ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the way theory and science informs and supports our teaching. It aims to outline some core principles of how the readers might engage in theoretical and scientific underpinnings, and to signpost them to further resources. The chapter offers a broad outline of the theoretical underpinnings, followed by a practical demonstration of how theories and empirical evidence offer an underpinning to our Mindfulness-Based Programme (MBP) teaching. It focuses on the roots: first, pedagogical theory and contemplative traditions are explored, and second, scientific underpinnings. The chapter illustrates a few examples of how theory from a wide range of disciplines informs and supports MBP teaching. When describing the potential impact of an MBP course in the readers' participant recruitment materials, use language like ‘Many studies have reported that MBPs can help lower anxiety’ rather than ‘It is proven that MBPs lowers anxiety’.
