Cultivating Well-Being through the Three Pillars of Mind Training: Understanding How Training the Mind Improves Physiological and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Research on the physiological and emotional health benefits of meditative practices has grown exponentially over the last two decades, influencing both scientific literature and popular media. Research has highlighted three distinct components or pillars at the core of meditative practices and mind training. They are, focused attention, open awareness, and Kind Intention. Neuroimaging studies and recent research highlight that the repeated practice of directing attention and awareness can enhance neural connections, and turn momentary mindful states into more enduring mindful traits. Most meditative practices typically only engage one or two of these elements, and there has been no identified meditative practice that integrates all three pillars that we are aware of, except for a concept referred to as the “Wheel of Awareness”. The Wheel is a practical framework for understanding and practicing mindful awareness, and is unusual because it engages all three pillars in one practice, shaping how energy and information flow from one component to the next one. Through conscious practice individuals can improve the ability to observe and reflect on the mind, increasing the ability to monitor and modify neural networks, which in turn modulate physiological responses within the body. Further research is proposed to further understand the neurobiological underpinnings behind repeated practice, including longitudinal studies monitoring neuroplasticity and activity in establishing new neural connections and synaptic changes.

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Open Access
OBM Integrative and
Complementary Medicine
Research Article
Cultivating Well-Being through the Three Pillars of Mind Training:
Understanding How Training the Mind Improves Physiological and
Psychological Well-Being
Andrew Villamil 1, †, ‡, *, Talya Vogel 2, †, Elli Weisbaum 3, †, Daniel J. Siegel 4, †
1. Pepperdine University/ University of California, Los Angeles, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263, Malibu, USA; E-Mail: Andrew.Villamil@pepperdine.edu
2. PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, 1791 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94304, Palo Alto, USA;
E-Mail: talyav@stanford.edu
3. University of Toronto, Institute of Medical Science, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College
Cir, Toronto, ON, Canada; E-Mail: elliweisbaum@gmail.com
4. Mindsight Institute, 1137 2nd St #202, Santa Monica, USA; E-Mail: dan@drdansiegel.com
‡ Current Affiliation: Pepperdine University, Mindsight Institute
† These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Correspondence: Andrew Villamil; E-Mail: Andrew.Villamil@pepperdine.edu
Academic Editors: Sok Cheon Pak and Soo Liang Ooi
Special Issue: Health Benefits of Meditation
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine
2019, volume 4, issue 1
doi:10.21926/obm.icm.1901003
Received: October 3, 2018
Accepted: January 7, 2019
Published: January 17, 2019
Abstract
Research on the physiological and emotional health benefits of meditative practices has
grown exponentially over the last two decades, influencing both scientific literature and
popular media. Research has highlighted three distinct components or pillars at the core of
meditative practices and mind training. They are, focused attention, open awareness, and

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kind intention. Neuroimaging studies and recent research highlight that the repeated
practice of directing attention and awareness can enhance neural connections, and turn
momentary mindful states into more enduring mindful traits. Most meditative practices
typically only engage one or two of these elements, and there has been no identified
meditative practice that integrates all three pillars that we are aware of, except for a
concept referred to as the “Wheel of Awareness”. The Wheel is a practical framework for
understanding and practicing mindful awareness, and is unusual because it engages all three
pillars in one practice, shaping how energy and information flow from one component to the
next one. Through conscious practice individuals can improve the ability to observe and
reflect on the mind, increasing the ability to monitor and modify neural networks, which in
turn modulate physiological responses within the body. Further research is proposed to
further understand the neurobiological underpinnings behind repeated practice, including
longitudinal studies monitoring neuroplasticity and activity in establishing new neural
connections and synaptic changes.
