Mindfulness training is becoming increasingly accessible to everyday people in the mainstream both digitally, through books, and through access to teachers. We can begin to imagine the possibility that on a societal level embedding mindfulness practice into everyday life could become recognised and promoted as a pragmatic way to support wellbeing - in similar ways to how physical exercise is perceived. This emerging engagement with contemplative practices in mainstream culture and institutions holds great promise. The promise that awareness, wisdom, and compassion become more readily accessible to us – both individually and collectively.
There are though particular sensitivities related to bringing contemplative practices into the mainstream. How do we meet the implementation challenge of enabling breadth of accessibility whilst sustaining the transformational potential of the practice? How do we align with the scientific evidence base whilst meeting important developmental frontiers? How do we ensure that Mindfulness-Based Programme (MBP) teachers are well prepared to guide others? How does the public know how to choose an MBP teacher? How does this emerging field skilfully navigate the tensions inherent in mainstreaming an approach that involves a paradigm shift to mainstream frameworks for understanding human experience? How do we do the work of ‘mainstreaming’ language and approach whilst also retaining the full transformational potential of mindfulness practice? How do we skilfully innovate so that MBP teaching is flexed and tailored to a diversity of contexts and populations? How do MBP teachers skilfully integrate within their teaching, the reality of this moment in time with its intersecting crises of climate and biodiversity breakdown, inequality, generational imbalances?
The talk will examine these questions from the perspective of current empirical and practice-based developments and thinking, and will consider frontiers and challenges for the MBP field going forward.