Mindfulness

See Urge Surfing

Efficacy for CSB

• Efrati, Y., & Gola, M. (2018). Treating Compulsive Sexual Behavior. Current Sexual Health Reports, 10(2), 57–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-018-0143-8 (Summary of studies)
• See section "Mindfulness-based approaches" in Birchard, T., & Benfield, J. (Eds.). (2017). Routledge International Handbook of Sexual Addiction. Routledge International Handbooks. (See there for effect on brain based on Walter & Eisendrath, 2012).
• 4.9 - Kishore Chandiramani, A role for mindfulness meditation in treating sexual addiction, in Birchard, T., & Benfield, J. (Eds.). (2017). Routledge International Handbook of Sexual Addiction. Routledge International Handbooks. (Very nice presentation, and rationale, see especially the section called "Mindfulness and addictions" and "Mindfulness and sexual addiction").

Efficacy for other Bad Habits

• Brewer JA, Mallik S, Babuscio TA, et al. Mindfulness training for smoking cessation: results from a randomized controlled trial. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011;119(1-2):72-80. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.05.027 (also includes curriculum)
• Mason, A.E., Jhaveri, K., Cohn, M. et al. Testing a mobile mindful eating intervention targeting craving-related eating: feasibility and proof of concept. J Behav Med 41, 160–173 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9884-5

Mindfulness Practice

• Mindfulness Practice
• See also Mindfulness Practice - Additional Scripts

Recommended Reading

• Mindfulness: A Jewish Approach by Dr. Jonathan Feiner
  • http://www.rocklandcbt.com/uploads/1/4/8/2/14827830/judaism___mindfulness_pdf.pdf
• Shabbos Shuva Drasha by R' Efrem Goldberg
• Suggestions by themindfulwoman.org
• Mindfulness and Jewish Meditation
• See also The Menuchah Principle -- For Life
• Be. Here. Now. An introduction to Jewish mindfulness by Ben Epstein, author of Living in the Presence: A Jewish Mindfulness Guide for Everyday Life.
• https://toratherapeutics.com/
• https://www.sie.org/templates/sie/article_cdo/aid/2468632/jewish/Chapter-IX-Healing-Through-Meditation-and-Relaxation-Techniques.htm
• מיינדפולנס חסידי [?]
• The Piaseczner Rebbe’s Hashkata method.
• https://drdansiegel.com/wheel-of-awareness/
• ACT in general (self-as-context). See also Developing the reflective self Birchard, Thaddeus. Overcoming Sex Addiction . Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Notes

Henry Steinberger, Ph.D. lists Mindfulness as the #1 relapse prevention strategy:

Learn to willingly accept your mind – The first step to preventing relapse is to understand and accept your mind. The presence of whatever your mind produces such as thoughts, beliefs, images, memories, feelings, or sensations is temporary. Even if you don’t like them, if you understand that the ideas your mind creates will change, you do not need to act on what your mind is thinking. This goes for urges and cravings. Note how they simply come and go. They may seem like a problem, but avoiding them through addictive behavior appears as the real problem in the long run. Consider learning and practicing “Mindfulness” to increase your ability to “sit with” or “ride out” urges without acting on them.

• Is Mindfulness Jewish? What turns two Orthodox Jewish psychologists to the study and practice of a discipline that some would associate with spirituality from the non-Jewish East? Dr. Epstein, who has semichah from Yeshiva University, contends that mindfulness is unequivocally part of Jewish culture. “Rav Aryeh Kaplan, zt”l, wrote that there is a strong tradition of meditation and mysticism in mainstream Judaism, and until Jews become aware of the spiritual richness of their own tradition, it is understandable that they will search in other pastures. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l, echoed this statement.”

• Jon Kabat-Zinn was born to a specular Jewish family. He rejects the label of "Buddhist", preferring to "apply mindfulness within a scientific rather than a religious frame".
• The Piacetzner Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto taught the hashkata (quieting of the mind) method to his young followers using the minute hand of a clock as the object of focus (Shapira 2004, pp. 101–105). The meditator could also focus on a sensation in the body, one’s breath, a sound, or an aroma for a designated period of time. When the mind wanders, one keeps bringing the attention back to the object of focus.

From GYE Members

• A thread about mindfulness - https://guardyoureyes.com/forum/2-What-Works-for-Me/327296-Sholoms-Mindfulness-Recovery-Path
• I have found that MINDFULNESS has helped me. When I get the urge to fall, I treat each urge like a cloud, a thought, which can be put in a "box" and will soon enough blow away on the wind. Rather than something I have to act on. #ColinColin

Torah Sources

• מנוחת הנפש - בעילום שם has many sources on the topic.
• יסוד צדיק (גולדמן) עמ' רב-רג.
• See concept of מנוחת הנפש in ספר חשבון הנפש, לפין, סי' סז וסי' קפד and in a few other places in the sefer as a solution for dealing with emotions and habits. Also in his introduction he talks about a person learned to focus on one thing for a long time, and it helped him improve his life drastically (Ch. 16). But his strategies to achieve it are different than mindfulness. It's more about patience and self control (see סי' קפד).
  • מנוחת הנפש for improper thoughts - Ch. 109
• טור ושו"ע, הלכות תפלה סימן צח: ואם תבא לו מחשבה אחרת בתוך התפלה, ישתוק עד שתתבטל המחשבה.
  • מעשה רב (הגר"א), סידור הגר"א סי' מא: ואם יבוא מחשבה זרה בתפלתו ימתין עד שתלך המחשבה.
• A Judaic Exploration of Mindfulness: The Value of Being Present Jonathan Feiner, Ph.D.
• This might be related to the concept of "Hatzlacha Bizman" (see the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 20 Shevat 5730, Torah Menachem vol 59, p. 186-8).
  • The story is also mentioned in another source, and there he mentions that there is a Teshuvas Harashba about the Rashba's sedorim. עיי"ש.
• See Mindfulness: Related Torah Concepts.

Resources to Explore

• Jewish Meditation Explained
• Ophir, N. (2012). The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s call for Scientific Non-Hasidic Meditation. B’Ohr Hatorah, 22(5773 (2012-2013)), 109–123.
• Landes, Y. (2014). The Inside Story of the Founding of Jewish Meditation. B’Ohr Hatorah, 23, 172–188.
• Wallen, R. D. (2017). My Response to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Call for Kosher Therapeutic Meditation. B’Ohr Hatorah, 25, 163–175.
• Lewis, David & Rozelle, Deborah. (2016). Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Clinical Psychology, Buddhadharma, or Both? A Wisdom Perspective. 10.1007/978-3-319-44019-4_17.