The topic today is mindfulness (what it is, what it isn't, background, outcomes, benefits, research around the topic and how it's applied in recovery). Mindfulness meditation is a grounded, 'in the body' presence which enables a greater capacity for self-awareness and equanimity; it is not an esoteric 'out of body' experience. • Mindfulness is a practice, rather than a philosophy; it is not enough to simply read about and 'understand' mindfulness. • Mindfulness is the process of engagement and cultivation of experiencing right now; it is not a 'technique'. • Mindfulness is a way of being that reconnects us to our own innate wisdom and wholeness. • Mindfulness in our culture today finds its roots in the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, in 1979 for the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.