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sg MBSR Handouts

The Seven Attitudinal Foundations of Mindfulness Practice

(Adapted from Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1990 & 2013)
1. Non-judging
 The habit of categorizing and judging our experience - likes vs. dislikes / good vs. bad – locks us into automatic
reactions that we are not aware of and that often have no objective basis. These judgements dominate our
minds, making it difficult for us to find any peace within ourselves, or to develop any discernment as to what may
actually be going on.
 Recognizing the judging quality of mind when it appears and assuming a stance of impartiality; do not even judge
the judging to make things worse.

2. Patience
 Sometimes things need to unfold in their own time, for example a child may help a butterfly to emerge by
breaking open its chrysalis; treat our experiences like how we will treat the butterfly.
 Being impatient with ourselves only creates unnecessary tension, anxiety and agitation. It brings us away from
the present moment awareness.
 Be completely open to each moment, accepting it in its fullness, knowing that, like the butterfly, things can only
unfold in their own time.

3. Beginner’s Mind
 Too often we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we ‘know’ stop us from seeing things as they really are.
 Cultivating a mind that is willing to see everything as if for the first time, so that we can be free of our
expectations based on our past experiences.
 Helps us to be receptive to new possibilities, not getting stuck in a rut of our own expertise.

4. Trust
 Developing a basic trust in yourself and honouring your feelings.
 Trusting in your own intuition and authority, even if you make some ‘mistakes’ along the way.
 Taking responsibility for being yourself and learning to listen and trust your own being.

5. Non-striving
 Ultimately meditation is a non-doing; it has no goal other than for you to be yourself. The irony is you already are.
 The best way to achieve your own goals is to back off from striving and instead start to really focus on carefully
seeing and accepting things as they are, moment by moment. With patience and regular practice, movement
towards your goals will take place by itself.

6. Acceptance
 Seeing things as they actually are in the present. If you have a headache, accept that you have a headache.
 We often waste a lot of time and energy denying what is already fact. We try to force situations to how we
would like them to be, which only creates more tension and prevents positive change from occurring.
 You have to accept yourself as you are before you can really change.
 Acceptance is not passive resignation. It doesn’t mean liking everything and abandoning your principles and
values, stopping to try to break free of self-destructive habits and giving up on desire to change and grow, or
tolerating injustice.
 Acceptance is a willingness to see things as they are. You are much more likely to know what to do and have an
inner conviction to act when you have a clear picture of what is actually happening versus when your vision is
clouded by the mind’s judging, striving attitudes or its fears and prejudices.

7. Letting Go
 Noticing there are certain thoughts, feelings and situations that the minds seems to want to hold on to. If they
are good, we try to prolong them; if they are unpleasant or painful, we try to get rid of them.
 Letting go is a way of letting things be, of accepting things as they are.
 When we find ourselves judging our experience, we recognize them and we don’t pursue them any further. We
let them be, and in doing so we let them go.