The Practice of Mindfulness and Mindful Communication: Stories of Vietnamese Practitioners

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mindfulness has its root from religions, especially Buddhism. The practice of mindfulness has been taught in the Buddha’s teachings with the aim of liberating people from suffering and cultivating happiness. The practice of mindfulness made its debut as a psychotherapeutic approach in the 1980s and has increasingly been incorporated into various mental treatments. The growing interest in the effects of mindfulness-based interventions has led to the increased number of studies on mindfulness practices in clinical settings with Western populations through the use of quantitative designs. Nevertheless, there seems to be a dearth of research on lived experiences of lay practitioners who actively engage in mindfulness practices, especially in a Vietnamese context. The present thesis aims to inquire into (i) the practice of mindfulness and (ii) the practice of mindful communication of three Vietnamese practitioners who claimed to have committed to the mindfulness practice for at least two years. Qualitative design was utilized through the use of narratives to cultivate rich data about the practitioners’ first-hand experiences. Significantly, individual narratives reflected the practitioners’ varied paths to mindfulness and how the meanings they made from mindfulness influenced the integration into their life. Additionally, the interviews garnered the descriptions of mindfulness exercises, namely sitting meditation, body scanning, deliberate concentration in daily life, keeping a journal and talking to the child within. The self-reported practices of mindful communication include awareness and self-regulation, deep listening, loving kindness meditation and beginning anew.