The history of Mindfulness: how it developed from meditation

We review the history of mindfulness, a practice that has its origins in an ancient tradition.

Mindfulness is becoming a resource increasingly valued by different disciplines related to health and education. by different disciplines related to health and education. Many psychologists, psychiatrists and educators are interested in investigating the potential of this tool that has been developed from the principles of vipassana meditation, a practice associated with the Buddhist tradition.

However, unlike meditation rituals that originated thousands of years ago, Mindfulness exists solely for its ability to produce objective changes in people's well-being, and has nothing to do with religious purposes. It is an effort to develop a series of systematic principles that allow the scientific study of a phenomenon based fundamentally on the regulation of the attentional focus and states of consciousness.

In this article we will a brief review of the history of Mindfulnessto help understand how it has been developing and how it has evolved.

The origins of Mindfulness: the story behind this practice.

Placing the origins of Mindfulness is not easy, since, as with disciplines that start from a very old tradition, there is a wide time frame along which we can consider that begins what we are describing. This is something that happens with psychology, whose seed is attributed by some to the philosophers of Greece in the fifth century BC, and happens with Mindfulness, that rests on the millenary pillars of meditation, practiced in many parts of Asia. practiced in many parts of Asia.

The beginnings: vipassana meditation and sati

It is important to note that the pillars on which the history of Mindfulness rests are called vipassana meditation, a practice that is part of the religious rituals of many parts of Asia, including or close to India, and which including or close to India, and which in turn has to do with a broader philosophical doctrine that has to do with meditation in general.

Much could be said about the tradition of vipassana meditation in Asia, but the main thing to understand is that it is a phenomenon that began with Buddhism about 3,500 years ago. The philosophical root of what would one day become Mindfulness was known in the world of Buddhism as sati, one of the main factors on the path to enlightenment and liberation, according to the ideas of Gautama Buddha according to the ideas of Gautama Buddha. In fact, sati can be translated as mindfulness; or, in English, mindfulness.

The clash of cultures: the West comes into play

But Mindfulness itself, unlike the vipassana meditation from which it originates, is a product of the mixing of the cultures of the West and the regions of the Far East where Buddhism has taken root.

Initially, this contact between different types of societies came through British colonization. came through the British colonization of India at the end of the 19th century.at the end of the 19th century. Although the interests of this European empire were basically economic and military, this invasion also had scientific and intellectual implications. The British who settled in these lands were surprised by many of the things they saw there, among them the calmness and philosophy of life of those who had dedicated time and effort to practice certain types of meditation. This motivated a series of investigations that were developed throughout the 20th century.

Such studies received new waves of interest from European scholars and researchers as a result of the discovery, in parallel, of many other phenomena outside European culture that fascinated authors and scientists of all kinds, from thinkers like Carl Jung to anthropologists who set out to learn more about this region of the world, until not so long ago relatively isolated from the rest of the world. As globalization intensified its effects, so did cultural exchanges. cultural exchanges.

One of the turning points in the development of the history of Mindfulness can be found in the research carried out by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This American physician is famous for having proposed, since the 1970s, the use of mindfulness in the clinical setting as a tool to achieve therapeutic objectives. From this project he initiated what is known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reductionor Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, with the aim of taking the therapeutically useful elements of meditation, investigating and enhancing them in the field of applied science, once separated from their role in Buddhism.

The option of spiritual retreats

The connection between Mindfulness and the religious tradition in which it has its roots always generates much debate, since while it is true that it is possible to systematize certain practices that first appeared in the framework of Buddhism, the experience associated for centuries with these rituals also informs us about the nature of this tool.

For this reason, the experience associated with these rituals over centuries also informs us about the nature of this tool. spiritual retreats linked to the practice of Mindfulness are frequent. linked to the practice of Mindfulness in which activities are performed very similar to those that make up the daily life of Buddhist monks, but without placing faith in a religious belief system.

In this sense, people who want to be initiated in Mindfulness or practice it in a special way have the interesting opportunity to to sign up for the first spiritual retreat in Spain, which will be attended by Jon Kabat-ZinnJon Kabat-Zinn himself, as well as other prestigious speakers, such as Dr. Javier García Campayo, one of the leading experts in Mindfulness in Spain. The retreat will take place next June 19, 2018, and participation in it is included in the registration to the 5th International Mindfulness Congress that will take place from June 20 to 23 at the World Trade Center in Zaragoza.

For more information or to register, you can access Dr. Javier García Campayo's contact information or his website through this link.