Mindfulness in politics and public policy

Abstract

A key factor in the popularity of mindfulness training in public life is the conviction of grassroots advocates seeking to pass on the benefits they have experienced through personal practice. In this manner, mindfulness training has found its way into the realm of government, with parliamentary programmes seeding ambition amongst politicians to research and employ its transformative potential at both interpersonal and policy levels. In a high-stakes, adversarial setting, mindfulness practice helps elected representatives to cope with specific challenges, and an inquiry by the UK Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group has contributed to the emergence of mindfulness training in numerous policy narratives. By developing a new kind of familiarity with their own inner lives, a growing number of politicians are finding a new way to approach political discourse, and a corresponding enthusiasm for policy that tackles society's problems at the level of the human heart and mind. Some are starting to ask whether mindfulness might be more than a targeted intervention for specific issues, and may in fact contribute to the flourishing of society more broadly - marking an important development from concern with individual benefits to benefits for the whole.