Keywords
Neuro-Psychology; mindfulness; interpersonal neurobiology; meditation; wellbeing; health;
clinical interventions; healthcare; psychology
1. Introduction
Research on the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness meditation, along with
other meditative practices, has grown exponentially over the last two decades, influencing both
scientific literature and popular media. Within the last six years, the number of journal articles
published yearly on the topic of mindfulness has doubled, with 692 publications in peer reviewed
journals in 2017, up from 300 in 2013 [1]. With the increasing popularity and public awareness of
mindfulness, there has been a growing concern - both from within and outside the mindfulness
community - that popular media portrays meditation as a “universal panacea” for a broad range of
conditions [2]. There are critiques that "meditation" and “mindfulness” are not defined clearly
enough within the literature, as there are a wide variety of contemplative practices from a range
of ancient practices, such as from the Buddhist tradition that are included within the formal
practice of “meditation” [2, 3]. This broad use of the term “meditation” may contribute to
exaggerated claims about the impact of its practice, and fails to account for the current research
linking particular types of meditative practices to specific benefits [4, 5, 6]. The phrase, “where
attention goes, neural firing flows and neural connection grows” [7], emphasizes the neural reality
that how attention is focused in specific ways with particular practices, will stimulate different
areas of the brain to grow [8]. In Altered Traits, Goleman & Davidson discuss this issue and note
that the term “meditation” has been used as a catch-all word for myriad varieties of
contemplative practice, just as sports refers to a wide range of athletic activities. For both sports
and meditation, the end results vary depending on what you actually do [4]. Recent research has
moved away from a broad discussion of the benefits of meditation, and has instead focused on
the unique neurological and health benefits of specific meditative practices. Broadly speaking, a

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meditative practice creates a temporary, intentionally cultivated mental state. With repetition, the
specific state of neural firing can lead to neuroplastic changes, such that a baseline change in
neural structure and functional connectivity then becomes the basis for a new trait. This is how
specific meditative practice induces states that can become long term traits in individuals [4, 7].
Research on meditation has highlighted three mental elements that can be considered the core
of meditative practices that cultivate states of integration and ultimately traits of healthy living.
Other elements of practice may be demonstrated in the future to be important as well, but at this
moment the research literature has identified these as common foundational components [5].
These include the training of (1) focused attention, (2) open awareness, and (3) kind intention (or
what is alternatively called loving kindness or compassion) [7]. Attention, awareness, and
intention can be viewed as foundational elements of the mind [9, 10]. This review will discuss
these three types of meditations that are currently most commonly studied within research as
Focused Attention Meditation (FAM), Open Monitoring Meditation (OMM), and Loving Kindness
Meditation (LKM). In this way, a systematic practice of cultivating these mental elements can
activate a specific state that with practice can change their baseline functioning, altering the traits
of the individual. These three areas of practice can be referred to as the “three pillars” of mind
training [7] (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Illustration used with permission by Madeleine Welch Siegel from Aware, ©
2018 Mind Your Brain Inc.
Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), a cross-disciplinary approach to exploring the science of
human behaviour [10], views the three pillars as complementary to one another as each train the
mind in an interrelated way [7]. In the ongoing discussions of what “mindfulness” itself means,
some include kindness as an essential component of what being mindful entails, yet others include
the training of this state of positive regard to others and oneself as a separate training distinct
from mindfulness practice. Because of this disparity in consistency of definitions in the field [4, 11,
12], we will use the parsimonious term, “mind training” to refer to the set of practices that include
the three pillars. Beyond merely an issue of semantics, this broader term reminds researchers,

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clinicians and meditation practitioners that training the mind includes very specific components
and that the specificity of outcomes claimed is shaped by the specificity of the practices
themselves. In line with this growing body of research, this review will use the three pillars of mind
training as a framework to explore the unique benefits, neural underpinnings and examples of
practices found within the broad spectrum of meditation. While there are meditation practices
that may not fall within these three pillars, such as Transcendental Meditation [13], referring to
each of these practices individually is beyond the scope of this paper. The current review will
highlight the potential power, scope, and impact of training these three pillars to cultivate both
personal and interpersonal well-being.
