Mindfulness has become a buzzword, appearing everywhere from Time magazine and Forbes, to the Washington Post and New York Times. It’s been featured as a topic on 60 Minutes, investigated in interviews with Oprah, and researched by top-ranking universities like Harvard, the University of Toronto, and Oxford.

Among other things, mindfulness can improve immunity, alleviate stress, lower blood pressure, offer relief from psoriasis, prevent depressive relapses, aid in addiction recovery, and assist with weight loss. As the scientific body of research on mindfulness grows, so too does the list of its benefits. So, what exactly is it?

A look at four expert definitions

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (a highly studied eight-week mindfulness program), “Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

Often quoted by journalists, this definition offers an excellent entryway to understanding the term. However, it also, has limitations. In particular, the term “nonjudgmentally” is somewhat problematic. It’s led both proponents and critics to mistakenly infer that mindfulness doesn’t involve any type of discernment of experience, and this isn’t the case at all.

Alternatively, Diana Winston from the Mindful Awareness Research Center describes Mindfulness as “paying attention to present moment experience with open curiosity and a willingness to be with what is.”

The simplicity of the interpretation is compelling, and its emphasis on curiosity and receptivity speaks to some of the key attitudes of mindfulness. Other aspects, however, such as compassion, are omitted entirely.

Jack Kornfield, on the other hand, points out that “Mindfulness has two aspects: receptive and active. Mindfulness is first a spacious, kind, non-judging awareness of the present. Second, […] mindfulness includes an appropriate response to the situation.”

Unlike many other definitions, Kornfield’s emphasizes the active qualities of mindfulness. Plus, it features the attributes of spaciousness and kindness, which are also important to include.

A final definition I’ll take into account here (though there are many more I could include) comes from former peace activist, poet, and Zen monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. He said, “Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and alive, body and mind united.”

What Thich Nhat Hanh’s definition makes clear is that mindfulness is an embodied experience. It’s through the body that it becomes possible to touch vitality and tap into a deeper wisdom than the mind alone can contain.

As you can see, there are real differences between these definitions. But what unites them all is an emphasis on the present moment.

Sati: the root of modern mindfulness

Mindfulness, as the term is used in yoga studios, meditation centres, dharma halls, and various therapeutic settings, is the most frequently employed interpretation for the Pali word, sati. This term, and the Middle Indo-Aryan language it’s derived from, was used in ancient Buddhist texts. And, by investigating the word’s original usage, it’s possible to derive further insight.   

To begin, the root word sati is derived from a verb meaning to remember or recollect. This element of memory is key, as it points toward the necessity of remembering to be mindful. Indeed, mindfulness requires practitioners to recall the intention to be mindful in the first place.

As to how the term is employed in the nikāyas (collections of Buddhist scripture), Gil Fronsdal points out that “the concept of sati is used in two broad, overlapping ways: the mental faculty of sati and the practice of sati.”

Fronsdal elaborates when it comes to the mental aspect “sati is an important faculty that one possesses but is not a mental faculty a person intentionally engages in. In this sense the faculty of sati may be similar to the faculty of faith: while one can have faith and one can develop faith, faith is not something one does.”

If the term mindfulness is considered in this regard, as a quality one possesses and that can also be developed, it’s possible to once again draw a connection between mindfulness and memory.

In the late 19^th century, sati was translated into English anew by Thomas William Rhys Davids, a British magistrate living in Ceylon (today Sri Lanka). He chose to rework the earlier interpretation of samma-sati,  opting for “right mindfulness” instead of “correct meditation.”

Davids asserted, “sati means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good Buddhist.”

The practice of mindfulness

When it comes to cultivating the quality of mindfulness there are two components: formal and informal practice. While the formal aspect involves regular meditation, the informal asks you to pay attention to what’s happening in the present moment during daily activities like eating, walking, talking, and bathing.

There are many different types of meditation, but mindfulness meditation in particular can be practised sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. All that’s required of the practitioner is to stay in the here and now, often with the aid of a focal point like the breath.

Of course, the new meditator quickly discovers the mind is unruly. It frolics with past memories, plots future to dos, debates invisible aggressors, and engages with fantasies, both elaborate and mundane. Staying in the present may be simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Mindfulness benefits

The value of practising mindfulness rests in its array of health and wellness benefits. Among other upsides, meditating can:

• Reduce stress. In a variety of studies, mindfulness meditation has been shown to mitigate stress.

