Reconciling my secular and spiritual mindfulness practice

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I have always been interested in meditation and saw it as a cool practice I could try and learn. When I was first introduced to the concept of mindfulness in 2015, I did what any nerdy graduate student would with a new topic—I took a deep dive and found out as much as I could. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” This is the most common way mindfulness has been understood in the modern era and it informs the popular practice of today. I started reading all the journal articles I could access and began using free apps and online videos as guides to develop my own practice. I felt like I understood what mindfulness was. It was what I was always talking about, and I practiced it each day, for a few minutes at a time, as regularly as I could. 

Then in 2016 I encountered Hitendra Solanki—a mindfulness instructor and a former humanitarian aid worker, currently teaching at London South Bank University. At the time, Hitendra—or Hiten as he likes to be called—was visiting my university in the Philippines and gave my class an introduction to mindfulness. He covered a lot that I already knew, including aspects of theory and evidence, and I felt that my understanding of mindfulness was validated then and there. But he went further than that. We were also told about its roots in Buddhist religion and spiritual traditions. He defined it not as a technique but as a practice: it was not just a way of doing meditation but a way of being mindful even beyond it. The guided meditation sessions just help to maintain and integrate the practice into everyday life.  

As knowledgeable about mindfulness as I thought I was, I did not realise the depth the tradition of mindfulness had. I was humbled by my ignorance, but I knew I wanted to know more. I wanted to practice the way it was intended. I decided to keep in touch with Hiten after that class. As he continued to mentor me, I learned about both the science and the roots of the mindfulness tradition in the reflections of Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ellen Langer, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and many others who have embraced this practice.

With this in mind I began to wonder: is the mindfulness that has become so popular—the one marketed on apps, online courses, and Tiktok clips to make us feel better—the wrong way of practicing mindfulness? 

Practice vs Practice 

Practice in the secular tradition often refers to habit formation. Habits of awareness and presence can be developed through frequent and consistent practice, resulting in a level of mastery and familiarity. So, it follows that obtaining mastery and familiarity in the practice of mindfulness will involve regular meditation with a predictable schedule. 

“Practicing mindfulness means being mindful outside of your scheduled meditations. It involves living a life guided by the core tenets and values which mindfulness promotes and allowing it to shape you and your surroundings.”

But with mindfulness that is more deeply rooted in spirituality, there is a broader view of practice—it is a way of being. Practicing mindfulness means being mindful outside of your scheduled meditations. It involves living a life guided by the core tenets and values which mindfulness promotes and allowing it to shape you and your surroundings. Yes, maintaining specific habits and behaviours are still important, but it is not just about these methodised processes—there is that unwavering connection to the philosophy that forms the foundation of mindfulness. 

What distinguishes the two descriptions of practice is a difference in purpose. Mindfulness was not developed to make you feel good through the meditations. Meditation is only part of what constitutes the practice—mindfulness is intended to bring our attention back to the present moment in a loving and compassionate way. Mindfulness allows us to see things from a perspective of kindness, and accept them for what they really are—including those unpleasant feelings, sensations, thoughts, and experiences.

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Widening Differences

The spiritual foundation of mindfulness remains largely unchanged: mindfulness remains rooted in different spiritual traditions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as in spiritual practices across Asia.

However, a more secularised form of mindfulness has evolved rapidly over the past decades. It has grown from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s introduction of mindfulness and his subsequent mindfulness-based stress reduction programme to different modalities, formats, and techniques that take mindfulness as a base. At the time of writing this article, there are thousands of mindfulness apps and programmes available online. The mindfulness industry is currently worth billions of dollars with Headspace and Calm—two of the most successful mindfulness apps—leading the way. Mindfulness has been adapted to every medium you can think of, making it widely accessible to anyone who would like to use it. But this has turned the practice of mindfulness into a tool—a very popular tool—and one perhaps very distant from the values the concept was intended to propagate. One powerful critique of the current brand of mindfulness comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn himself, lamenting how mindfulness as a trend has led to empty forms of practice that are contrary to what mindfulness really is.

An article in Psychology Today by Dr. Jason Linder captures this well. Mindfulness has been seen, offered, and promoted as a solution to reducing individual suffering and as a means to feel good. Feeling good, or feeling happier, is certainly possible through mindfulness—but this was not its original goal or focus. Sometimes, mindfulness can make you feel uncomfortable. The uncomfortable can teach us things about ourselves, others, and the world around us that staying where it is comfortable can’t. Turning towards discomfort is hard work but as with any practice within mindfulness, we approach it with loving-kindness and compassion.    

“Feeling good, or feeling happier, is certainly possible through mindfulness—but this was not its original goal or focus.”

It is undeniable that mindfulness has been incredibly beneficial to many individuals’ mental health and well-being. But it is also undeniable that through attempts to make it more palatable to a global community, hesitant to adopt a foreign religious practice, it has lost some of its meaning. 

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Will it matter if your practice is secular and not spiritual? 

The answer depends on your purpose for practicing. If you are not seeking a spiritual practice then it is fine to take a secular approach. The way Hiten sees it is that if you are serious about maintaining your mindfulness practice and adopting its foundational values, such as loving-kindness and compassion, your practice will inevitably become spiritual. The connection to something beyond yourself is something you will naturally gravitate towards as long as you continue with your practice (whatever that practice may look like). 

Is there a wrong way of practicing mindfulness?  

Yes, there is—but just one. A practice without compassion is not mindfulness. The Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that mindfulness enables us to fully live each life by drawing our attention back to life. Whether your practice is secular or spiritual matters less, as long as you practice with compassion.