Empty Curriculum, Empty Mind: Teaching Mindfulness with Military Veterans (original) (raw)
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From Retreat Center to Clinic to Boardroom? Perils and Promises of the Modern Mindfulness Movement
From its venerable Buddhist roots, mindfulness training (MT) has spread rapidly across the globe in the past few decades due to its strong salutary claim, i.e., the notion that meditation practice is an efficacious means for self-improvement. However, concerns have arisen that the appropriation of MT techniques from classical Buddhist tradition into modern secular practice has diluted the benefits of these practices. The "great danger" to the movement is that inadequately adapted MT techniques, combined with unreasonable inflation of expectations regarding MT's benefits, may undermine MT's true potential to effect positive change in the world. And yet, these concerns can be mitigated by consideration of the salutary claim as a persistent "quality check" on MT efficacy. It is argued that scientific investigation can take an important role in delineating the necessary characteristics for fulfilling mindfulness' salutary claim, as well as identifying contraindicated techniques and risk factors for training. By accepting that we cannot control the spread of MT into commercial domains, researchers may still work to distinguish "right" from "wrong" mindfulness through empirical study. In this way, modern science may help to realize the salutary claim and even contribute to classical Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness, advancing our understanding of how best to promote well-being.
The Buddhist roots of mindfulness training: a practitioners view
Contemporary Buddhism, 2011
Jon Kabat-Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living skilfully succeeded in translating traditional Buddhist concepts in modern everyday language so as to make them accessible to the West. It was a stroke of genius to take mindfulness training out of the Buddhist context, but the risk might be that, instead of opening a door to the Dharma (the Buddhist teaching), it might also close a door leading to the vast richness of that context full of valuable insights and practices. This article aims at back translating some mindfulness concepts to basic Buddhist concepts (in a movement opposite to Jon Kabat-Zinn's first move) to make Buddhist literature more accessible to MBSR/CT teachers that are less familiar with the Buddhist traditions and to allow us reconnect with some treasures that are present in our roots. It freely walks through texts and concepts of different Buddhist traditions when they seem relevant to this enterprise, drawing from the logic of the Pali Canon, the metaphors of the Mahayana sūtras and the paradoxes of Zen koans. Years ago, when I was finishing my education as a psychiatrist, I came face to face with one big question: how can I survive the daily confrontation with so much human pain, with sorrow, anxiety, traumas, loss. .. ? I had to find a way to sail safely between two dangerous rocks. On one side there was the risk of being overwhelmed by all the pain and emotion and suffering a burnout myself. On the other side, there was the danger of pushing away my own feelings and becoming emotionless, objective, unavailable, untouched by my patients' pain. As I was searching for an answer one thing led to another and I found out about Zen meditation. This was the answer to my question. Clearly, meditation was 'my thing.' I have learned an awful lot from it. Not only has it formed me in how I work but also in how I live my daily life. After about 10 years I began to feel more and more something like: 'This is not fair. I'm keeping the best for myself.' The problem was that I had no idea how to present something like Zen meditation within a psychotherapeutic context. You cannot just start practicing Buddhist meditation in a hospital! And how can you explain to someone who is looking for something to help their pain that you
Campbell & Christopher 2012. Teaching Mindfulness
Over the last decade a number of researchers have proposed that therapeutic presence can be fostered through training in mindfulness practices. Most counseling training programs focus on teaching students a set of skills, although the common or contextual factors movement contends that the quality of the therapeutic relationship and the personal characteristics of the therapist are the key determinants of positive therapy outcomes. For the past 10 years we have been teaching mindfulness practices to counseling students in a CACREP-accredited program. Our research suggests that training in practices like mindfulness meditation, yoga, qigong, and bodyawareness can help counselors to realize and embody the personal characteristics that foster therapeutic presence. This article provides a detailed description of our mindfulness-based course, proposes recommendations for counseling coursework in mindfulness, and discusses the impact of the course on the ability to cultivate therapeutic presence.
On the Contemporary Applications of Mindfulness: Some Implications for Education
Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49(2), 170-186, 2015
Interest in the Buddhist concept of mindfulness has burgeoned over the last few decades as a result of its application as a therapeutic strategy in mind-body medicine, psychotherapy, psychiatry, education, leadership and management, and wide range of other theoretical and practical domains. Although many commentators welcome this extension of the range and application of mindfulness – drawing parallels between ancient contemplative traditions and modern secular interpretations – there has been very little analysis of either the philosophical underpinnings of this phenomenon or of its implications for education. This paper examines the new interpretations of mindfulness in the following areas – meaning and definition, ethical foundations and spiritual ethos – in an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of what is involved in the process of reconstructing the concept of mindfulness. In conclusion, some implications for learning and education are examined in the light of these recent re-interpretations of mindfulness principles and practices. A central thesis throughout is that – although there are many educational benefits of mindfulness in the areas of moral, affective and spiritual education – such potential gains require the maintenance of organic connections between contemporary practices and their foundations in secular Buddhism.
