‘Mindfulness’ is a common translation of a term from Buddhist psychology that means ‘awareness’ or ‘bare attention’. It is frequently used to refer to a way of paying attention that is sensitive, accepting and independent of any thoughts that may be present. The definitions in Box 17.1 represent some different ways of expressing this. Although mindfulness can sound quite ordinary and spontaneous, it is the antithesis of mental habits in which the mind is on ‘automatic pilot’. In this usual state, most experiences pass by completely unrecognised, and awareness is dominated by a stream of internal comment whose insensitivity to what is immediately present can seem mindless. Although most people knowingly experience mindfulness for very brief periods only, it can be developed with practice.

Differences can be discerned in how different practitioners use mindfulness. Some of these reflect the hazards of translation and others reflect long-standing ambiguities within Buddhist psychology (for an extended discussion see Mace, 2008, 2009). One nuance that should not be overlooked, because it has implications for therapeutic practice, is evident from the way ‘mindfulness’ can be used to denote self-awareness or selfconsciousness as well as an awareness of what is immediately present. There is an important element of self-recollection in traditional Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness too, evident when the awareness of internal psychological events such as feelings and patterns of thought is promoted through deliberate verbal reflection, as in: ‘Now I am doing x, now I am feeling y’. This aspect has been played down in the contemporary definitions quoted in Box 17.1, but it has been important in the therapeutic use of mindfulness, particularly within dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT).