The attitudes of mindfulness

As previously stated, Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness involves intentionally paying attention to the present moment with particular attitudes. Many of the

attentional factors discussed above, such as sustained attention, attention switching, or choiceless awareness (Bishop et al., 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 1990), could not be executed without certain attitudes being present (Shapiro et al., 2006). For example, the inhibition of secondary processes (elaborative thinking) relies on qualities such as acceptance to create an atmosphere of non-reactivity. It would be difficult to inhibit streams of thought and maintain sustained attention on the breath if something arises during meditation that contradicts a person’s desires or expectations (Rosenberg & Guy, 2000). A person’s intentions, as will become clearer below, are also influenced by the attitudes brought to mindfulness practice and so having adaptive attitudes is viewed as fundamental to mindfulness practice (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).

The purpose or function of these attitudes is therefore to prevent further reactionary responses, induce a state of equanimity, clarity, and a strengthening of concentration with which to observe one’s changing perceptual field (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). Practitioners also learn how attitudes play a powerful role in how events are experienced in daily life, and how fostering these ‘mindful’ attitudes therefore similarly influence how events are experienced (i.e., appraised more adaptively), Kabat-Zinn (2005, p. 19) describes the mode of bringing these attitudinal qualities into one’s life — with the other factors of intention and attention — as “the way of mindfulness”, an orientation towards experience which stems from the practice and insights associated with mindfulness. For PhD students, developing the skill of

mindfulness may therefore support their regulation of emotions and attention, helping them focus on work or everyday tasks, reduce difficult emotions, and increase

positive affect. The following section will describe those seven attitudes taught within the MBSR program as the foundations of mindfulness: non-judging, patience, beginners mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go.

A person cultivating the attitude of non-judging intentionally takes a stance of impartiality towards anything they experience (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). It involves being aware of the mind’s tendency to evaluate, compare, and react with automatic

judgements of approval or disapproval, especially in reference to one’s goals and desires, and then just observe this process without getting involved. Of course, there can also be a tendency for the mind to then judge the judgements a person becomes aware of, however, this reaction is again simply noticed and not engaged with.

At its core, patience refers to an expectation one has regarding how long phenomena should take to run their course. Patience, therefore, involves as Kabat- Zinn (2005, p. 34) calls it, a type of wisdom which understands that “sometimes things must unfold in their own time”. For example, if a person is meditating and a disturbing thought comes to mind, there would be less chance of remaining calm or free of tension if there was not a willingness to allow that thought and any

corresponding feeling to be present. This attitude is therefore closely linked to others such as acceptance, and is even considered by some to be a key quality to mindfulness (Gunaratana, 2011).

Many attitudes in the context of mindfulness can be viewed as adaptive countermeasures for certain mind states or processes which prevent clarity, calm, and the development of concentration. Beginners’ mind, for example, involves suspending or loosening preconceptions one might have and fostering a willingness “to see

everything as if for the first time” (Kabat-Zinn, 2005, p. 35), rather than through automatic modes of perception where a person’s expectations, thoughts, and beliefs act as filters for experience. It also aims to diminish that aspect of mind which fits phenomena within the framework of existing cognitive schema, thereby losing some of the experiences’ novelty and uniqueness.

The attitude of trust is unique to mindfulness in the context of MBSR as no other researcher, as far as this review has seen, has made it an explicit feature of the definition or instructions to practise. This may be a result of yoga being a part of the MBSR program, and so listening to one’s body and trusting its signals regarding limitations can have serious implications. As Kabat-Zinn (2005) describes it, trust involves an orientation of respect towards one’s feelings, intuition, and physical sensations, so that a practitioner develops a greater understanding and acceptance of who they are, whilst also taking greater personal responsibility for the direction of their practice and life.

Mindfulness meditation is considered to be one of the few activities where there is no need to achieve, gain, or change anything (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). It is paradoxical in a sense because although the instructions during practice are to be receptive to experience as it is and accept ones’ self, some sort of motivation or desire must have brought people to practice in the first place. Clinical populations would likely desire some sort of reprieve from physical or psychological discomfort while non-clinical populations might desire some sort of psychological growth, insight, or positive affect. However, one of the earliest instructions to MBSR participants is that while practising mindfulness, they should not try to move towards any of their goals. Instead, practitioners are directed to simply relax into how they currently are, despite their initial motivations or desires. Non-striving therefore seeks to support people in

accommodating whatever they experience by developing a capacity to not

compulsively seek pleasurable experiences or avoid the unpleasant (Shapiro et al., 2006).

The attitude of acceptance is functionally intertwined with other attitudes (e.g., patience, non-striving, non-judging) in cultivating a calm, clear, and alert mind. Acceptance is described as the complete willingness to allow each moment to arise exactly as it is — with receptivity being the key to this process (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). Fostering a willingness to ‘be with’ experiences as they are and remaining receptive to them means that this attitude also requires a suspension of one’s preferences, desires and biases, allowing contact with a greater variety of information and stimuli than would otherwise be possible.

Many of the attitudes described so far speak to an orientation that allows everything to arise in consciousness without interference or influence so that they run their course in their own time. However, for phenomena such as emotions to run their course, this process assumes that a person does not become ‘wrapped up in’ and lengthen the stay of the phenomena, either through thinking about or becoming engrossed and losing awareness of it as an object to attend to. The attitude of letting- go is conceptualised as an intentional effort to abandon control of what is experienced during mindfulness as well as the effort to release any identification with that stimulus (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). In the same vein of relinquishing preferences for what enters awareness individuals are instructed within the MBSR program to also not influence how long something remains. Therefore a person observes whatever comes into awareness, be it a thought, feeling or sensation, without adding or subtracting any content, or trying to prolong or shorten its presence, and refraining from seeing that content as a true reflection one’s identity, for example, “these aggressive thoughts are

just temporary, do not reflect who I am, and do not need to be thought about or dealt with”. A person lets go of preferences and ideas of outcomes and accommodates themselves to whatever arises.