ABSTRACT
Participants in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course engage in a rigorous home practice schedule. For eight weeks, they are committing to 45 minutes of formal mindfulness practice each day. The aspect of mindfulness as a process of learning a new skill also requires something particular - a persistent, yet gentle determination. Learning any new skill takes a certain degree of energy, though this is not like the effort of will that the authors are accustomed to galvanising when there is a task to be completed. Mindfulness practice can be nourishing and rewarding at times and at others it can be boring and frustrating. The time spent in sessions during an MBCT course is relatively small. The crucial backbone of the course is the daily home practice. All the key learning themes within the programme can emerge through this process of investigating participants' direct experiences of engaging in the home practice.
