The Problem with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is making us more self-absorbed, not kinder

Mindfulness is making us more self-absorbed, not kinder

Pic by Anna Isaeva/ licensed via Adobe Stock.

Promoted as the cure for all modern ills, the practice of mindfulness has become mainstream. Thanks to the help of an app, we get reminders to “focus on our breath” and “let go.”

But there’s a problem with mindfulness. And psychologists and philosophers are worried that everyone is practicing it.

Our narcissistic culture has created an unhealthy, distorted, and oversimplified version of mindfulness.

We’ve turned it into a band-aid to silence and fix our symptoms rather than to address the root cause. Mindfulness is helping people adjust to the status quo rather than transforming it.

We continue to feed self-absorption, materialism, and disconnection. Unless we practice mindfulness to make the world a better place, we will keep reinforcing unhappiness.

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