Mindfulness instruction

The manuals converge on mindfulness as present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness of internal experience. Across the extracts, mindfulness is used to help participants notice thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotions as they arise, without reacting to them or overidentifying with them. Each manual also places mindfulness within the broader arc of treatment, linking it to emotional regulation, integration, and support during preparation or later sessions. The manuals differ in the specific practices and clinical uses they emphasise. The IMAP manual highlights breathing practices, body scan exercises, sensory mindfulness, mindful walking, and mindful attention to music or movement, with an emphasis on tailoring to patient needs and using mindfulness for both emotional engagement and self-regulation. The ketamine manual is narrower, focusing on mindfulness meditation tasks that are taught and cued consistently across treatment arms when required, and on using mindfulness to address craving, anxiety, and self-referential processing. The psilocybin manual overlaps with both but adds a stronger emphasis on experiential practice and ongoing use after the study. It names breath awareness, body-sensation awareness, sound awareness, touch-point awareness, and mantra-based practices, and it explicitly notes adaptation to the participant’s preferences and cultural or spiritual context. It also mentions short mindfulness breaks during activated emotional states in later sessions, which is not stated in the other two manuals.