Mindfulness-based stress reduction

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Part of a series on
Mindfulness
Buddhism Buddhist meditation Sati Anussati Sampajañña Satipatthana Anapanasati Mental noting Appamāda Vipassanā Zen
Psychology Mindfulness-based stress reduction Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Mindfulness-based pain management Acceptance and commitment therapy Dialectical behavior therapy Mode deactivation therapy Morita therapy Hakomi therapy Mindfulness (journal)
Other Buddhism and psychology Mindful Yoga
Similar concepts Wakefulness Attention Alertness Prudence Conscientiousness Contemplation Epoché Awareness Observation Choiceless awareness Isolation tank
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Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week evidence-based program that offers secular, intensive mindfulness training to assist people with stress, anxiety, depression and pain.^[1][2][3] Developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR uses a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, yoga and exploration of patterns of behavior, thinking, feeling and action.^[1][4] Mindfulness can be understood as the non-judgmental acceptance and investigation of present experience, including body sensations, internal mental states, thoughts, emotions, impulses and memories, in order to reduce suffering or distress and to increase well-being.^[1][5] Mindfulness meditation is a method by which attention skills are cultivated, emotional regulation is developed, and rumination and worry are significantly reduced.^[5][6][1] During the past decades, mindfulness meditation has been the subject of more controlled clinical research, which suggests its potential beneficial effects for mental health,^[7][8][9] athletic performance,^[10][11] as well as physical health.^[12][13][14] While MBSR has its roots in wisdom teachings of Zen Buddhism, Hatha Yoga, Vipassana and Advaita Vedanta, the program itself is secular.^[1][15] The MBSR program is described in detail in Kabat-Zinn's 1990 book Full Catastrophe Living.^[1]