ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the state of mind that the authors call automatic pilot, some of its beneficial and harmful effects, and the ways that it interfaces with the state of mindful awareness. The rationale for mindfulness being the foundation of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) rests on the skills which a mindfulness practice confers, of enabling one to intentionally disengage from automatic pilot with its associated style of habitual ruminative thought processes; to bring the attention back to the actuality of the moment. The term automatic pilot describes a state of mind in which one acts without conscious intention or awareness of present-moment sensory perception. The activity engaged in might be physical or mental, but the key characteristic is that awareness of the present moment is clouded. The ability to operate on automatic pilot is highly developed in the human species. It confers upon a considerable evolutionary advantage yet also creates vulnerability to emotional suffering.
