Mindfulness is an example of the extent to which psychology can draw on principles and knowledge that were already present in certain cultures long before science as such came into existence.

This practice has its roots in the meditation associated with the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism , although it keeps aside the religious elements linked to the rituals whose meaning is in the belief systems associated with that faith. It does so because its raison d’être has to do with health and well-being, and not with tradition or mysticism. For this reason, its use is becoming increasingly popular in areas such as psychology and education.

What is Full Care?

As we have seen, Full Attention is inspired by a practice linked to Asia; specifically, Vipassana meditation. However, unlike the latter, Mindfulness has been conceived and designed as the product of a series of systematic efforts to obtain concrete and objectively measurable benefits, something that goes beyond the claims of what has historically been mediation.

Mindfulness is based on ways of regulating our attentional focus and making it oriented towards the present state , making us fully aware of the here and now. In short, it brings the benefit of a mental “reset”. It is not a matter of evading or fleeing to a plane of imaginary reality, but of not allowing obsessions or artificial narrations of reality that we drag from the past to determine what our mental and emotional state should be.

That is why full attention can be useful in several areas, since the management of attention processes is something that affects our way of experiencing all kinds of situations. For example, it can be used to manage the experience of certain unpleasant events, or even in educational or learning contexts .

Its use in Psychology

In the field of psychological intervention in the context of health, Mindfulness is becoming one of the tools available to clinics and psychology centres, often combined with therapies from the cognitive-behavioural paradigm. The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) , specifically, has one of its most important pillars in Full Care.

Thus, although Mindfulness is commonly used by mental health specialists, its fundamental principles can also be learned at the user level by virtually anyone interested in training in this practice and using it in their daily lives.

To continue learning about Mindfulness

If you’re interested in learning more about Mindfulness, you’ve got it easy. Nowadays there is already a lot of information about this practice and its effects in contexts as diverse as education and mental health, so books have emerged that bring together both information about its Asian origins in Buddhist meditation, as that extracted from scientific research and that does not belong to the field of humanities.

In this sense, one of the best ways to get started in the world of Mindfulness is the book What do we know about Mindfulness? , written by Javier García Campayo and Marcelo Demarzo, two experts in this exciting subject.

Through its pages, What do we know about Mindfulness? It gives a review of both the most practical aspects of its application, useful for practitioners, therapists, instructors and teachers, and the part linked to scientific research regarding its usefulness and effects on those who use Mindfulness. As it is a very complete book, lends itself to being used whenever specific doubts arise about any of the characteristics and applications of Mindfulness.

  • For more information about this book or to get a copy, you can click on this link.

A good help to face complicated situations

Mindfulness helps to overcome certain moments that we usually associate with stress and unpleasantness, but it can also be combined with certain tools that have been created to respond to very specific problems, such as relaxation techniques or controlled breathing exercises . Thus, training this repertoire of skills can be very useful to self-regulate states of consciousness and to face challenging situations.