Mindfulness- and Acceptance-Based Biofeedback

Mindfulness and acceptance practices have become increasing popular and better accepted in Western culture in the recent decades. There now exists a wealth of empirical evidence demonstrating the positive effect of mindfulness meditation on physical and mental health, as well as its ability to influence brain structure and function. Mindfulness and acceptance skills may enhance internal awareness of physiological states, facilitate passive volition, improve learning, memory, and attention, and encourage structural and functional brain changes conducive to lower sympathetic arousal. All of these factors are vital to biofeedback success. This paper will introduce a framework for integrating mindfulness and acceptance skills into biofeedback and provide treatment relevant example of using these skills.