2. Pillar I: Focused Attention
Focused attention refers to the ability to maintain one’s concentration, manage distractions by
letting go of them when they arise, and refocus attention on the original object of attention [7, 14].
In meditative practices, focused attention meditation (often referred to as FA or FAM) is taught by
using a specific element - for example the breath - as an anchor toward which to purposefully
direct attention. Studies of meditation practices that are based on focused attention have
reinforced the concept that intentionally guiding the flow of energy and information can improve
communication between structures in the brain [3, 15, 16]. For example, a study by Brewer and
colleagues found increased connectivity between posterior cingulate, dorsal anterior cingulate,
and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices both at baseline and during meditation in experienced
meditators [17]. Attention training enables the practitioner to strengthen how attention is focused,
sustained, and redirected with a distraction [3, 5, 15, 18]. In this way, attention can be viewed as
involving a range of networks in the brain that shape how energy and information are directed
and sustained.
An example of focusing attention as a meditative practice is the Focused Attention Meditation
(FAM). FAM is a popular meditative practice that utilizes focused attention on a chosen object
(e.g., a candle) or event (e.g., breathing) [3, 5, 15]. A common example of focused attention
practice involves focusing one’s attention on the breath, becoming aware of when the mind
wanders or becomes distracted, and then gently guiding one’s attention back to the original object
of attention.
In a practice referred to as the “Wheel of Awareness” [7], the experience of knowing or being
aware is placed in a hub of a metaphoric wheel. The various potential objects of attention, the
“knowns” of consciousness, are placed along the rim. In this way, a visual image of a spoke of
attention is directed from the hub of awareness to the rim of the knowns (see Figure 2). In the first
of four segments of the rim are the first five senses - hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and
touching. Each sense is the focus, sequentially moving attention to the next sensory stream and
letting the prior one go. Then the spoke is moved to the second segment and the various internal
bodily sensations, ranging from the muscles, bones, and internal organs, such as the intestines and
heart, become the objects of directed attention, one by one. Focused attention on each of these
external and internal senses help develop this first pillar of mind training.

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Figure 2 Illustration used with permission by Madeleine Welch Siegel, in Aware, ©
copyright 2018, Mind Your Brain, Inc.
The mind as a regulatory process can be seen to have both the monitoring and the modifying
components, each of which can be strengthened with mind training [7, 19]. The focus of attention
builds the skill of “monitoring” so that energy and information patterns are detected with more
stability and therefore more depth, focus and detail [3, 4, 15]. This directed attention shapes the
subjective experience of the mind by allowing the individual to alter where attention goes in the
present moment and which energy streams enter awareness. The repeated practice of focused
attention improves the focus from an intentionally created state during practice to a more
generalized capacity as an enduring trait that likely involves neuroplastic growth in the brain [4].
Overall, the creation of an enduring trait that cultivates healthy functioning may involve the
regulatory circuits of the brain. Regulation may depend upon the linking of differentiated
regions—a process that can simply be called “integration” [10]. In the view of interpersonal
neurobiology, neural integration is the basis of well-being and enables an integrative state to
become an integrative trait, a foundational characteristic of the individual that may generalize
across contexts. For example, establishing a healthy physiological response to distress would be to
take steps to immediately regulate the body’s autonomic functions, such as respiration, which can
help an individual focus on the present moment. That focusing would then enable somatic and
mental states to enter an integrative flow of being interpersonally more receptive and flexible,
reinforcing the inner physiological and mental state of balance with a relational sense of
connection. In this way, we can see the mind as both an embodied and relational process [10].
Meditative practices that strengthen the mind and cultivate integration may impact the well-being
of an individual in both the embodied and relational facets of the mind.
