The current media chat about “mindfulness-meditation” exposes a tendency to catchy headlines at the cost of depth and thoroughness. What journalists loosely call “mindfulness” or “meditation” or “mindfulness-meditation” usually ignores the necessary nuances of these terms. In The Lancet last year, Dr Richard Horton strongly questioned not just the science but the appropriateness of the method used for the claims being made for mindfulness, or MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) as it is often known. Horton saw this as an orphaned Buddhist practice (in fact, it is paralleled in Christian spirituality as “watchfulness of heart” and the practice of the presence of God). For Horton, such claims for mindfulness are also question
23 July 2015, The Tablet
People do not do mindful practices or meditate merely because of media claims
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