Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness has a historical connection to Buddhist traditions and primarily the concept of sati, which in its original context is part of a doctrine of salvation that emphasises liberation from the material world. In the encounter with a "Western" audience, mindfulness has been partly reformulated as secular practices, and the religious features have been toned down. Today, mindfulness practices are used in healthcare, school, business, culture and sports to improve or optimise mental well-being and increase performance.

Several measures are needed to reduce the suffering that mental illness can lead to. We see it in business, school and even sports. In order to increase both performance and well-being, mental health needs attention.

Susanna Hedenborg, Professor of Sports Science

Research shows that regular mindfulness practice has positive effects on people suffering from stress, anxiety, depression and pain. Regular mindfulness training has also been shown to increase the well-being of otherwise healthy people. The exercises involve, for example, focusing on your breathing and how it feels in your body, or what you can perceive with your senses. During mindfulness training, and in life in general, it is easy for our thoughts to pull us away from the present – we brood, worry and daydream. In mindfulness exercises, the ability to observe streams of thought, accept what is happening, let go of thoughts, and consciously direct attention back to our activity is trained.

A knowledge environment to build on

At Malmö University, there is a recognised and growing sports science knowledge environment with the social issues of sport in focus, where education and research of the highest quality are inseparable. There are many international active researchers, teachers and doctoral students as well as students at all levels. We deal with questions about the organisation of sport, but also questions about how the individual is affected by sport. Today, mindfulness is used in many areas of society. We enlist the support of educational and historical studies scholars to understand what this use looks like. This is something we will build on.