Evidence that Attentional Stance Shift is Learned Rapidly, Reliably Induces Mindfulness, and Constitutes a Distinctive Marker of Cognitive Process

Objective assessment of mindfulness requires increased precision in defining associated cognitive processes. Previous work argued that vipaśyanā-like mindfulness can be characterized as a specific attentional stance—how the felt sense of self is located relative to the body. We therefore studied effect of specific shifts in attentional stance on stress reduction, mindfulness, and interoceptive awareness indices in meditation novices and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) practitioners. This paper reports on three separate studies using a simple pre-test post-test design with meditation novices and MBSR practitioners, all of whom received brief instruction (≤1 hr) in an attentional stance expected to induce vipaśyanā-like mindfulness. Novices and MBSR practitioners then participated with a 10-min recorded version of the attentional stance exercise (ASE) and were assessed on measures of perceived stress and mindfulness. MBSR practitioners were similarly assessed after a 10-min MBSR practice. One group of novices was also assessed on measures of interoceptive awareness and three positive emotions. In novices, the 10-min ASE resulted in reductions in significant stress indices and increases in mindfulness and interoceptive awareness indices. In MBSR practitioners, the ASE and MBSR practices produced similar results in stress and mindfulness. In MBSR practitioners, attentional stance in the abdomen was associated with a modestly greater, and marginally significant, increase in mindfulness than that in the chest. Brief training and a short practice session entering a diffuse abdominal attentional stance yield stress reduction and increases in mindfulness similar to the impact of an MBSR meditation practice used by trained MBSR practitioners. Attentional stance is associated with specific biologically linked and cognitively relevant somatic markers, making it an effective behavioral instrument for obtaining objective data and mechanism assessment in vipaśyanā-like mindfulness.