Mindfulness revolves around certain psychological states that are really different versions of the same thing:
1. Openness to Novelty
2. Alertness to Distinction
3. Sensitivity to different contexts
4. Implicit, if not explicit, awareness of multiple perspectives, and
5. Orientation in the present
Each leads to the others and back to itself. Learning a subject or skill with an openness to novelty and actively noticing differences, contexts and perspectives – sideways learning – makes us receptive to changes in an ongoing situation. In such a state of mind, basic skills and information guide our behavior in the present, rather than run it like a computer program.
From The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen J. Langer.