more fully appreciate the potential contribution of
mindfulness in psychological health it is important to gain an understanding of these
differences, and specifically, from a Western perspective, how mindfulness is
conceptualized in Buddhism. Given the diversity of traditions and teachings within
Buddhism, an in-depth exploration of this topic is beyond the scope of this review (for
a more extensive discussion of this topic, see Rosch, 2007). We offer a preliminary
overview of differences in conceptualization of mindfulness in Western usage versus
early Buddhist teachings, specifically, those of Theravada Buddhism.
Arguably, Buddhist and Western conceptualizations of mindfulness differ in at least

three levels: contextual, process, and content. At the contextual level, mindfulness in
the Buddhist tradition is viewed as one factor of an interconnected system of practices
that are necessary for attaining liberation from suffering, the ultimate state or end goal
prescribed to spiritual practitioners in the tradition. Thus, it needs to be cultivated
alongside with other spiritual practices, such as following an ethical lifestyle, in order
for one to move toward the goal of liberation. Western conceptualization of
mindfulness, on the other hand, is generally independent of any specific
circumscribed philosophy, ethical code, or system of practices. At the process level,
mindfulness, in the context of Buddhism, is to be practiced against the psychological
backdrop of reflecting on and contemplating key aspects of the Buddha's teachings,
such as impermanence, non-self, and suffering. As an example, in the Satipatthana
Sutta (The Foundation of Mindfulness Discourse), one of the key Buddhist discourses
on mindfulness, the Buddha recommended that one maintains mindfulness of one's
bodily functions, sensations and feelings, consciousness, and content of consciousness
while observing clearly the impermanent nature of these objects. Western practice
generally places less emphasis on non-self and impermanence than traditional
Buddhist teachings. Finally, at the content level and in relation to the above point, in
early Buddhist teachings, mindfulness refers rather specifically to an introspective
awareness with regard to one's physical and psychological processes and experiences.
This is contrast to certain Western conceptualizations of mindfulness, which view
mindfulness as a form of awareness that encompasses all forms of objects in one's
internal and external experience, including features of external sensory objects like
sights and smells. This is not to say that external sensory objects do not ultimately
form part of one's internal experience; rather, in Buddhist teachings, mindfulness
more fundamentally has to do with observing one's perception of and reactions toward
sensory objects than focusing on features of the sensory objects themselves.
The integration of mindfulness into Western medicine and psychology can be traced
back to the growth of Zen Buddhism in America in the 1950s and 1960s, partly
through early writings such as Zen in the Art of Archery (Herrigel, 1953), The World
of Zen: An East-West Anthology (Ross, 1960), and The Method of Zen (Herrigel, Hull,
& Tausend, 1960). Beginning the 1960s, interest in the use of meditative techniques
in psychotherapy began to grow among clinicians, especially psychoanalysts (e.g., see
Boss, 1965; Fingarette, 1963; Suzuki, Fromm, & De Martino, 1960; Watts, 1961).
Through the 1960s and the 1970s, there was growing interest within experimental
psychology in examining various means of heightening awareness and broadening the
boundaries of consciousness, including meditation. Early electroencephalogram
(EEG) studies on meditation found that individuals who meditated showed persistent
alpha activity with restful reductions in metabolic rate (Anand, Chhina, & Singh,
1961; Bagchi & Wenger, 1957; Wallace, 1970), as well as increases in theta waves,
which reflect lower states of arousal associated with sleep (Kasamatsu & Hirai, 1966).
Beginning in the early 1970s, there was a surge of interest in and research on
transcendental meditation, a form of concentrative meditation technique popularized
by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Wallace, 1970). The practice of transcendental
meditation was found to be associated with reductions in indicators of physiological
arousal such as oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide elimination, and respiratory rate
(Benson, Rosner, Marzetta, & Klemchuk, 1974; Wallace, 1970; Wallace, Benson, &
Wilson, 1971).
Despite the fact that research on mindfulness meditation had already begun in the
1960s, it was not until the late 1970s that mindfulness meditation began to be studied
as an intervention to enhance psychological well-being. Application of mindfulness
meditation as a form of behavioral intervention for clinical problems began with the
work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, which explored the use of mindfulness meditation in treating
patients with chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn, 1982), now known popularly as Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction. Since the establishment of MBSR, several other interventions
have also been developed using mindfulness-related principles and practices,
including Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, &
Teasdale, 2002), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993a) and
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). In
this review, both meditation-oriented interventions (i.e., MBSR and MBCT), as well
as interventions that teach mindfulness using less meditation-oriented techniques (i.e.,
DBT and ACT), are considered as a family of “mindfulness-oriented interventions”,
and thus are of empirical interest.

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Mindfulness & Budhism

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Mindfulness has been theoretically and empirically associated with psychological

well-being. The elements of mindfulness, namely awareness and nonjudgmental

The word mindfulness may be used to describe a psychological trait, a practice of

Arguably, Buddhist and Western conceptualizations of mindfulness differ in at least

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