I found myself tongue-tied when a friend asked me you to explain the difference between meditation and mindfulness. Suddenly, my mind resembled a tangled ball of yarn, with threads of thoughts pulling in every direction. It's a classic case of 'brain freeze,' where the simple task of summarising turns into a mental marathon.

Luckily, I caught myself before I went stumbling headfirst into a convoluted explanation.

The Solution

Recognising the need for clarity, I embarked on a journey to demystify the enigma of mindfulness and meditation. After some introspection and research, I crafted a 15-minute talk simplifying the differences between these two 'M' words.

I delivered this talk live at a One-Day Retreat last Sunday, and in preparation, I made a practice recording,

So, this week's blog comes in the form of a video. I hope you find it helpful in clarifying these concepts!

If you do, let me know. If you have more questions, let me know. 😊

A few of the people at the One-Day Retreat asked for copies of the definitions that I had used to define mindfulness and meditation. To save you the effort of asking me, I include them below.

Mindfulness Definitions:

According to meditation teacher Guy Armstrong: Mindfulness is knowing what you are experiencing while you are experiencing it. It is moment-to-moment awareness, has the quality of being in the now. There’s a sense of freedom, of perspective, of being connected, not judging.

Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way. On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”

Rick Hanson, author of “The practical neuroscience of Buddha’s brain” defines being mindful as having good control over your attention. “The attention can be placed wherever you want. It stays there and when you want to move your attention to something else you can”. He adds, “Attention is like a spotlight and what it illuminates streams into the mind and shapes your brain. So developing greater control over attention is the single most powerful way to reshape the brain and thus the mind.”

Meditation Definitions:

WIKIPEDIA: Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.

HEADSPACE: meditation isn't about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It's about training and awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You're not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You're learning to observe them without judgement. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well.