Aren’t we on to the next big wellbeing thing yet?
Hello, so yes, it is and no we are not.
My name is Amanda Scott, and I am a Mindfulness Association sponsored PhD student at The University of the West of Scotland where I am researching Mindfulness and Wellbeing in Longterm Mindfulness Practitioners. And yes, this is another mindfulness study when there have been cries of saturation and peak mindfulness (Fox Lee, 2019).And no, I will argue the value of my research for wellbeing and not just to justify the blood, sweat and tears (many tears) of my PhD endeavours.
You see it turns out that very few studies have been done on long term mindfulness practitioners i.e. people who meditate longer than a wee while. Most previous research has been conducted within short interventions or standardised 8-week training programs (King et al., 2019). And, while these programs consistently claim to be rooted in Buddhist traditions of mindfulness training, it can be argued that they are conceptually much removed from their original context (Kudesia & Nyima, 2015), which would traditionally include embedded and continuous support, and a framework for long term practice, among other foundational elements (Sedlmeier, 2023). This decontextualization has raised concerns regarding the effectiveness, appropriateness, and potential misapplication of mindfulness practices (Teasdale et al., 2003) with the response being a growing interest in what has been termed ‘second-generation’ Mindfulness-Based Interventions (SG-MBIs). These aim to reintroduce aspects such as spirituality, ethics, and long-term supervision which are elements, some would argue, that were neglected in the original Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) (Baer, 2015; Van Gordon & Shonin, 2020; Zhou et al., 2024). Although in fairness modern mindfulness big proponent, Jon Kabat-Zinn (1990, 2011), did implied but perhaps didn’t fully explore mindfulness as a Buddhist philosophy-informed, embodied practice, rooted in compassion and ethical awareness within secular adaptations. However, these second generation (of modern mindfulness post 1980s) approaches explicitly highlight the value of sustained, authentic engagement in fostering well-being, positioning mindfulness as a transformative, socially responsible practice rather than a commodified, quick-fix solution (McKenzie, 2022a, 2022b). They seek to address concerns regarding the loss of authenticity, and the hyper-secularization and commercialization of mindfulness, often referred to as “McMindfulness”(Shonin & Van Gordon, 2015) . SG-MBIs seek to reintegrate the ethical and philosophical dimensions by drawing on contemplative traditions, particularly Buddhist philosophy, while remaining accessible within non-religious contexts, and conceptualise mindfulness as inherently relational and situated within a broader ethical landscape. There is also evidence that SG-MBIs ‘outperform’ First Generation MBIs across a range of factors including symptom reduction and increased personal growth (Van Gordon & Shonin, 2020). So that’s good!
Thus, from this standpoint, and my PhD study, mindfulness is understood not merely as a tool for enhancing individual well-being, but as a lifelong, integrative practice that permeates all aspects of life including the personal, relational, societal, and even the sociopolitical. This is aligned with the Mindfulness Association’s SG-MBI approach, which is grounded in compassion and lifelong practice, so together, rather than being confined to stress reduction or therapeutic settings, mindfulness is conceptualised as a way of being, and of sustaining commitment to awareness, to compassion, and to ethical engagement. It influences how individuals relate to themselves, others, and the wider world, fostering greater emotional resilience, social connectedness, and reflective responsiveness to societal challenges (Sieber, 2015; Somers, 2022). And let’s face it, we could all be doing with more of that right now.
If you wish to know more about this research, or to contact me, please email me at Amanda.scott@uws.ac.uk , other than that, look out for my next blog post.
Baer, R. (2015). Ethics, Values, Virtues, and Character Strengths in Mindfulness-Based Interventions: a Psychological Science Perspective. Mindfulness, 6(4), 956–969. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0419-2
Fox Lee, S. (2019). Psychology’s own mindfulness: Ellen Langer and the social politics of scientific interest in “active noticing.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 55(3), 216–229. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21975
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. (1st Ed). Delacorte .
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011). Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skillful means, and the trouble with maps. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 281–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2011.564844
King, B. G., Conklin, Q. A., Zanesco, A. P., & Saron, C. D. (2019). Residential meditation retreats: their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research. In Current Opinion in Psychology (Vol. 28, pp. 238–244). Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.021
Kudesia, R. S., & Nyima, V. T. (2015). Mindfulness Contextualized: An Integration of Buddhist and Neuropsychological Approaches to Cognition. Mindfulness, 6(4), 910–925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0337-8
McKenzie, S. P. (2022a). Real Mindfulness. In Reality Psychology (pp. 85–101). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97170-0_6
McKenzie, S. P. (2022b). Reality Psychology: A New Perspective on Wellbeing, Mindfulness, Resilience and Connection. In Reality Psychology: A New Perspective on Wellbeing, Mindfulness, Resilience and Connection. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97170-0
Sedlmeier, P. (2023). What Mindfulness, and for Whom? And Why Might it Work? In Mindfulness. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02218-0
Shonin, E., & Van Gordon, W. (2015). The Lineage of Mindfulness. In Mindfulness (Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp. 141–145). Springer Science and Business Media, LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0327-x
Sieber, A. (2015). Hanh’s Concept of Being Peace: The Order of Interbeing. The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society, 5(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8633/CGP/v05i01/51097
Somers, B. D. (2022). Mindfulness in the Context of Engaged Buddhism: A Case for Engaged Mindfulness. Religions, 13(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080746
Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., & Williams, J. M. G. (2003). Mindfulness training and problem formulation. In Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice (Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp. 157–160). https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy/bpg017
Van Gordon, W., & Shonin, E. (2020). Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Toward More Authentic Mindfulness Practice and Teaching. In Mindfulness (Vol. 11, Issue 1). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01252-1
Zhou, J., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., & Zeng, X. (2024). Cultivating Ideal Mentalities in Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Feature Bringing Challenges but More Contributions. Mindfulness, 15(2), 505–517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02297-z