The difference between mindfulness and meditation therapy

Meditation therapy is the collective name for all psychological intervention methods with active attention control as the core logic, covering dozens of technical branches improved from traditional practice methods.； Mindfulness is not only a "non-judgmental, dwelling in the present" state of consciousness pursued by some meditation practices, but also the core framework of the most widely used standardized meditation technology in clinical practice. The two have an "inclusive but not completely equivalent" relationship. In daily context, people often confuse the two. In essence, they equate the "most commonly used core technology" with the "entire intervention system."

When I led an eight-week offline mindfulness-based stress reduction group in Hangzhou, in the first class there were always students who had just entered the class, clutching their mobile phones and asking: "Teacher, are we practicing mindfulness or meditation today?" I stayed up three nights last week to catch up with the Double 11 plan. Can half an hour of practice relieve the tightness on the top of my head? ”Every time I encounter this kind of question, I laugh first. It’s not that I think the question is naive, but I’ve seen too many people think that these two words are different ways of saying the same thing.

If you ask a Theravada Vipassana teacher with 20 to 30 years of practice experience, he will most likely tell you that mindfulness is not a method, but a state that comes naturally when you practice meditation to a certain extent. For example, you sit there and count your breaths, and while you are counting, you think about having hot pot in the evening, and then you think about picking up the children after finishing the hot pot, and suddenly you come back to your senses and say, "Oh, I was distracted just now." This moment when you don't follow your thoughts and don't scold yourself for being distracted again is righteousness. In this context, meditation is the path, and mindfulness is the state you will encounter if you follow the right path.

But in the context of clinical psychology, the statement is completely different. In the 1970s, Dr. Kabat-Zinn took mindfulness out of the religious practice system, removed all religious content, and developed a standardized 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (MBSR). What we often call "mindfulness meditation" actually refers to this set of evidence-based intervention techniques. It requires practitioners to deliberately focus on their current feelings and thoughts without making judgments about right or wrong throughout the process. It has now become a first-line auxiliary intervention program for problems such as anxiety disorders and chronic pain. In this framework, mindfulness is a specific branch of meditation therapy and is included in the general category of meditation.

I previously received a visit from a 26-year-old Internet operator who was diagnosed with panic disorder for half a year. At first, he followed the APP to practice ordinary breathing meditation, which required him to focus on his breathing the whole time. Whenever he found that his mind wandered, he would slap the back of his hand. As a result, after practicing for two weeks, panic attacks became more frequent. When he came to see me, there were red marks on the back of his hand. Later, I adjusted him to mindfulness-oriented exercises, and only gave him one request: every time you find that your mind is wandering, don't scold yourself, and don't rush to bring your attention back, just gently label the wandering thought as "thinking about something", and then slowly return to your breathing. With such a small adjustment, he told me after practicing for a week that the feeling of always having a string tightened was mostly loosened, and it didn't happen this week.

Don’t think that all meditation must involve mindfulness. I have met many novices who think that meditation requires “being aware of the present moment”. In fact, this is not the case at all. For example, Transcendental Meditation (TM), which is very popular now, has at its core an exclusive mantra for each practitioner. During practice, this mantra is recited silently repeatedly. The goal is to enter a calm state "beyond daily consciousness". The whole process does not require you to be aware of any thoughts. It doesn't even matter if your mind wanders. Just recite the mantra silently. It has nothing to do with the core logic of mindfulness. There is also guided imagery meditation specifically for people with sleep disorders. You will follow the instructions and imagine that you are lying on the beach at the seaside. The temperature of the waves and the sound of the wind are all clear. The essence is to replace the messy and annoying things in your mind with positive images, and there is no need to be "non-judgmental".

I have been practicing it for almost 7 years. In fact, I don’t worry about whether I am practicing mindfulness or ordinary meditation today. If my mind feels dizzy after staying up late the day before, I will do 10 minutes of focused breathing meditation. I won’t think about anything, just stare at the feeling of breathing at the tip of my nose. If my mind wanders, I will pull it back. There is no need to engage in non-judgment, just quickly bring my attention back on track. ； If I have received a lot of trauma cases recently and my emotions are high, I will do a 20-minute mindfulness body scan. I don’t need to pursue relaxation. If my feet are numb, I will feel the numbness. If my shoulders are sore, I will feel the pain.

To be honest, if you just want to relax and reduce stress on a daily basis, there is really no need to worry about the difference between the two words. Just find something that you can sit still and feel comfortable after practicing. Regardless of whether it is mindfulness or meditation, as long as it works. But if you want to use it as a clinical intervention, or want to practice it systematically and for a long time, it is still necessary to understand the difference - for example, for issues such as PTSD and social anxiety, the most research evidence currently is mindfulness-oriented meditation intervention. If you choose other schools, the effect may be compromised. After all, nouns are determined by people, and the best way is to help you live a comfortable life.