About Mindfulness What is 'mindfulness' and how can it help?Mindfulness is often defined as 'paying attention on purpose moment by moment without judging, ( Full Catastrophe Living, -Jon Kabat-Zinn). This means developing the ability to pay deliberate attention to our experience from moment to moment. We learn to tune in to what is going on in our mind and body day to day without judging our experience.Becoming more aware of our thoughts, feelings and sensations may not sound like an obviously helpful thing to do, however learning to do this in a way that suspends judgement and self criticism can have surprising results. Many people report finding inner strengths and resources that help them make wiser decisions about their health and life in general. Most of us find ourselves frequently swept away by the current of thoughts and feelings, worries, pressures, responsibilities; wanting things to be different from how they are right now. This can be particularly powerful when we are faced with pain, difficulties and illness that confound our attempts to find a solution or to feel better. Feeling stuck in this way can be draining. Mindfulness can help us to work directly with the struggle we sometimes have in relating to lifes experience and in doing so can really improve the quality of our life.What are mindfulness-based approaches?Mindfulness-based approaches are intended to teach people practical skills that can help with physical and psychological health problems and ongoing life challenges. Mindfulness-based approaches are an integration of ancient Buddhist practices and philosophy of mindfulness, with current psychological understanding and knowledge, they are taught in an entirely secular way, and have no religious context at all. Mindfulness-based approaches are intended to help in pragmatic, practical ways, the approaches facilitate us in realising and accessing our existing inner understanding. Mindfulness is taught through meditation skills which include bringing attention to the breath and the body during stillness and movement.The two main approaches that have been developed in recent years are Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) both of which are taught over eight 2 hr. or 2.5 hr. sessions. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)MBSR is a group-based programme developed by Kabat-Zinn and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre, Centre for Mindfulness (CFM) for populations with a wide range of physical and mental health problems. It has been extensively studied since the late 1970s. The Center for Mindfulness has been continuously delivering MBSR to patients within a large traditional American hospital for over 25 years. By 1999 over 10,000 patients had completed the programme . They have extended the teaching of MBSR into prisons, into poor inner-city areas, to medical students, and into corporate settings. MBSR has become a part of a newly recognised field of integrative medicine within behavioural medicine and general health care. The ancient practice of mindfulness, adapted from its use as a spiritual practice, is rendered into an accessible form relevant to the difficulties faced by patients suffering from a variety of physical and psychological illnesses. The training is not tailored to any particular diagnosis. The