About Mindfulness
Mindfulness is paying attention with awareness to what is happening inside you and around you, with curiosity and kindness.
Rooted in Buddhism, mindfulness in the Vietnamese language is called “chánh niệm”. Besides, there is another increasingly popular word for mindfulness called “tỉnh thức” with the hope of bringing mindfulness beyond Buddhist practioners.
In 1979, Professor of Medicine Jon Kabat-Zinn began using mindfulness as a stress-reduction technique for patients at the UMass Memorial Health in the United States. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as "the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally." For him, this definition involves attention and a neutral attitude, hence not bounded by religion.
Over the past 40+ years, there has been a growing body of scientific research linking secular mindfulness practices to changes in the brain and mental health. Mindfulness has gradually been popularized as a life skill, applied in medical sector (for both patients and doctors), schools (for both teachers and students), and various corporates like Google, IBM, SAP, Aetna… This is also how MindFitness approaches mindfulness, as a trainable skill, based on scientific studies and secular.
Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence