Keynote talk for the
LEBANESE ASSOCIATION OF MINDFULNESS FIRST CONFERENCE:
FOUNDATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

Mindfulness-based Programmes (MBPs) have been implemented in the UK since the early 2000s, firstly with a focus on depression prevention, then spreading within health care to other contexts, and then moving beyond clinical contexts to other areas within the mainstream including education, the justice system, and workplaces. Beyond the focus on personal wellbeing, there is also now increasing recognition of how cultivating inner capacities such as attention regulation, kindness, wisdom, and cognitive flexibility could be foundational in responding to the complex challenges of the 21st century. This is leading to research and practice on MBPs which support personal and collective engagement with the climate and biodiversity crisis, and with social challenges which have their roots in prejudice and bias.
This talk will offer the UK experience of integrating mindfulness delivery into mainstream institutions as a case study which may have relevance to other areas in the world, with a particular focus on the factors that have supported implementation progress.

Professor Rebecca Crane PhD directs the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and has played a leading role in developing its training and research programme since it was founded in 2001. She teaches and trains internationally in both Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Her research and publications focus on how the evidence on mindfulness-based interventions can be implemented with integrity into mainstream practice settings. She has written Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Distinctive Features 2017, co-authored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with People at Risk of Suicide, 2017, co-edited Essential Resources for Mindfulness Teachers, 2021, and is a Principle Fellow with the Higher Education Academy.