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Don't Forget Your Body: Mindfulness, Embodiment, and the Treatment of Depression

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Abstract

During the past decade, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) aiming at relapse prevention in depression has been developed and empirically tested. All exercises taught during MBCT are based on the development of a heightened awareness of one's body. The important role of the body is also stressed in a recently emerging interdisciplinary field of research termed ‘embodiment.’ This research program focuses on the interactions between bodily, cognitive, and emotional processes. Based on the obvious role of the body in MBCT and on the theoretical and empirical evidence highlighting the role of the body in emotional processes, we argue that considering embodied processes might be a useful perspective for research on the etiology of depression and for mechanisms of action in MBCT.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a German Science Foundation Grant DFG: Mi 700/4-1 awarded to Johannes Michalak and a fellowship awarded to Jan Burg by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Hildesheim, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany

    Johannes Michalak

  2. Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Jan Burg

  3. University of Applied Sciences, Esslingen, Germany

    Thomas Heidenreich

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  1. Johannes Michalak
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Correspondence to Johannes Michalak.

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Michalak, J., Burg, J. & Heidenreich, T. Don't Forget Your Body: Mindfulness, Embodiment, and the Treatment of Depression. Mindfulness 3, 190–199 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-012-0107-4

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