Mar 3, 2024 08:10 AM
https://www.freethink.com/society/mindfulness-myths
INTRO: Is mindfulness really the panacea it's touted to be, or are we glossing over some fundamental flaws?
You’ve been invited to dinner at a friend’s house where they’ve prepared a lovely beef bourguignon. You all sit down at your places, ladle out your portions, and get to work. Halfway through dinner, you suddenly notice something odd has happened to the person sitting across from you: She has completely stopped talking. What’s more, she is staring at you with the dead eyes of a Halloween mannequin.
“Are you alright?” you ask, a touch nervously. She starts sharply as if you’ve broken her reverie.
“Oh, sorry,” she says. “I’m trying mindful eating. I’m focusing on every bite.”
Unless you’ve been living on the Moon for the last ten years, you have probably heard of mindfulness. Schools and companies worldwide have been riding high on the mindfulness wave. Mindfulness apps get millions of downloads and mindfulness coaches are paid millions of dollars. People swear by its efficacy.
The problem, though, is that mindfulness is a building constructed on shaky foundations. According to Odysseus Stone from the University of Copenhagen, mindfulness makes three big philosophical errors... (MORE - missing detail)
COVERED: 1. Not all thoughts are equal ..... 2. Your attention is not only yours ..... 3. It is impossible to “seize the day” ..... The baby in the bathwater
INTRO: Is mindfulness really the panacea it's touted to be, or are we glossing over some fundamental flaws?
You’ve been invited to dinner at a friend’s house where they’ve prepared a lovely beef bourguignon. You all sit down at your places, ladle out your portions, and get to work. Halfway through dinner, you suddenly notice something odd has happened to the person sitting across from you: She has completely stopped talking. What’s more, she is staring at you with the dead eyes of a Halloween mannequin.
“Are you alright?” you ask, a touch nervously. She starts sharply as if you’ve broken her reverie.
“Oh, sorry,” she says. “I’m trying mindful eating. I’m focusing on every bite.”
Unless you’ve been living on the Moon for the last ten years, you have probably heard of mindfulness. Schools and companies worldwide have been riding high on the mindfulness wave. Mindfulness apps get millions of downloads and mindfulness coaches are paid millions of dollars. People swear by its efficacy.
The problem, though, is that mindfulness is a building constructed on shaky foundations. According to Odysseus Stone from the University of Copenhagen, mindfulness makes three big philosophical errors... (MORE - missing detail)
COVERED: 1. Not all thoughts are equal ..... 2. Your attention is not only yours ..... 3. It is impossible to “seize the day” ..... The baby in the bathwater