Abstract
Walpert sets out the growing popularity of mindfulness in the West in health care, education, and business. The chapter defines mindfulness, starting with the foundational and popular definition as non-judgmental attention. Walpert complicates this definition by calling on more nuanced explanations of mindfulness that incorporate conceptual and evaluative approaches and a discussion of a secular version of mindfulness without meditation. The chapter notes that the popularity of mindfulness is in part a response to technology-driven distraction and technology-induced changes in the brain. The chapter draws on scientific studies that suggest evidence for mindfulness as a means to develop attention and compassion, as well some initial studies that point to some similar benefits of reading literature in general and poetry in particular.
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Notes
- 1.
For one detailed comparison between Langer ’s version of mindfulness and the meditation -based mindfulness popularized by Kabat-Zinn, see Hart et al. (2013).
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Walpert, B. (2017). Mindfulness, Mindlessness, Poetry. In: Poetry and Mindfulness. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68681-3_2
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