International Research in Higher Education
Mindfulness-based interventions are now an established component of several current psychotherapies. While these technologies come from numerous wisdom, spiritual and contemplative traditions, the developers of mindfulness programs have consistently acknowledged the predominantly Buddhist origins of these approaches. Recent authors have focused more specifically and intentionally on Buddhist principles and their utility in psychological science. This article briefly reviews some historical roots of contemporary mindfulness principles and practices from the Buddhist tradition, explores implications for social work and counselor education, and considers the possibility for psychology and psychotherapy becoming a modern vehicle for the expression of Buddhism.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2022
Mindfulness has come to be considered an important approach to help individuals cultivate transformative capacity to free themselves from stress and suffering. However, the transformative potential of mindfulness extends beyond individual stress management. This study contributes to a broadening of the scope of contemplative science by integrating the prominent, individually focused mindfulness meditation literature with collective mindfulness scholarship. In so doing, it aims to illuminate an important context in which mindfulness interventions are increasingly prevalent: workplaces. Typically, the intended effect of workplace mindfulness training is to help workers manage stress better. Since mindfulness in organizations impacts individual and collective processes, the study blends the above literatures to create a cross-level “next-generation” Team Mindfulness Training (TMT) pilot. Its potential in helping individuals and teams to manage work stress better is investigated via a t...
Education and mindfulness practice: Exploring a dialogue between two traditions
Mindfulness, 2019
There is evidence of the growth in implementations and research of mindfulness practice in education, and of the practice's effects on various aspects of students' and teachers' lives. This conceptual paper, however, argues that the acceptance and understanding of mindfulness practice within education, does not depend only on evidence of its effectiveness. It also requires a broader conceptualization of the associations between mindfulness practice and education. The paper hence calls for forging a dialogical encounter between "education" and "mindfulness" parallel to the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and science. It then develops one such dialogical encounter discussing education and mindfulness as two distinct traditions of practice that have a history of interpretations associated with their respective aims, conceptualizations, critiques and ways of practice. Based on a common typology of educational aims the paper explores how mindfulness practice features within three possible educational orientations: socialization, acculturation, and individuation. Though each orientation sets a different priority for education, assuming serious implementation, mindfulness practice can contribute to each. However, within each orientation the practice would be framed and implemented differently as the paper demonstrates by reviewing contemporary implementations. The paper thus provides a broader perspective on mindfulness and education and offers a historical context for debates concerning the implementation, justification and/or critique of mindfulness in education. From the perspective proposed, mindfulness in education is viewed as less "special" than it seems. It is a possible pedagogical practice that serves educational aims that have long been part of the tradition of education.
East meets West in the pedagogy of the mindfulness-based interventions
Draft. Final published in Ie, A., C. Ngnoumen, and E. Langer (Eds.). (2014). Wiley-Blackwell handbook of mindfulness. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. There are a number of differing definitions of mindfulness current today, which are privileged within particular discourses, such as the “Eastern” definition within the discourse of Buddhism, the “Western” definition within the discourse of academic social psychology exemplified by the work of Ellen Langer, the secular (but essentially “Eastern”) definition within the discourse of research on the MBIs, and a definition within a broader discourse of the pedagogy of the MBIs, as the needs of researchers and teachers differ significantly. This chapter proposes that teachers within the MBIs (or other discourses) will increase their effectiveness in the classroom through familiarity with a range of discourses beyond their own. Working from a particular classroom experience, four definitions and discourses are presented in précis, and the pedagogical utility of each within the basic MBI curriculum is suggested in both narrative and chart form.
Bringing the Virtue of Mindfulness to Ourselves as Teachers, Our Students, and Our Classrooms
Ideally, classrooms should be free from fear and the stressors that tamp down teaching and learning. Teachers, ideally, create classroom cultures of peace and attentiveness. However, in American public school classrooms, too often, such is not the case. Federal and state policies impinge on curricula and assessment, creating the stress of covering content and meeting testing standards. Budget constraints dwindle available resources for learning, expand class sizes, and reduce services for students in need. Shifting community demographics, while enriching the profile of the student body, presents more challenges for teachers to reach all of them. In short, classrooms, students, and teachers are experiencing increasingly intensifying levels of stress. The complexities of stressors mitigate against ready reduction of them; however, there is a path in Buddhism that cultivates a stillness that can pervade the classrooms-the practice of mindfulness. Before they can do so, teachers, themselves, must internalize and be comfortable with mindfulness practices. Helping them feel comfortable with mindfulness and with bringing it to their classrooms is the hope of " Mindful Leadership: A mindfulness-based professional development for all teachers, educators, and administrators " , a workshop for educators in the San Juan Unified School District offered by the San Juan Teacher Association. The facilitator of the workshops is the primary author of this article. Offered to staff in a suburban, northern California public school district, the workshops introduce the research and practices of a mindfulness-based approach in the classroom that will help teachers and students manage their emotional and mental stress, increase their well-being, and refresh their energy. In keeping with Buddhist intent, the hope is that the experiences will lead the practitioners to be more mindful and compassionate individuals.