ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on different forms of knowledge including the experiences of students, teachers, other practitioners and formal research findings about the need to safeguard mindfulness in schools and higher education. Safeguarding aims to protect people's health, well-being and human rights and includes protecting them from things that are harmful for their health or development. It involves placing the individual at the centre and listening to and understanding his or her perspective. The chapter describes some of their voices and some other personal accounts the author have gathered from a range of sources before returning to the literature to see what light it can shed on these snippets and vignettes of experience of mindfulness meditation. It also highlights how research and theory can shed light on the students' experiences, preexisting mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression or a history of trauma or psychosis are likely to increase the risks according to Baer and Kuyken.
