Mindfulness

From Conquering Fear in the WSJ

"Part of what mindfulness does is get to you to recognize that these critical thoughts are really stories you have created about yourself. They are not necessarily true, but they can have self-fulfilling consequences," says Zindel V. Segal, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto who devised Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to help depressed patients. "If you can get some distance from them, you can see that there are choices about how to respond."

Mindfulness also involves paying attention to your breathing and other physical sensations while observing your thoughts so you have a tapestry of information to consider, says Dr. Segal. In fact, neuro-imaging studies have shown that when people consider problems mindfully, they use additional brain circuits beyond those that simply involve problem-solving.

Although some critics initially dismissed mindfulness-based therapies as vacuous and New Age-y, dozens of randomized-controlled trials in the past decade have shown that they can be effective in managing depression, panic disorders, social phobias, sleep problems and even borderline personality disorder.
...
Psychologist Dennis Tirch, director of the New York Center for Mindfulness, Acceptance and Compassion-Focused Therapies, uses this formula to help even people with profound developmental disabilities take control of their emotions: "Feel your soles of your feet. Feel yourself breathe. Label your emotions and make space for your thoughts."

The article has several illustrations with suggested coping strategies:
Worry About Getting Fired

• Change: Resolve to work harder and be indispensable.
• Deny: Remember your recent raise and glowing review.
• Accept: Understand that everyone feels this way and ask yourself if worrying is worth it.

A Fear of Flying

• Change: Force yourself to fly as much as possible until the fear subsides.
• Deny: Remind yourself that flying is much safer than driving.
• Accept: Expect and acknowledge the fear; breathe deeply and focus on the moment.

Feeling Fat and Ugly After Reading Fashion Magazines

• Change: Resolve to eat less, exercise more and improve what you can.
• Deny: Remember nobody looks that good; even the models are air-brushed.
• Accept: Realize that magazines always make you feel fat; assess how much you really care.

From www.iciba.com, "mindfulness" is translated as follows:
正念
正念意味著“有意識地覺察”。有時我們把“正念”（mindfulness）和“覺察”（Awareness）這兩個詞......
留心
一种深深植根于古老的佛教传统、被称为“留心”（mindfulness）冥想法的现代精神健康方法正在美国开始风行起来。...
念
七?X支 Seven Enlightenment Elements...念 mindfulness...?穹? Wisdom
www.zzfish.cn - 相关搜索
而非「念」
我常将之译成「观察力」（observing power），而非「念」（mindfulness）。然而，...

I've also found it on Google as 冥想 、靜觀 and 玄覽：心居玄冥之處而覽知萬物。老子

Searching Google books for "靜觀 the" leads to this selection from Custody and treatment of dangerous prisoners: recommendation no. R (82) 17:
Page 93
這是對老、莊的"靜觀"和宋、尹的"虛靜"思想的引伸.董仲舒從天人合一的神學目的論出發,
認為人的認識&像不是外界事物;而是人身,認識的目的是通過內省自身兩表達天意. ...
Page 241
是一種神秘主義的直覺認識, ~老子的認識方法是"靜觀"、"玄覽" ,老子講"觀" ... 1 儘管
芸芸萬物、千變萬化,但都歸根於道,只要"靜觀" ,就能認識萬物周而復始、不離其根的 ...
Page 471
觀點.但是,也確實有一些哲學家把知與行、認識和實踐割裂開來.老子把"靜觀"、"玄覽"
作為 ..
I guess I should try to find the book.