Extending Mindfulness to Everyday Life

Bibliographic Data

ID9021055
AuthorsCharles T Tart (Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616., corresponding author)
Year1990
Volume30
Issue1
Pages81-106
Publication date1990-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022167890301005
OpenAlexW1985583117
LanguageEN
Citations received6

The great spiritual traditions agree that the cultivation of mindfulness is central. Without mindfulness we live in a state of distorted perceptions and fantasies, acting inappropriately with reference to our own true nature and the reality of the immediate situation, and consequently creating stupid and useless suffering. This article is oriented toward those readers already convinced of the value of cultivating increased mindfulness, so I shall not attempt to prove its value here: I have discussed this elsewhere (Tart, 1986), as well as the way modern psychological knowledge supports it. Although the traditions advocate developing mindfulness in all situations of life, advocacy, skillful training, and emphasis are not the same thing. Much traditional Buddhist practice, in particular, effectively puts its emphasis on formal sitting without engaging in extensive and specific training for mindfulness in everyday life. Because traditional Buddhist practice is a major influence on people interested in meditation, the apparent lack of means for generalizing mindfulness to everyday life can be a serious problem for many Westerners, especially because most of us want to enliven all of life through our growth practices, not retire to a life of solitary meditation. This article discusses ways in which elements of a less well-known mindfulness cultivation tradition, the Gurdjieff training, may be used to increase mindfulness in everyday life situations and to facilitate the generalization of mindfulness from intensive meditation sessions to everyday life. Some specific training exercises are presented, as well as the principles of devising such exercises

Aesthetics · Buddhism · Epistemology · Everyday life · Meditation · Mindfulness · Mindfulness meditation · Psychotherapist · Value (mathematics · Child Therapy and Development · Computer Science · Ego Development and Educational Practices · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Philosophy · Psychology

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