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Authors: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Fabrizio Didonna
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not, one after the other, in very rapid succes-
sion. Indeed this is simply the nature of our mind, intrinsically transient and
fluctuating. Therefore, the problem is not to eliminate the thoughts that are
generated, but rather to disidentify oneself from them. One of the most valu-
able teachings and principles mindfulness-based programmes are based on
(e.g., MBSR, Kabat-Zinn, 1990, and MBCT, Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002)
is this idea of not being your own thoughts .
Patanjali (1989) speaks about this “process of identification,” but broad-
ens the concept as it is understood by modern psychology, which maintains
that the ego identifies itself in objects and people, that is, stimuli coming
from the outside world. Patanjali suggests that there is something that lies
beneath even the smallest thought, and this is when we identify with this,
without being aware of it, that we believe we are the thoughts we are think-
ing. Patanjali claims something that is radically different from the Western
concept of “I think, therefore I am,” basically assuming that we are differ-
ent from our thoughts. As the mind becomes less and less identified with
the content of our thoughts, the greater our ability to concentrate and the
greater the resulting sense of calm.
Meditation seems to function not by changing the contents of our mind,
but rather our identification with these contents through a “seeing” that
is more accepting, intuitive, and immediate, thanks to which the coercive
power of some cognitive-affective contents progressively decreases until it
eventually disappears. Consequently, the central theme of psychopathol-
ogy seems to focus on automating our cognitive and emotional processes,
and crystallizing thought configurations, memories, emotions, and bodily
Introduction
9
reactions that become automatic beyond our awareness of them and will to
control them (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002). In some ways mindfulness
works in the opposite direction. As will be carefully explained in various
chapters in this book, the processes of decentering and disidentification ,
which in standard cognitive therapy are considered a means for achieving
the end (i.e., changing the contents of a though), are actually the end itself of
therapy based on mindfulness. Non-attachment and non-identification with
what we take to be real is the basis of mindfulness-based approaches.
Rumination is one of the major cognitive processes in many psychological
illnesses. When people worry or ruminate about their problems, even if it
seems to them that they are facing the difficulty, they are actually moving
further away from a direct perception of the nature of the difficulty. This
happens because ruminating always involves making a judgment about the
experience. Meditation techniques based on mindfulness work in exactly
the opposite direction favoring a “letting-go” attitude toward one’s own
thoughts. This is an indispensable skill for people’s psychological and phys-
ical health since it helps them avoid getting stuck once again in harmful
vicious cycles. The worst damage caused by depressive rumination is the fact
that the ruminative thought feeds itself continuously. This process generates
thoughts and, therefore, emotions that become more and more intense and
far from the actual situation, such that over time it becomes more and more
difficult to differentiate reality from one’s judgment of it. For this reason,
according to mindfulness, it is extremely important that patients learn how
to disidentify themselves from their thoughts.
Mindfulness-based programs seem to be able to directly intervene on
several aspects of ruminative thoughts by exploiting the repetitive way
these thoughts work. The possibility to disidentify ourselves from our own
thoughts can free us up from one of the strongest and most deeply rooted
attachments: the attachment to thinking for the sake of thinking,
sion. Indeed this is simply the nature of our mind, intrinsically transient and
fluctuating. Therefore, the problem is not to eliminate the thoughts that are
generated, but rather to disidentify oneself from them. One of the most valu-
able teachings and principles mindfulness-based programmes are based on
(e.g., MBSR, Kabat-Zinn, 1990, and MBCT, Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002)
is this idea of not being your own thoughts .
Patanjali (1989) speaks about this “process of identification,” but broad-
ens the concept as it is understood by modern psychology, which maintains
that the ego identifies itself in objects and people, that is, stimuli coming
from the outside world. Patanjali suggests that there is something that lies
beneath even the smallest thought, and this is when we identify with this,
without being aware of it, that we believe we are the thoughts we are think-
ing. Patanjali claims something that is radically different from the Western
concept of “I think, therefore I am,” basically assuming that we are differ-
ent from our thoughts. As the mind becomes less and less identified with
the content of our thoughts, the greater our ability to concentrate and the
greater the resulting sense of calm.
Meditation seems to function not by changing the contents of our mind,
but rather our identification with these contents through a “seeing” that
is more accepting, intuitive, and immediate, thanks to which the coercive
power of some cognitive-affective contents progressively decreases until it
eventually disappears. Consequently, the central theme of psychopathol-
ogy seems to focus on automating our cognitive and emotional processes,
and crystallizing thought configurations, memories, emotions, and bodily
Introduction
9
reactions that become automatic beyond our awareness of them and will to
control them (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002). In some ways mindfulness
works in the opposite direction. As will be carefully explained in various
chapters in this book, the processes of decentering and disidentification ,
which in standard cognitive therapy are considered a means for achieving
the end (i.e., changing the contents of a though), are actually the end itself of
therapy based on mindfulness. Non-attachment and non-identification with
what we take to be real is the basis of mindfulness-based approaches.
Rumination is one of the major cognitive processes in many psychological
illnesses. When people worry or ruminate about their problems, even if it
seems to them that they are facing the difficulty, they are actually moving
further away from a direct perception of the nature of the difficulty. This
happens because ruminating always involves making a judgment about the
experience. Meditation techniques based on mindfulness work in exactly
the opposite direction favoring a “letting-go” attitude toward one’s own
thoughts. This is an indispensable skill for people’s psychological and phys-
ical health since it helps them avoid getting stuck once again in harmful
vicious cycles. The worst damage caused by depressive rumination is the fact
that the ruminative thought feeds itself continuously. This process generates
thoughts and, therefore, emotions that become more and more intense and
far from the actual situation, such that over time it becomes more and more
difficult to differentiate reality from one’s judgment of it. For this reason,
according to mindfulness, it is extremely important that patients learn how
to disidentify themselves from their thoughts.
Mindfulness-based programs seem to be able to directly intervene on
several aspects of ruminative thoughts by exploiting the repetitive way
these thoughts work. The possibility to disidentify ourselves from our own
thoughts can free us up from one of the strongest and most deeply rooted
attachments: the attachment to thinking for the sake of thinking,
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