Figure 1.

A phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices: This figure maps hypothetically two standard mindfulness-related practices, Focused Attention meditation (FA) and Open Monitoring meditation (OM), and three mental states relevant for psychopathology on a multi-dimensional phenomenological space. “Exp” and “Nov” stand for expert and novice practitioners. The three primary dimensions of this space are Object Orientation, Dereification, and Meta-awareness. They are mapped on the Euclidian space. The four secondary dimensions correspond to the qualities of Aperture, Clarity, Stability, and Effort. These four qualities are represented, respectively, by the diameter of a circle, fill color of the circle, color of the perimeter of the circle, and by the width of a supporting stalk. See text for details regarding the meditation states. Mind-wandering is represented as an effortless state (dashed line) of absorption (low Meta-awareness) where the contents of experience is phenomenally interpreted as accurate depictions of reality (low Dereification). Addictive craving is depicted as a state strongly and repeatedly oriented toward the object of addiction (high Object Orientation). Rumination is represented as a state where the person is aware of stable intrusive thoughts (some Meta-awareness) that are however still experienced as ‘real’ (low Dereification).