The 4 Types of Mindfulness and Their Characteristics

Mindfulness or Full Attention is an ancient practice that has gained popularity in recent years in the West mainly due to the benefits it brings to people’s emotional health and their performance in the work, educational or sports environment.

Currently, Mindfulness is used for different objectives, and although it is more of a philosophy of life, behavioral science professionals have adapted it to this discipline to help people manage some problematic situations that arise. present in their lives, such as stress, depression or anxiety.

However, as we will see, there is not just one way to practice this, but several: We therefore talk about types of Mindfulness and not just Mindfulness.

The need for Mindfulness today

And in a world as fast-paced as this one, in which new technologies advance frenetically, mindfulness becomes as necessary as the air we breathe. Many people live on autopilot, stressed, anxious and not even knowing who they are. They live far from the present, far from themselves. Your mind jumps back and forth continually, scattering your thoughts and emotions.

There are many individuals who have serious difficulties connecting with themselves, because they live immersed in a culture that encourages individualism and materialism, and in which talking about emotions such as sadness, fear or uncertainty is practically prohibited and frowned upon. You have to be happy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year… something that is impossible.

Fortunately, Mindfulness brings us back to the present (our present), away from our unrealistic expectations, those that cause us so much suffering. Mindfulness helps us stop, focus, and meet again with the person we are and the one we often forget.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is not a fleeting fad, and there is much research that has provided data regarding how this practice helps us live better. Among the benefits of this practice we can find:

If you want to delve deeper into these benefits, in our article “Mindfulness: 8 benefits of full attention” we delve into the benefits of this experience.

Types of Mindfulness

Over the years, specific Mindfulness programs have been created to address particular problems. But, What types of Mindfulness are there? What are their characteristics? In the following lines we discover it:

Different types of programs

Although mindfulness is a philosophy of life, a methodology to face life situations in a more adaptive way, it is possible to classify it according to the objective.

1. MBSR or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program was created by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (United States) in 1979. As its name suggests, MBSR aims to reduce the practitioner’s stress level and, as a consequence, their psychological well-being

The research that has been carried out to verify the effects of this program on people’s emotional health shows that it is one of the most effective treatments to reduce stress. This 8-session program has also been shown to be effective for the treatment of pain.

2. MBCT (or Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy.

MBCT (Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) is a Mindfulness program that is used to treat different disorders, such as depression or anxiety. Like the previous one, this is an 8-session program.

It was created by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale who decided establish a treatment for emotional stress, anxiety and relapses in patients with depression Therefore, it is a psychotherapeutic program that combines Mindfulness meditation with the acquisition of practical skills that characterize cognitive therapy, such as the detection of thought patterns that lead to depressive or anxious states.

3. Full Emotional Intelligence (PINEP)

PINEP is a program to improve people’s psychological health thanks to the combination of Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence practices. Thanks to this program, participants become more aware and emotionally intelligent people, capable of managing their emotions in the different situations of their daily lives.

The goal is to increase personal well-being and increase the capacity for positive appreciation towards oneself and one’s environment PINEP practitioners improve their interpersonal relationships, achieve a higher level of empathy, increase their concentration, become empowered in the face of their problems and life, manage to clarify their life objectives and enjoy greater emotional balance.

Types of Mindfulness Meditation

Meditation is an important part of Mindfulness practice. Mainly, Mindfulness uses these types of meditation

1. Meditation focused on breathing

One of the simplest and most useful meditations is breathing-focused meditation, which refers to focusing attention on how air enters the nostrils This is the object of attention that, thanks to its simplicity, can be used anywhere and at any time. For example, if we are at work and want to be in the here and now, we can practice breathing for one minute.

2. Body scanner

The Body Scanner or body scan is a type of meditation in which the object of attention is the body itself, from head to toe

3. Loving-Benevolent Meditation

A meditative practice that encourages positive feelings of love, compassion and caring both towards oneself and towards others.

4. Vipassana Meditation

This type of meditation is also called mental observation. Its objective is to label the thoughts, emotions and feelings that appear in the mind while we meditate.