Focusing attention on the breath helps to diffuse the lower brain region’s response to
threatening stimuli [5, 15, 20]. By recruiting the limbic regions, along with cortical circuits of the

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brain, an individual can establish a sense of awareness that facilitates the process of emotional
regulation [4, 7]. Stabilizing attention helps an individual see with more clarity, focus, depth and
detail. With such stabilizing of the mind’s monitoring capacity, the modulation component of
regulation can then be more effectively engaged. A study that used a neurophenomenological
approach, combining fMRI neurofeedback and first-person reports of subjective experience, found
correlations between meditator’s self-reported subjective experience of “undistracted awareness”
to correspond with posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) deactivation, while participants’ subjective
experience of “distracted awareness” corresponded with PCC activation [5, 21]. These findings
shed light on the workings of the default mode network (DMN) and suggest that meditation can
have a direct impact on our ability to monitor and modify mind wandering [21]. Such research
demonstrates that focusing attention improves neural integration and may lead to increased well-
being among individuals who practice regularly.
Being aware of an internal state can help an individual pause, know that state with clarity, and
then modify that internal state and alter externally directed behaviours. How? When we view
mental experience as emerging from energy flow, and when differentiated aspects of that flow
can become linked, a more flexible state is created. Awareness enables the linkage of
differentiated processes to more readily arise. In this view, neural integration of this embodied
flow of energy creates a more flexible, adaptive, coherent, energized and stable (FACES) flow [19].
Focusing attention on awareness is a gateway to becoming present, linking differentiated parts,
and regulating this process more effectively as it enters a state of neural integration.
By differentiating the hub of knowing (being aware] from the rim of the knowns (the object of
awareness), a meditative practitioner can learn to integrate consciousness. Specific neural
correlates and potential impacts of such an integrative process will need to be determined with
future research. One potential is that this process, with repeating practice, could activate and
strengthen regions of the brain responsible for attention and emotional regulation, such as the
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which communicates between the limbic regions and the
prefrontal cortex [5, 15, 22]. These integrative states would also enable the DMN to become less
differentiated, reduce its excessive firing, and make its functions more balanced in its contribution
to the brain’s other networks [17].
Focusing attention can improve neural network communication in the extended nervous
system as it recruits a structure like the ACC and the insula, facilitating communication between
the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system, which can help facilitate emotional regulation [23].
Repeatedly strengthening focused attention through specific practices, this state of regulation can
lead to an enduring trait [4]. For example, an individual who is looking to improve their response
to situations in a highly stressful work environment can practice focused attention, which may
lead to an increased ability to regulate emotions [24]. This research demonstrates that focusing
attention leads to improved emotional responses, possibly due to enhancements in neural
integration [25], and represents a foundational aspect of training an integrative mind.
3. Pillar II: Open Awareness
Open Awareness refers to a state of being receptive to objects within awareness, without
getting attached to them or lost in them [7]. Open Monitoring Meditation is one example of a
meditation technique that develops an individual's ability to engage in a state of open awareness.

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The focus of the meditation becomes the monitoring of awareness, or the ability to recognize
when thoughts or feelings arise [3, 5, 15]. In contrast to FAM, there is no specific designated
object in the internal or external environment that the meditator intentionally focuses on. Rather,
the practitioner expands their scope of attention to include the flow of their own perceptions,
thoughts and emotions with the primary objective being the stabilization of meta-awareness [14].
In the Wheel of Awareness practice, open monitoring occurs in the third segment of the rim in
which any mental activity--emotion, thought, memory, intention, belief, or other mental
processes--is invited into awareness in the hub (See Figure 2). This part of the practice also invites
the practitioner to focus on the characteristics with which a mental activity, the object that arises
from the rim, enters the awareness of the hub. Exploring how a thought or memory first enters,
stays present, and then leaves awareness, becomes a part of the learning in this stage. Even
sensing the “gap” between two mental activities, such as two thoughts or a thought and a
memory, helps to continue the differentiation of the awareness in the hub from the objects of
attention of the rim. A more advanced step follows, with the bending of the spoke of attention
back into the hub, the retracting of the spoke, or simply not having a spoke. Here, awareness is
filled with the experience of being aware of awareness itself. This hub-in-hub stage of the practice
enables the experience of pure awareness, which further helps practitioners integrate
consciousness as they differentiate the knowing of awareness in the hub from the knowns of
attention on the rim.
