A mindfulness-based approach is not a course in relaxation training or mood management in the traditional sense. Rather it is an approach that is grounded in a strong belief that the best way for people to enhance their well-being in a lasting way is to begin to relate to their stress and emotional distress, and the conditions of their lives, in a different way.

It includes:

• purposely cultivating a frame of mind that is different from that which we normally inhabit.

• learning to disengage from the automatic and habitual reaction patterns that worsen our negative emotions and lead us to feeling overwhelmed and out of control.

• learning a skill for shifting out of negative patterns of worry and preoccupation.

The result is:

• a sense of empowerment to face and work more skilfully with the conditions of our lives.

• the ability to let go of the uncontrollable, allowing us to act on aspects of our situation that can be worked with.

• the ability to connect with our own capacity for acceptance, courage, wisdom and strength as we navigate our lives.