When I was first asked my thoughts on mindfulness, I had to do a double-take. After all, why wouldn’t Christians want to be mindful of others? But this question is related to a meditation technique that, I suspect, will only grow in popularity within Christian circles. As we seek to be faithful to Christ in all we do, we need to ask ourselves whether mindfulness meditation is right, and safe, for Christians.
What is Mindfulness?
Summed up, mindfulness is simply taking a small amount of time every day to meditate in a specific way to relax. Mindfulness meditation will look something like this:
- Find somewhere quiet
- Sit in the traditional, straight-backed meditation pose, a yoga pose, or even sit comfortably in your car
- Focus only on the present; if other thoughts or stresses enter our minds, we simply acknowledge and then release them without letting those thoughts affect or distract us
- Some teachers recommend breathing while focusing on different body parts, music, or other things that keep our minds grounded in the present moment
- Get up and continue life feeling more relaxed
And that seems to be all there is to it. Mindfulness doesn’t promise a cure to cancer nor require an hour every day. It just asks for a few minutes of removing ourselves from the daily grind of life as a bit of a pick-me-up that most people need.
But why do it? To quote MindfulNEWS:
“What if there was a magic pill that could improve your health, help you live longer, build creativity, help discover your true self, and ultimately make you happy?”
Physical and mental health, self-improvement, and self-discovery without any form of judgment are things people crave. Having control over our emotions is the kind of relief needed in a world where so many people confuse truth with what they feel is the truth. In a world where everyone is stressed all the time about all the things, spending a few minutes being removed from those things is beautiful.
It promises a lot of things that people find lacking in their lives. Overall, the most significant benefit seems to be freedom from the oppression of everything we’re feeling. When released from stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, or anything else weighing us down, our bodies and minds seem to naturally thrive.
As for its origins, this ancient practice traces back to Buddhism. However, a version of it without any religious connotations has been used by psychologists and other professionals since the 1970s, which most of us are familiar with today. It finally hit the mainstream in the 1990s and has only been growing in popularity since then. So does it work, or can we attribute its popularity to hype and a placebo effect?
Does it work? And why?
Based on testimonials and the growing popularity of mindfulness, there seems to be some merit to it. People report its usefulness during especially stressful times like finals week in college, and busy adults feel more in control of their stress instead of being victims of it. Even those suffering from severe mental health issues seem to find relief from things like addiction or mental trauma.
Logically, it makes sense why mindfulness would be effective, and there’s really nothing mystical about it. All the resources I’ve found agree on one thing: mindfulness is about acknowledging specific thoughts and emotions without letting them impact us.
Contrast that with the world we live in. Emotion drives our culture. Whatever we feel about ourselves or the world is what we think is true. Our identity is based on what we think about ourselves. We act on whatever impulses and desires enter our minds. Doctors regularly prescribe medication to help people gain control over thoughts that are ruining their lives.
Simply put, mindfulness seems to work because it lets people realize that what they think and feel isn’t objective truth. It encourages people to see their thoughts from a different perspective and learn that just because emotions feel so real and true doesn’t mean they accurately reflect the world. It allows people to escape the control of thoughts and feelings by doing little more than letting people see those things for what they really are – just thoughts and emotions.
In addition, mindfulness may also act as a miniature vacation.
Why are vacations so relaxing? Why does a nice bath feel good after a long day? Why do we feel our stress levels plummet when a screaming baby finally falls asleep? These breaks don’t change our circumstances, but they do give us a break from them so we can rest, recharge, and prepare for what awaits us later. Mindfulness seems to accomplish something similar by pulling us out of our routine and giving us 5 minutes where we choose to take a vacation from whatever is burdening us at the time.
In general, mindfulness doesn’t seem to hold any extraordinary power in what it does. It’s simply a method for people to step away and look at things differently.
Is it evil?
I won’t go too deeply into this topic, but it’s certainly one worth briefly considering.
As I said, mindfulness finds its roots in ancient Eastern practices. To some, that might send up red flags. There’s a widespread belief within some Christian circles that things like yoga or mindfulness, because they find their origins in Eastern religions, can potentially open us up to demonic oppression by putting us in a spiritual trance.
Most discussions about the demonic risks of things like yoga are rooted in fear, emotion, and biblical ignorance. What we see of the spiritual realm within the Bible shows no indication that the act of stretching or meditating will be responsible for inviting demons into our lives. Those who make claims about the dangers involved tend to appeal to emotion more than fact.
I suspect this is a bit of a holdover from the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, where people were afraid that Satanism was infiltrating America through things like music and television. We still see remnants of this cultural fear today, with Christians using hand-picked verses to warn of the imminent danger of demons any time something gets popular in the secular world. Whether it’s yoga, Pokemon, or the Kardashians, there’s a lot of fear surrounding anything people don’t understand.
Ultimately, I have to argue that the general idea of mindfulness will come down to the freedom we see in Romans 14:12-16. It doesn’t seem to violate God’s word, yet we need to be very aware of our conscience and our testimony to others when deciding whether to take part in mindfulness.
Should Christians practice mindfulness?
If mindfulness isn’t inherently evil, does that mean we should feel free to practice it without hesitation? It may not be that simple.
Consider the overall goal of mindfulness. There’s a lot of talk about its benefits, but everything boils down to this: mindfulness frees us from what’s weighing us down and leads us to happiness. The greatest appeal of taking a few minutes out of each day to meditate like this is that it can be our savior from unpleasant things in our lives.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)
Mindfulness fills the same role as alcohol or Netflix in our lives. It’s a temporary release from the things that bother us. It’s an escape from negativity. Mindfulness allows us to save ourselves from the things in life we don’t think we can handle.
In the end, I think the greatest danger of mindfulness is that it reinforces our desire to rely on everything except Christ whenever we face difficult circumstances. It’s another way to turn to something in the world to fix what we know is broken in our lives.
Mindfulness, like anything else we turn to, doesn’t address the root of our problems. It’s like going to the dentist for a cavity and having them put in a filling without digging out the rot. It may fix our immediate problem of pain and suffering but doesn’t get at why we were suffering in the first place.
Only Christ can truly offer us the peace we’re all seeking. Mindfulness isn’t unique in what it promises, nor is it unique in delivering on those promises… at least temporarily. Yet, just because something makes people happy doesn’t mean it’s what they need. Happiness now is utterly worthless in view of eternity.
If someone is interested in mindfulness, the biggest question they should ask themselves is “Why?” What are they hoping to get out of it? What problem is it fixing? Is it driving them to their savior, or is it a way to save themselves from their problems?
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Mindfulness, so many other things in our lives, is dangerously harmless. Just because we can do it doesn’t mean it’s beneficial to our spiritual health. If our greatest desire is to love and serve Jesus Christ, then it’s essential to think like this in all areas of our lives. We should always ask why we’re doing something and whether it adds or detracts from growing in spiritual maturity.
So, in the end, mindfulness comes down to taking time to realize that our thoughts and feelings aren’t reality. That’s something that all Christians can benefit from learning. Too many of us are tossed around in our spiritual lives by whatever way our emotions carry us along.
However, mindfulness is also a tool that can easily become a poor substitute for Jesus Christ. It promises to deliver us from negative thoughts, stress, anxiety, and other wrong behaviors. It allows us to follow the world by turning to something other than Christ.
Feeling stressed? Practice mindfulness.
Feeling hopeless? Practice mindfulness.
Struggling with self-doubt, addiction, or negative emotions? Practice mindfulness.
By enabling us to be our own saviors, mindfulness can easily create more problems than it’s trying to solve.