Once a meditator progresses into open monitoring, the goal is to remain aware of any passing
experience, without attempting to refocus the mind on anything in particular [5, 3]. The aim is to
broaden attentional focus, rather than honing attention on a specific object or thought [15, 3].
This allows the individual to practice engaging in a non-reactive experience to external and
internal stimuli, and build the capacity to recognize within awareness thoughts and emotions as
they arise and not become swept up into them [3, 7, 15]. Dr. Vo, a pediatrician who has adapted
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) into a program for adolescents, describes the
practice of open monitoring as an opportunity to tap into one's “inner clarity”, strength and
resilience - which results in an individual's ability to purposefully not be pulled away from present
moment experience by their thoughts or perceptions [26]. In Wheel terms, the ability to
distinguish hub from rim enables practitioners to rest in the spaciousness of awareness without
becoming lost on the rim’s various objects of attention.
4. Pillar III: Kind Intention
Kind intention exists as a state of mind, which embraces the cultivation of caring motivation
towards all living beings. This third pillar of mind training is at the core of many meditative
practices and is defined as the ability to exist in a positive, compassionate and loving (internal or
external) state of mind [7]. In traditional practices, terms such as “loving kindness” or “directed
compassion” are used, suggesting that our care for one another is at the crux of kind intention
practices. Sharon Salzberg (2002), a meditation educator, states that loving kindness is “all about
our interconnectedness,” revealing the deeply relational nature of this state of mind [7].
In the Wheel of Awareness practice, this sense of interconnectivity is cultivated on the fourth
segment of the rim. Relationships with other people and the planet are explored by opening
awareness to the sensations of a progressively wider set of interconnections, from local to global.

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Research on the repeating of verbal statements of care and kindness has shown positive changes
in physiology and behaviour [4, 27, 28]. By practicing statements of kind intention, the individual
shapes the flow of energy and information within the mind by directing thoughts of loving
kindness towards oneself and then towards others. This directed flow of energy is a mental
process that weaves various electrical signals across the brain, linking differentiated regions
together. Studies of non-referential compassion, for example, have found high gamma waves in
electrical studies of brain activity revealing elevated states of the linking of differentiated areas of
the brain [29, 30, 31]. Gamma wave activity is associated with mental processes such as working
memory, conscious perception, attention, and learning; demonstrating coordination between
neurons referred to as “synchrony” [30]. Meditative practice involving imagining compassion leads
to high gamma synchrony, which researchers believe plays a vital role in the networks that
integrate differentiated neural processes enabling highly coordinated and organized cognitive
functions to arise and facilitate synaptic growth, and demonstrates improvement in neural
integration [30]. Evidence from compassion and loving kindness research demonstrates that there
are mechanisms that exist that alter neural connectivity [31]. These findings demonstrate that
practicing loving kindness improves health and well-being. Further research is needed to
understand how this process can be utilized in different populations as a form of targeted mental
training [29, 32, 33, 34]
A positive stance towards one’s own inner world and the inner subjective experience of “others”
(external) is the broad attitude embedded in the notion of kind intention. Compassion and positive
regard are included in this state of mind, a kind of mental vector that directs the overall flow of
energy and information. A hostile intention would create one set of unfolding’s; a kind intention
would create a wholly different state. Compassion is a term used to refer to a mental stance
concerned about the suffering of others or the self. This involves being aware of suffering and
imagining how to reduce distress and carry out actions to reduce suffering [35]. This directed
practice of compassion can lead to prosocial behaviour in humans and has been shown to be a
significant factor in improving mental health as well [36, 37, 38]. Loving Kindness includes
statements of compassion, but also focuses on the happiness and thriving of others. Such positive
states invite a focus on empathic concern and empathic joy; for example, being able to care about
the mental experiences of others and also rejoice in their health and success. In this manner,
loving kindness, compassion, and positive regard are collectively subsumed under the broad term,
kind intention. A concrete example of the impact that this kind of practice can have on prosocial
behaviour is seen through studies that look at the effect of loving kindness practice on our mind’s
distinction of in- and out-groups. A six-week control trial with three conditions: 6-week loving
kindness practice, 6-week lovingkindness discussion and waitlist control showed decreases in
implicit bias against stigmatized outgroups. The reduction was observed only in the lovingkindness
practice condition, implying that loving kindness meditation can reduce automatically activated
implicit attitudes towards stigmatized social groups [39].