• Relieve chronic pain. A small but growing body of research shows mindfulness meditation can help people with chronic pain better manage their symptoms.

• Temper rumination. According to the American Psychiatric Association, “rumination involves  repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences.” This toxic pattern, a contributing factor in depression, has been shown to decrease in those who practise mindfulness. 

• Improve memory. Among other cognitive improvements, meditation aids in retaining new information.

• Increase focus. In the age of the 15-second attention span, focus is a hot commodity. Research shows mindfulness meditation increases cognitive efficiency on tasks that require sustained attention.

• Decrease blood pressure. Evidence suggests that new meditators with hypertension are able to lower their blood pressure by practising mindfulness.

• Elevate immunity. A look at immune responses to the flu vaccine in meditators versus non-meditators revealed meditators had a significantly higher amount of antibodies than non-meditators following the shot.

• Amplify empathy. A number of studies indicate mindfulness meditation practice increases overall empathy and compassion for others.

• Diminish emotional reactivity. When emotions run high, it’s all too easy to give in to base urges. Practitioners of mindfulness are better able to maintain equilibrium when tensions run high.

• Alleviate anxiety. Recent research indicates mindfulness meditation is at least as effective as certain medications in treating anxiety disorders.

It should be noted, in many cases the touted merit does require further and/or more rigorous scientific research to support the claim.

That said, things are looking promising overall. Case in point, the Harvard School of Public Health recently launched a $25 million mindfulness research initiative with the opening of the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness. It will focus on advancing scientific research and pursuing evidence-based approaches to mindfulness.

There are also many other reputable institutions involved in researching mindfulness, which includes most top-ranking universities. 

Of course, the roots of mindfulness meditation lie in Buddhist and other ancient Eastern traditions. What we are now slowly gleaning in the West was practised and understood by wisdom keepers in the East for millennia.

Mindfulness applications

Interest in mindfulness has grown exponentially over the last 50 years or so. Today, the practice is being successfully applied to a variety of situations for a range of different objectives. Some of the most significant areas where the principles and practices of mindfulness are being applied include:

• Psychology. Mindful therapies, like mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), are helping patients with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental health conditions manage or overcome their symptoms.

• Education. In schools across Europe and North America, mindfulness programs are taking a hold, and with good reason. Studies demonstrate that youth who are trained in mindfulness experience improved cognitive outcomes, heightened social-emotional skills, and enhanced well-being. Teachers who practise mindfulness likewise experience benefits including reduced stress and better classroom management outcomes.

• Sports. From NBA stars Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan to tennis champions Novak Djokovic and Bianca Andreescu, mindfulness is practised by numerous elite athletes. Research suggests regular meditation leads to improved athletic performance, post-workout recovery, mental resilience, focus, and overall mood.

• Military. On and off the battlefield, mindfulness training is helping soldiers achieve peak performance. Additionally it’s aiding military personnel with post-deployment PTSD.

• Business. Bill Gates, Jeff Weiner, Arianna Huffington, and many other business leaders are benefitting from the improved focus, working memory, mental resilience, and emotional intelligence a regular meditation practice bestows. Plus, more and more companies are bringing mindfulness to the workplace to stave off burnout and enhance employee production.

Other areas where mindfulness is being applied to good end include parenting, the arts, weight loss programs, addiction recovery programs, and more.

Putting the pieces together

In my mindfulness teacher training program, I was asked to look to my own learning and wisdom to define mindfulness. My current working definition (a work in progress, for sure) is as follows:

Mindfulness is an embodied, and benevolent awareness of the present moment.

What I like about this interpretation is it steers away from the fallacy that mindfulness is about cultivating an indifferent, passive relationship with reality. Rather, it’s about cultivating a wise connection with experience, one that’s experienced somatically rather than intellectually, and is grounded in kindness.

Ultimately, mindfulness is multifaceted, a many-sided diamond. When held one way it reflects the surrounding light in one direction, and when held another way, the same light is cast in the opposite direction. Only the diamond’s centre is clear and undiluted by its own magnificence.

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