Introduction to Mindfulness_349810_bookemon_ebook.pdf Coaching and Practising Mindfulness | Page 39

Mindfulness and therapy
Throughout history, human beings have sought to discover the
causes of suffering and the means to alleviate it. Sooner or later, we
all ask the same questions: “Why am I not feeling better?” “What can
I do about it?” Inhabiting a physical body inevitably exposes us to
pain associated with sickness, old age, and death. We also struggle
emotionally when confronted with adverse circumstances, or with
benign circumstances that we see as adverse. Even when our lives are
relatively easy, we suffer when we don’t get what we want, when we
lose what we once had, and when we have to deal with what we do
not want. From birth until death, we are relentlessly trying to feel
better.
Therapies in recent years have emphasised change and self-control.
While these approaches have their place, they fall short in helping us
to deal with cognitive and emotional distress that recurs over and
over, despite our best efforts. Often, the most effective method of
dealing with our negative moods is to gently acknowledge what’s
happening and let them be, without being pulled into doing battle
with ourselves. Mindfulness teaches us how to let ourselves ‘be’ by
surrendering the need to change how we are. (DEORA)
Mindfulness is a deceptively simple way of relating to all experience
that can reduce suffering and set the stage for positive personal
transformation. It is a core psychological process that can alter how
we respond to the unavoidable difficulties in life—not only to
everyday existential challenges, but also to severe psychological
problems such as suicidal ideation (Linehan, 1993), chronic
depression (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002), and psychotic
delusions (Bach and Hayes, 2002).
Mindfulness training has emerged as a powerful, evidence-based tool
for enhancing psychological health. It has been clinically proven in a
wide range of clinical disorders, including chronic pain, anxiety

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