Types of Practice

Formal Mindfulness: Structured Training

Formal practice refers to dedicating a specific time and space to exercise mindfulness, similar to going to the gym to train muscles. It can vary in duration, from 5 to 45 minutes.

It is usually done in a comfortable posture (sitting or lying down) and in an environment with few distractions.

The most common techniques include meditation focused on breathing (observing the flow of air), body scanning (sequentially bringing attention to different parts of the body) or attention to sounds.

The goal is not to reach a mystical state, but to strengthen the ability to notice when the mind has been distracted and bring it back to the object of attention.

Informal Mindfulness: Integration into Everyday Life

Unlike formal mindfulness, informal practice does not require stopping the activities of the day, but performing them with full awareness. It consists of bringing the principles of mindfulness and curiosity to routine tasks.

Typical examples include "mindful eating" (noticing every taste and texture), "mindful walking" (feeling the contact of the feet with the ground) or "washing the dishes" (feeling the temperature of the water and the smell of the soap).

This modality is crucial for generalizing the skill, allowing the patient to anchor in the present during actual stressful situations, such as driving in traffic or waiting for a doctor's appointment.

Disaggregated Mindfulness (Metacognitive)

This variant, derived from metacognitive therapy, emphasizes the relationship to thoughts.

The patient is trained to observe his mental events (images, internal phrases) as if they were clouds passing through the sky or cars on a road: transitory events that do not require intervention.

The key instruction is disintegrated attention: to be aware of the thought without merging with it, without eva luating it and without trying to suppress it.

One learns to "step back" and observe the thought "I am a failure" simply as a neural event, not as an absolute fac