Mindfulness is the keyword of our time. It is basically a promise to reduce your stress, anxiety and depression while bringing a load of health benefits on top of that. However, scientists at the University of Waterloo say that most people are applying the concept of mindfulness incorrectly, even if they actually understand what it is.
Popularized concepts of mindfulness, according to researchers, are not exactly what mindfulness should really be. Image credit: Pedrocastillo09 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Mindfulness concepts are now everywhere. There are plenty of articles and videos online talking about mindfulness and teaching it. There are also apps and courses for it. However, scientists notice that a lot of those mindfulness concepts are not exactly what that term was designed to mean. And that’s a bit of a problem, because plenty of research shows the benefits of mindfulness and people would like to take advantage of them, but apparently they are doing that incorrectly.
Scientists analysed popular concepts of mindfulness and found that most people are simply passively accepting their problems, thinking that it is mindful to do so. While being chill about your real issues may be good for your stress levels, that is not mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being actively aware of your problems and engaging with challenges that are in front of you. Being active about it as well as aware is something that many modern mindfulness concepts appear to be missing.
Igor Grossmann, corresponding author of the project, said: “Scientific understanding of mindfulness goes beyond mere stress-relief and requires a willingness to engage with stressors. It is, in fact, the engagement with stressors that ultimately results in stress relief. More specifically, mindfulness includes two main dimensions: awareness and acceptance.”
Scientists found that most people practicing mindfulness choose the passive approach or simply avoid the challenges in front of them. Bizarrely, scientists found that most people seem to conceptually understand that mindfulness involves engagement, but still choose the pass of least resistance. In this way people can avoid the stress by not doing what they need to do, when they should actually engage with those things with awareness that would allow them to accomplish things without getting too stressed out. You need to accept your problems as they are and engage with them actively in a mindful way – that’s what is so beneficial about mindfulness.
Being mindful could also help people engage with each other. It could help accepting other people’s views instead of rejecting and ignoring them. Social media and entertainment distractions make it difficult to focus on challenging things and the culture itself seems to be geared towards the ones who choose to go with the flow. To be mindful is to be aware and active and it is the only way to be productive and less stressed.
Source: University of Waterloo