Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

206003

Insights from quiet minds

the converging fields of mindfulness and mind-wandering

Michael D. Mrazek Benjamin W. Mooneyham Jonathan W. Schooler

pp. 227-241

Abstract

Our lives are filled with an endless array of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings, and our attention usually darts back and forth between them. Yet meditative traditions have long valued the capacity to remain undistracted from our immediate experience, and countless individuals make a practice of stabilizing their awareness in the here and now. What are the implications of anchoring our usually restless minds? Could stabilizing our attention provide an informative lens into the dynamics of the human brain? Here we review recent research that situates mindfulness as an opposing construct to mind-wandering and a remedy for wandering minds. We then review empirical intersections between mindfulness and mind-wandering from recent neuroimaging studies.

Publication details

Published in:

Schmidt Stefan, Walach Harald (2014) Meditation: neuroscientific approaches and philosophical implications. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 227-241

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_13

Full citation:

Mrazek Michael D., Mooneyham Benjamin W., Schooler Jonathan W. (2014) „Insights from quiet minds: the converging fields of mindfulness and mind-wandering“, In: S. Schmidt & H. Walach (eds.), Meditation, Dordrecht, Springer, 227–241.