When kind intention is practiced, individuals are able to build prosocial behaviour through
empathy, compassion and kindness. This practice recruit’s areas of the brain that maintain health
and support individual well-being, while simultaneously providing support toward the well-being
of ‘others’ and all living beings [7, 36, 38]. Ultimately, kind intention is about the care and concern
for well-being within and between. Directing compassion by guiding energy and information flow
towards all living beings influences electrical activity in the cortex. Recent research also

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demonstrates the movement of energy throughout structures in the body innervated by the vagus
nerve [7, 36, 38, 40]. In addition to high gamma wave activity across regions of the brain, the
vagus nerve, the largest cranial nerve, is likely recruited during kind intention meditative practices.
Also known as the pneumogastric nerve, the vagus nerve is a component of the parasympathetic
nervous system, influencing functions of the heart, the lungs, and as far down as the digestive
system. Research shows that the vagus nerve is activated by individuals who practice compassion
and engage in prosocial behaviour [36, 38, 40]. Kok & Fredrickson (2010) demonstrate that
prosocial behaviour is cultivated through kind intention and leads to higher vagal tone. Studies
show that individuals with higher vagal tone experience significant health benefits [28, 36]. For
example, higher vagal tone leads to better overall cardiovascular health, reduces levels of
inflammation throughout the body, leads to stronger emotional and social connections, and
improves emotional regulation [28, 36, 40, 41]. In these ways, loving kindness can improve
gastrointestinal processes, pain management and cardiovascular risk factors [40, 41]. Improving
vagal tone can lead to health benefits, such as better heart rate variability (revealing enhanced
balance of parasympathetic and sympathetic inputs to heart rate), and lower blood pressure. [28,
36, 41-43].
While distinct practices have been shown to activate and strengthen different areas of the
brain [8], in practice the three pillars serve to reinforce the functions of each other. Therefore, it
should be considered that while each of the three pillars can be defined separately, they may be
most effective when used in relation to one another. Being able to strengthen the focus of
attention, for example, may be best carried out with kind regard when the mind wanders.
Opening awareness is facilitated by being able to sense how to move attention away from an
object of focus and into pure, receptive awareness. This distinguishes the experience of being
aware from the object within awareness; cultivating a kind stance or a state of kind intention, can
be facilitated from a state of acceptance and being wide open in awareness.
Having a positive regard, sense of purpose in being of service to others, and kind intention
optimizes the enzyme, telomerase, which repairs and maintains the ends of the chromosomes,
enhancing cellular health and longevity [32]. Research notes that the intense cultivation of
focused attention may also lead to such changes [44]. Additionally, being open to what is
happening as it is happening (i.e., presence) may also reveal how such mental presence cultivates
cellular health [32, 45, 46]. Such research demonstrates how each of the three pillars may
participate in a common physiological improvement, the optimization of telomerase.
