The 4 types of Mindfulness and their characteristics

March 28, 2024

Mindfulness is an ancestral practice that has gained popularity in recent years in the West , mainly for the benefits it brings to the emotional health of people and for the performance of these in the workplace, educational or sports.

Currently, Mindfulness is used with different objectives, and although it is more of a philosophy of life, professionals in behavioral science have adapted it to this discipline to help people manage some problematic situations present in their lives, such as stress, depression or anxiety.

However, as we will see, there is not only one way to practice this, but several: we speak for it of types of Mindfulness and not Mindfulness to dry.

If you want to know more about Mindfulness, you can visit this article: "What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions "

The need for Mindfulness today

And is that in a world as fast as this, in which new technologies are moving in a frenetic way, mindfulness becomes as necessary as the air we breathe. Many people live on autopilot, stressed, anxious and without even knowing who they are. They live far from present, far from themselves. His mind jumps from one place to another continuously, spreading his thoughts and emotions.

There are many individuals who have serious difficulties in connecting with themselves, they live immersed in a culture that encourages individualism and materialism , and in which to speak of emotions such as sadness, fear or uncertainty is practically forbidden and frowned upon. You have to be happy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ... something that is impossible.

Fortunately, Mindfulness brings us back to the present (to our present), far from our unreal expectations , those that cause us so much suffering. Mindfulness helps us to stop, to focus, to meet again with that person we are and the one we often forget.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is not a fleeting fashion, and there are many researches that have contributed data on how this practice helps us to live better. Among the benefits of this practice we can find :

Reduce stress
Improves self-knowledge
Improve emotional balance
Help to sleep better
Improves mood
Increase concentration
It encourages creativity
Prevent depression
Help control anxiety
Develop Emotional Intelligence
Improve interpersonal relationships

If you want to deepen these benefits, in our article "Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness" we delve into the profitability of this experience.

Types of Mindfulness

Throughout the years, specific Mindfulness programs have been created to tackle particular problems. But, What types of Mindfulness are there? What are their characteristics? In the following lines we discover:

Different types of programs

Although mindfulness is a philosophy of life, a methodology to deal with life situations in a more adaptive way, it is possible to classify it according to the objective.

1. MBSR or Stress Reduction Program Based on Mindfulness

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program was created by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Medical Center of the University of Massachusetts (United States), in 1979. As the name suggests, the MBSR aims to reduce the level of stress of the practitioner and, as a consequence, their psychological well-being .

The investigations that have been carried out to verify the effects of this program on the emotional health of people show that it is one of the most effective treatments to reduce stress. This 8-session program has also been shown to be effective for the treatment of pain.

2. MBCT (or Cognitive Therapy based on Mindfulness.

MBCT (Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) is a program of Mindfulness that is used to treat different disorders, such as depression or anxiety. Same as the previous one, this is a program of 8 sessions.

It was created by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale who decided establish a treatment for emotional stress, anxiety and relapse in patients with depression . Therefore, it is a psychotherapeutic program that combines Mindfulness meditation with the acquisition of practical skills that characterize cognitive therapy, such as the detection of thought patterns that lead to depressive or anxious states.

3. Full Emotional Intelligence (PINEP)

The PINEP is a program to improve the psychological health of people thanks to the combination of the practices of Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence. Thanks to this program, the participants become more aware and emotionally intelligent people, able to manage their emotions in the different situations of their daily life.

The goal is to increase personal well-being and increase the capacity for positive appreciation towards oneself and its environment . PINEP practitioners improve their interpersonal relationships, achieve a greater level of empathy, increase their concentration, empower themselves in face of their problems and face life, they manage to clarify their vital objectives and enjoy a greater emotional balance.

Types of Mindfulness meditation

Meditation is an important part of the practice of Mindfulness. Mainly, Mindfulness uses these types of meditation

1. Meditation focused on breathing

One of the simplest and most useful meditation is meditation centered on breathing, which refers to focusing attention on how air enters through the nostrils . This is the object of attention that, thanks to its simplicity, can be used anywhere and at any time. For example, if we are at work and want to be in the here and now, we can practice one minute breathing.

2. Body scanner

The body scanner or body scan is a type of meditation in which the object of attention is the body itself, from head to toe .

3. Benevolent Love Meditation

A meditative practice that fosters positive feelings of love, compassion and care , both towards oneself and towards others.

4. Vipassana Meditation

This type of meditation is also called mental observation. Its objective is to label the thoughts, emotions and feelings that appear through the mind while we meditate.