Increasingly, the emphasis is on experiential learning and what you do between therapy sessions because, as they say, nobody else can do it for you.

Mindfulness-based treatment is a type of contemplative neuro-psychotherapy that aims to cultivate the awareness of habitual thoughts, reactive emotional patterns, and autopilot behaviors that are harmful to the health of an individual.

Neuroscientists are still exploring the relationship between the brain and the mind and are yet to find out exactly how the mind uses the brain; however, one thing is certain that the mind is an aggregate manifestation of continuous neural processes.

If you are interested in or have already been practicing mindfulness, most likely you came across the oft-cited wisdom of maintaining non-identifying and non-judgmental perspective.

Mindfulness practice helps us accept the inherently subjective nature of our cognitive processes and see them clearly for what they are instead of repeating the same pattern of all-too-human misperceptions or mis-takes.

Transformative change becomes possible, once we can identify and unravel the patterns of harmful mental habits (conditioned responses) and extinguish associated autopilot behaviors that are hindering our progress toward self-actualization, and to this end, the mindful awareness serves as our investigative searchlight.

In terms of affect regulation, one could argue that we are all living on a sliding scale, from one moment to the next throughout the day, between two opposing mental dispositions characterized by the corresponding brain components.

As the name, neuro-plasticity, suggests, the neuronal networks of our brains have malleable characteristics and are capable of adapting and evolving in response to the demands of life or how we use the brain.

Amongst many neurological activities and mechanisms, one exceptionally remarkable process strongly associated with learning is called myelination. It is known to facilitate the establishment of automated mental processes as well as routinized behavioral patterns by paving neural superhighways.

Before learning more about contemplative neuro-psychotherapy (a.k.a. mindfulness-based treatment) and how to develop inward attention for metacognition, it may be useful to understand how our so-called conditioned mind was created in the first place and why it can be so challenging to divert the inertia of habit force when a sled is sliding down the snow-covered hill.

The manner in which we carry ourselves often reflects our attitude and state of mind. Vice versa, the postures we assume tend to influence how we feel internally. In fact, we can take advantage of this body-mind connection to color our experience by paying closer attention to postures.

Considering the fact that our body is unceremoniously repeating the cycle of inhalations and exhalations about 22,000 times a day to nourish many trillions of cells in the body, we may be able to appreciate that how we take each breath significantly impacts our cognitive functions, mood, and long-term health outcomes.

Through mindfulness meditation, we cultivate the capacity to notice one’s bubbling thoughts, briefly acknowledge them for what they are, and drop them matter-of-factly again and again until the distracting ideas and vexed topics gradually lose the power of enticement over us.

In a way, the aim of mindfulness practice is finding a seat in the realm of non-judgmental, non-identifying observation of internal experience. As we settle in the seat of detached, pure observation, we develop psychological stability to discern that our awareness of bubbling thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations is like an overseer, independent of the experience, and can remain neutral.

Instead of being fully present here & now, we tend to keep the mind busy elsewhere with distracting thoughts and unhealthy ruminations that sap and drain our vitality. Living habitually not here & now is the definition of a stressful lifestyle, in which our mental energy is chronically depleted by the disconnect between the mind and actions.

In a way, both conventional psychotherapy and mindfulness practice provide us with the second chance to grow up by promoting both interpersonal attunement and self-attunement through the cultivation of metacognition or awareness of our internal lives.