Though it may be hard to distinguish which of the three pillars is the active agent of change,
three-pillar training overall can be said to create positive changes in the health of the body. Such
changes include an overall reduction in stress [47], improvements in immune function [48-50],
reduced inflammation [51, 52], reduced cardiovascular risk factors through increased vagal tone
[43], and a decreased rate of cellular aging as suggested by Blackburn and Epel (2017). Further,
studies suggest that three-pillar practice increases the functional and structural integration in the
brain. For example, examining the brains of long term meditators, studies have found increased
connectivity in the corpus callosum, which links differentiated left and right hemispheres [53],
increased hippocampal volume [54], and increased cortical thickness within the prefrontal cortex
[55]. In addition, studies of the interconnected networks of the brain called the “connectome”
reveal that these practices also lead to a more functionally and structurally interconnected
connectome [17, 20, 52, 56, 57]. These results demonstrate that strengthening our capacity for

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focused attention, open awareness, and kind intention is an integral part of improving physical
and emotional health and well-being. This three-pillar mind-training approach provides an
empirically supported way to create meditative states that can transform into long-term positive
traits in our individual and collective lives.
5. Discussion
5.1 The Wheel of Awareness: A Practical Example in Applying the Three Pillars
The Wheel of Awareness is a reflective practice which integrates all three pillars into a single
meditation based activity. The original concept of the Wheel of Awareness as a singular practice
was to integrate consciousness by differentiating and then linking its components. Consciousness
can be seen as having at least two facets -- the knowing of being aware and the knowns of what
one can be aware of [7, 19]. By differentiating awareness in the hub from the objects of awareness
on the rim, the visual metaphor of the Wheel became a useful model for visualizing aspects of the
mind, and specifically how to integrate the experience of consciousness. This practice was
designed based on the Interpersonal Neurobiology notions that integration is the basis of well-
being and that consciousness is needed for change in such processes as education, parenting, and
psychotherapy [7, 10, 58, 59]. By differentiating the knowing of awareness from the knowns of
consciousness, metaphorically placing awareness in the hub and the range of entities and
processes that can be the focus of attention along the rim, the Wheel of Awareness offers a
unique practice that integrates consciousness by systematically linking these differentiated
knowns of the rim to the knowing of the hub. Focused attention is cultivated along the first two
segments of the rim. Open awareness is developed on the third segment aspect of the practice,
including the bending of the spoke enabling awareness of awareness to be experienced. Kind
Intention, the cultivation of a kind regard and awareness of the interconnections of life, is
developed along the fourth segment practice of the Wheel. In these ways, this reflective practice
derived from scientific reasoning and clinical practice utilizing the lens of Interpersonal
Neurobiology overlaps with the three pillars derived from ancient contemplative traditions. This is
an example of a consilient finding [60] in which independent pursuits have overlapping findings.
Future controlled studies will need to establish the empirical support for the clinical and workshop
case reports of significant improvements in well-being with the practice.
Another unique feature of the Wheel of Awareness is that it offers one approach that combines
each of the three usually independent elements into one single practice. While research on each
of the three pillars that comprise the Wheel has been carried out with individual contemplation-
derived practices, future studies will be needed to support the implication of these findings that
doing all three pillars in one regular practice such as the Wheel also leads to the improved
physiological, psychological, and relational health of distinct practices.
In addition to the positive outcomes of the individual pillars and the potential synergistic effect
of combining them into one integrative whole, the Wheel has some interesting academic and
theoretical implications regarding awareness and the human mind. The reports of a subset of a
large (10,000 individuals) study of workshop participants who offered first-person accounts of the
experience of doing the Wheel have provided useful data points for illuminating the subjective
experience of both rim and hub elements of the practice [7]. By then attempting to coordinate

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those common findings across cultures and educational backgrounds of participants experiencing
this science-inspired integration of consciousness practice with potential views of the nature of
mental life, new insights into the origins of consciousness and the therapeutic power of the ability
to cultivate presence in an individual’s life have been possible [7].
