One of the reasons mindfulness is becoming mainstream is because it can help us live well in the contemporary world. It is an antidote to busyness and distractedness, however compelling these can be. Many mindfulness practices have been used by people for thousands of years. The science of mindfulness is coming of age. This confluence of ancient and modern is what can give it depth and realism. Mindfulness can be masculine and feminine, it can move in and retreat, it is being strong and vulnerable, ordinary and profound, eminently practical and potentially transformative. Mindfulness skills have extraordinary potential to help us respond to some of the challenges we’re facing in the contemporary world. It can help us understand how we react and behave. It can help us respond with greater wisdom and compassion.  This presentation briefly overviews the translational story to date of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). This includes the key milestones over 20 years of definition, theory, innovations in research methods, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and implementation. Most importantly, we have learned that MBCT provides a cost-effective approach to helping people to prevent depression and that both can be integrated into mainstream mental health services. But we have also seen a growing evidence base suggesting that MBCT can promote mental health and well-being in the wider population and potentially across the lifespan. How can this work best evolve to meet its full potential? How can we unlock all that we have learned to use these psychological approaches as a vehicle to create a world without the devastating effects of depression, where we enjoy mental health and well-being and are resourced to meet the challenges of the next 50 years? When I say “we,” I mean all of us as individuals, but also as communities and as wider humanity. But for this potential to be realized we need it to be taught and learned well, with solid foundational values and in close dialogue with rigorous science.   Willem Kuyken is the Ritblat Professor of Mindfulness and Psychological at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. His work has focused on depression across the translational pathway from theory, through treatment and implementation. In particular, his research examines how cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based programs can prevent depression, promote mental health and enhance well-being across the lifespan. Dr. Kuyken has published more than 150 journal articles. He was named by Web of Science as in the top 1% of the most cited scientists in the world in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Together with Christina Feldman, he wrote Mindfulness – Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, published in 2019. A new book for the general population, provisionally entitled Mindfulness for Life is due to be published presently, also with Guilford Press. Published with kind permission from the Speaker.

Professor Rebecca Crane and Dr Ken Lunn offer a perspective on the way mindfulness research, education and training are developing, in particular in response to the multiple intersecting challenges we are living in, including social disruption, inequality, lack of inclusion and diversity, and climate and biodiversity breakdown. Mindfulness-based approaches have become widespread, with significant scientific evidence of their effectiveness in health and education, but they have much more to offer. Rebecca and Ken explore, in conversation, how mindfulness can have a much wider impact, and how Bangor University and The Mindfulness Network are rising to that challenge. Rebecca Crane is professor at Bangor University in the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice where she has played a leading role since it was founded in 2001. She is a trustee of The Mindfulness Network, and is conference chair for the International Conference on Mindfulness 2024. Ken Lunn is Executive Director of The Mindfulness Network. He also teaches mindfulness in Wakefield and is conference director for the International Conference on Mindfulness 2024. He completed an MA in Mindfulness-Based Approaches at Bangor University in 2016. Published with kind permission from both Speakers.

Oxford Professor Mark Williams gives a talk based on his latest book, Deeper Mindfulness, co-authored with Dr Danny Penman. From the book description: Use the hidden foundations of mindfulness to rediscover calm and reclaim your life in our chaotic world... There are moments in life that decide your fate. They ripple into the future and dictate how you experience the world in the moments that follow; either positive and uplifting, dark and chaotic, or flat and dull. What if you could recognise these moments before they seized control of your life? What if you could use them to set sail for a better future? What if all moments, big and small, could be harnessed this way? In Deeper Mindfulness, Prof Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman reunite to present a new eight-week guided meditation programme that takes mindfulness to the next level. Deeper Mindfulness reveals how the latest advances in neuroscience, combined with millennia-old wisdom, can be used to transform your life. These discoveries open the doors to a deeper layer of mindfulness known as the 'feeling tone'. This sets the 'background colour' that tinges your entire experience of life. It is also the tipping point from which you can reclaim your life in an increasingly stressful and chaotic world. Proven effective at treating anxiety, stress, and depression, the practices in Deeper Mindfulness offer a new and more fruitful direction for both novice and experienced meditators. It also allows the rest of us to approach life with renewed strength, vigour, and equanimity. Publisher: Piatkus / Little, Brown Book Group Professor Mark Williams is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford University. He co-developed mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), is co-author of the international bestsellers The Mindful Way Through Depression and Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World, and author of Cry of Pain: Understanding Suicide and the Suicidal Mind. Published with kind permission from the Speaker.

Imani Nia Sorhaindo (also known as Auraum Benneurt), Programme Manager at Mindfulness Network for People of Colour (MNPC) shares a cultural perspective on how Mindfulness principles and practice can personally and collectively move us beyond feelings of cultural or racial separation, disunity and fear, to more productive mind, body and spiritual presence, creating space for compassion, social cohesion and change. Imani pulls from examples of ancient African Mindfulness teachings as an Ausarian priestess, which can be applied in today's world to assist in our search for peace, unity, and justice for all. Published with kind permission from the Speaker.

A short vlog of the festival experience by High-Rise Communications