Mapping Mindfulness-based Performance

Abstract

In this paper, I report on the University of Huddersfield's Mindfulness and Performance Project (MAP)2, outlining the field of practice that the project was designed to profile, and exploring some of the implications of what we might call 'mindfulness-based performance'. Framing this work within the context of the growing literature on clinical and therapeutic 'mindfulness-based interventions' I explore definitions of mindfulness, and consider how contemplative science might influence and guide emergent work in the theatre. Noting the emergence of a new discipline of Contemplative Studies, I also suggest that mindfulness-based performance has a significant role to play in current research and practice regarding mindfulness applications in the broader culture.