6. Conclusions
Mind training involves practicing meditation regularly. There is not yet consensus about
minimal duration needed, but some suggest regular is better than irregular, and perhaps about a
dozen minutes a day is potentially a minimal duration [18, 61]. Most research shows that, if
practiced daily, an individual can begin to alter neural connections within eight weeks, creating a
mental state of well-being that is primed to become a long term, altered trait [4]. In this way, the
active state created in a practice becomes a positive shift in state that will then become
generalized and engaged throughout non-practice times. Neuroscience research highlights that
the three pillars of focused attention, open awareness, and kind intention promote neural
network activation and linkage in different regions of the brain depending on the type of
meditation being used, and can be seen as essential components for training the mind. Future
findings may reveal other pillars that are foundational for strengthening the mind. Each individual
pillar likely provides distinct benefits in linking differentiated regions of the brain leading to
improved overall health and well-being while shaping how energy is transmitted across
connections within the central nervous system, the body as a whole, and perhaps even in
connecting an individual’s internal state to that of others through empathic and compassionate
communication. As energy and information flow is shaped and the experience of being present in
life is reinforced, these differentiated regions of the brain become activated and each pillar may
reinforce the others. With practice, these differentiated regions can grow neural connections that
are then linked together, leading to improved neural integration and activity within the individual
and enhanced interpersonal connections in the person’s relational life.
Research on the three pillars suggests that each one complements each other and perhaps in a
singular practice, may even be found to have a synergistic effect. Three-pillar mind training
supports well-being in the body, the brain, relationships between the individual and others, and
modulates the capacity for regulating attention, emotion, thought, and memory. Taken as a whole,
the mechanism for training the mind follows the neuroscientific concept, “where attention goes,
neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” Combining all three pillars into a regular
practice can be studied in future research to confirm the impression that it leads to positive
regulatory changes that may arise from increased neural integration in the brain and relational
integration in the connections of individuals to the social and natural world surrounding them.
Through an integrated and integrative approach that combines all three pillars, discussed here
through the Wheel of Awareness practice, it may be possible to alter interconnectivity between a
wide set of regions of the brain in a manner that benefits long term health and well-being. Practice
can promote neural integration, enhancing how individuals feel in their daily lives and how the
physiological processes within their bodies support health.
Research on both the mind and mind training is still in its emergent stages. Further research is
needed to more fully understand the long-term benefits of how three-pillar practices and other
mind training strategies may support the mechanisms of a healthy mind. For example, future

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studies on the Wheel of Awareness practice and its long-term effects would provide more answers
about the benefits of daily practice that combines all three pillars into one approach. Additionally,
neuroimaging studies while practicing the individual pillars sequentially in a simultaneous exercise,
such as the Wheel, could provide data on interactions among regions of the brain, and
demonstrate what is occurring through each step of the exercise. Another area of inquiry could be
to explore whether the order in which this type of Wheel practice is conducted is essential to
producing health benefits. Can the framework of the Wheel be used as a targeted clinical
intervention for specific disorders? Are there modifications to the three-pillar approach that need
to be tailored to given clinical conditions? There are many exciting ideas and mechanisms of
growth to explore. Thus far, the research on these three pillars of mind training implicates mind
training as a potential mechanism to enhance individual and collective health across a spectrum of
neural, physiological, inner and interpersonal processes of well-being. These results demonstrate
that when engaging with three pillars of mind training, energy and information flow may be
cultivated toward states of integration that become traits of health.
Acknowledgments
Author would like to acknowledge Madeleine Welch Siegel, Mary Hargis, Alan Castel, Julio and
Stefanie Quiceno, Anthony and Linda Calciano, Brian Betz, Barshen Habelhah, Ryan Mckeithan,
whose work helped inspire and support this work.
Author Contributions
Andrew Villamil authored the article, abstract, integration of Neuroscience research and
practice, health benefits, and edited. Talya Vogel authored the introduction, and edited. Elli
Weisbaum edited, and did mindfulness research. Daniel J. Siegel authored The Wheel of
Awareness practice, ran the 10,000 individuals sample study, insight with interpersonal
neurobiology perspective throughout the article and literature, and edited.
Competing Interests
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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