Mindfulness

Contents

Part 1: What You Need to Know About Mindfulness

1 Introducing Mindfulness

The Big Deal

What Is Mindfulness?

State, Trait, or Practice?

Mindful Versus Mindless

Buddhist Roots

Freedom from Stress

Mindfulness and the Eightfold Path

Modern Expansion of Meaning

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness as an Umbrella Term

The Benefits of Mindfulness

Subjective Experience

Objective Evidence

Natural Yet Difficult

2 How Mindfulness Works

Why Aren’t You Naturally Mindful?

It’s Stressful to Be Human

Your Complex Sense of Self

Your Mind’s Default Mode

The Mindful Mind

Healthier Responses to Stressors

Tolerance for Discomfort

Perspective on Your Reactions

Greater Objectivity About Self

Noticing Impermanence

A Dynamic Sense of Self

Choice Instead ...