Changing the habits of a lifetime? Mindfulness meditation and habitual geographies

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation (in the context of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) is a reflexive practice that seeks to reduce suffering in the form of depression, anxiety and stress. Through a variety of techniques, mindfulness meditation aims to cultivate awareness of the participant's current experience (notably their thoughts and feelings), as well as an attitude of non-judgement towards this experience. Via Crossley's (2001) account of the relation between habits and the development of a self-reflexive stance, the paper develops an understanding of agency as distributed across body, mind and context, and which is not fixed in time or space. Drawing on in-depth interviews carried out with students and teachers of mindfulness meditation, the paper analyses the role of dialogue in the practice, and situates it within the wider routines of the participant's everyday lives.

Blue space geographies: Enabling health in place

“…the capacities of disabled or unfit bodies for immersive and contemplative encounters that almost completely re-cast those capacities (Andrews et al, 2012;Throsby, 2013). In addition, more spiritual encounters in/by water (as transcendental-affective moments) may emerge from a range of natural or built environments (Foley, 2011;Madrell, 2011;Pitt, 2014;Lea et al, 2015). Given that many different groups globally use water in different ways, there is scope for deeper comparative cultural geographies of water associated with spirituality, healing and wellbeing (Smith and Puczkó, 2009;Little, 2013).The potential of blue space to engender and capture a healing intent from a range of social, cultural and embodied perspectives should be more fully articulated.…”

Geographical thinking in nursing inquiry, part two: performance, possibility, and non‐representational theory

“…Thus, various components and facets of non‐representational theory are now being substantially ‘road‐tested’ in health contexts, setting an important precedent for nursing research. Empirically, there has been a focus on the feelings and performances – and networking of bodies and objects that create these – in health care and public health including in holistic practice (Andrews, ; Doel & Segrott, ; Paterson, ; Andrews & Shaw, ; Andrews et al ., ; Lea et al ., ) and the conventional contexts and practices of biomedicine, bioscience, and biopolitics (Greenhough, , , ; Braun, ; Andrews & Shaw, ; Bissell, ; Evans, ; Greenhough & Roe, ; Solomon, ; Anderson, ; Andrews et al ., ; Jackson & Neely, ). A range of community‐based therapeutic and/or enabling situations have also been considered for the same components and qualities (see Conradson, ; Kraftl & Horton, ; Tucker, ; Duff, , ; Foley, , ; Lorimer, ; Barnfield, ; Lea et al ., ; Philo et al ., ), notably in relation to arts (Anderson, , ; McCormack, , ; Evans et al ., ; Atkinson & Rubidge, ; Andrews, , ; Evans, ; Simpson, ; Atkinson & Scott, ) and through the movement of bodies (Macpherson, , , ; Andrews et al ., ; Gatrell, ; Barnfield, ) (although health harming agency has also been explored, Jayne et al ., ; Tan, ; Ravn & Duff, ).…”

(Re)Inhabiting awareness: geography and mindfulness

“…This paper is not the first attempt to forge connections between geography and mindfulness. it has already been argued, for example, that a mindfulness perspective can contribute to emerging geographical work on mind-body-world assemblages through which everyday habits are produced and sustained (Lea et al, 2015). in addition, existing geographical scholarship exploring the practices of self-awareness cultivated in yoga, stillness, and therapeutic landscapes have developed more implicit engagements with the ideas of mindfulness (Conradson, 2007;Harrison, 2000Harrison, , 2009Lea, 2009;Williams, 2007).…”

“…To put things another way, it makes it much more difficult to use our lack of consciousness of why we think about/respond to something in a certain way as a basis for asserting some form of objectivity. in their pioneering work on mindfulness and habit, Lea et al (2015) suggest that mindful techniques can cultivate 'dialogues with the self' , in and through which the cognitive processes through which we make sense of the world become the object of conscious attention. on these terms, Lea et al argue that mindfulness can bring epistemological habits into consciousness, and support the generation of new reflective habits of cognitive self-awareness.…”