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Mindfulness educators frequently refer to the Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness outlined by Jon Kabat-Zinn. These include qualities such as non-judging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, letting go, gratitude, and generosity.
Though immensely beneficial, these attitudes weren’t intended as strict rules. Instead, they serve as reminders or guides to enhance mindful awareness and compassionate living. However, as mindfulness has been adapted for corporate settings, applications, and secular programs, some nuances have been lost.
What initially appears as adaptable guidance has, for many, morphed into rigid standards. An invitation to engage in mindfulness can inadvertently distort practice, leading to confusion, inaction, and potential harm.
It’s a difficult reality: misinterpreting or over-applying the Nine Attitudes can lead to significant issues—a reality I’ve encountered myself.
I’ve witnessed this firsthand. At Mindful Leader, we incorporate these attitudes into our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Certified Workplace Mindfulness Facilitator (CWMF) programs. Yet, the sobering truth is that misunderstanding or misapplying them can generate real challenges—issues I’ve personally faced.
Striving for a Balanced Application of the Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness
When I first learned about the Nine Attitudes, they seemed very clear in theory. However, applying them in real life often left me feeling confused. Should I always practice patience, even in urgent situations? Shouldn’t I judge when it’s necessary? What should guide me became more of a hindrance than a help.
This realization inspired the development of Open MBSR—an approach designed to reshape mindfulness education to fit real-life scenarios: practical, nuanced, and devoid of dogma. One pivotal change is learning to hold each mindfulness attitude dialectically, acknowledging both its purpose and its limits.
Before outlining what this looks like in action, let’s examine where things can go awry with these attitudes and how we might adapt our approach.
When Good Intentions Fall Short: Misinterpreting the Nine Attitudes
Non-judging
- Intention: Observing thoughts and experiences without labeling them as positive or negative.
- Misapplication: Neglecting critical thinking; allowing harmful behavior without taking necessary precautions for self-care.
- Example: Accepting repeated disrespect in a relationship simply because one believes in “non-judging.”
Patience
- Intention: Understanding that situations develop in their own time.
- Misapplication: Confusing patience with endlessly waiting.
- Example: Remaining in a toxic job or relationship much longer than is healthy, believing that “patience” will improve it.
Beginner’s Mind
- Intention: Approaching each moment with openness and curiosity.
- Misapplication: Overlooking valuable life experiences.
- Example: Dismissing skills gained over time in an effort to adopt a “fresh perspective,” complicating matters unnecessarily.
Trust
- Intention: Relying on your intuition and feelings.
- Misapplication: Trusting immediate feelings blindly, without discernment.
- Example: Making impulsive decisions because “it felt right,” leading to potential regret.
Non-striving
- Intention: Releasing attachment to specific outcomes.
- Misapplication: Letting go of ambition or direction completely.
- Example: Overlooking education or career goals, confusing apathy with tranquility.
Acceptance
- Intention: Facing reality as it is.
- Misapplication: Resigning oneself to passivity.
- Example: Ignoring a serious health concern because “I should just accept it.”
Letting Go
- Intention: Releasing attachment.
- Misapplication: Evading crucial emotional work.
- Example: Bottling up anger rather than addressing and processing it.
Gratitude
- Intention: Fostering appreciation.
- Misapplication: Disregarding genuine feelings of distress.
- Example: Focusing solely on “small joys” while overlooking significant dissatisfaction in life.
Generosity
- Intention: Giving from a place of kindness.
- Misapplication: Giving without limits, leading to burnout.
- Example: Consistently prioritizing others’ needs over one’s own well-being until personal health and stability are compromised.
A Fresh Perspective: Dialectical Thinking and Balancing Opposites
In Open MBSR, we employ a dialectical approach, holding seemingly contradictory concepts together to discover a more balanced, practical route.
This is evident in Taoist philosophy through the concept of Yin and Yang, representing stillness and activity, receptivity and initiative—opposites that enhance rather than negate one another.
Mindfulness operates similarly; each attitude needs its counterpart to maintain equilibrium.
How This Manifests in Real Life
- Non-judging AND Critical Engagement
- Patience AND Proactive Change
- Beginner’s Mind AND Utilizing Experience
- Trust AND Discernment
- Non-striving AND Goal Orientation
- Acceptance AND Driving for Change
- Letting Go AND Emotional Involvement
- Gratitude AND Recognition of Challenges
- Generosity AND Setting Boundaries
When we adopt these attitudes dialectically, mindfulness evolves into a practice we can genuinely embrace… not merely a routine to observe in a meditation session.
Addressing Situations Where the Teaching Itself Becomes a Barrier
When
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When I first shared these observations, I faced some resistance. One response that stood out to me was the idea that the misunderstandings arise from people’s failure to comprehend the concepts correctly. It suggested that if individuals could fully understand what these attitudes actually entail, the misinterpretations would cease.
When a teaching is frequently misunderstood and practitioners from different backgrounds keep falling into similar predictable pitfalls, it might be time to reevaluate our teaching methods instead of blaming the learners.
This concern weighed heavily on my mind. If a teaching is often misconstrued, and various practitioners encounter the same predictable issues, it may signal a need to assess our teaching approach instead of attributing blame to the students.
The patterns we’ve discussed are not arbitrary. When “non-judging” is persistently viewed as a lack of critical thinking, when “acceptance” frequently leads to passive resignation, and “letting go” often turns into emotional avoidance, these issues reflect systematic teaching problems, not failures of individual understanding.
We have been presenting these Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness in a detached manner, without the original Buddhist context that offered essential balance and direction. By removing these impactful concepts from their surrounding frameworks, we create situations where practitioners lean dangerously toward unhealthy extremes.
Revitalizing Our Approach to Teaching the Nine Attitudes
It’s time for us to take responsibility. There is a flaw in how we are teaching these attitudes, and we have the chance to rectify it.
That’s the impetus behind my writing of Open MBSR: Reimagining the Future of Mindfulness. This book aims not only to improve the way we teach the Nine Attitudes but also to completely redesign the entire system to be more open, practical, and relevant to today’s world.
This is not just a minor enhancement of existing programs; it represents a fundamental overhaul. The Nine Attitudes can be harmful if misused, but when paired with dialectical thinking, they transform into something genuinely transformative, authentic, and practical.
A version of this article was first published on March 5, 2024
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