Optimising Mindfulness in Healthcare

Mindfulness is an evidence-based meditation practice with proven benefits that include amelioration of depression, reduction in anxiety/stress, improved quality of life, modest pain management and general positive wellbeing (Cavanagh et al, 2014; Lomas et al, 2017; Hilton et al, 2017). Not only is mindfulness beneficial for individual health, moreover; research has shown that mindfulness has the power, when practised frequently, to alter areas in the brain involved in interoception and emotional awareness (Santarnecchi et al, 2015). While there is nothing new about mindfulness per se, having its roots in Buddhist practices, developments such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have formalised what can now be delivered as self/clinical interventions (Williams & Penman, 2011). How the practice is formatted, delivered and practised is therefore of interest to individuals but also employers seeking to utilize mindfulness when unlocking personal and work-based human potential.