Now,let me highlight just a couple of the areas where I believe mindfulness and Christianity blend so wonderfully:1. Mindfulness embodies the Christian tokens of love and acceptance. Mindfulness allows everyone to bask in his or her own faith,belief and wishes — it opens the door to acceptance. …2. Mindfulness allows Christians to blossom in their faith. Mindfulness is organic and fluid. …3. Mindfulness allows you to connect to your body as a temple to honor God.
Does mindfulness promote a philosophy counter to Christianity?
It has been debated by Christian psychologists and theologians that mindfulness promotes a philosophy that is counter to Christianity. Some of the concerns mentioned by some in the Christian community include: (1) mindfulness directs people to be more self-focused versus God-focused;
Is mindfulness compatible with a biblical worldview?
Christians and many faith-based counselors use mindfulness in a Christ-integrated way as a therapy tool. They believe mindfulness can be compatible with a biblical worldview — as long as it’s rooted in Scripture and focuses on connecting with God.
What is the difference between Christian mindfulness and secular mindfulness?
“The main difference between a secular or Buddhist mindfulness practice and a Christian one is that we know that we have a relationship with our Savior, who is active in our lives through the Scriptures; He hears us when we call Him and the Holy Spirit provides us insight into God’s heart and will for our lives,” Trammel said.
What are the elements of Christian mindfulness?
Elements from secular or new-age mindfulness practices that are discarded in Christian mindfulness include emptying the mind, focusing too much on the self (instead of God), the pantheistic worldview that all is one, and escaping reality through meditation.
Can Christians safely practice mindfulness?
As you’ve discovered, opinions about mindfulness and its impact vary in the Christian community.
What is mindfulness meditation?
ANSWER: Generally speaking, mindfulness is a technique of deliberately focusing your attention on the present. You don’t let yourself be distracted by other thoughts constantly running through your head; you clear “noise” from your mind. Mindfulness (some use the word grounding) is characterized by meditation and relaxation techniques.
What is mindfulness based therapy?
Similar programs such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) treat depression and anxiety, and enhance mental health. Mindfulness is also used by employers and schools to handle stress and spark creativity.
How does mindfulness help you?
The idea is to become more self-aware. You pay attention to thoughts, feelings, and sensations in that moment — without purposefully deciding whether they’re good or bad, and without becoming overwhelmed or overly reactive. In short, you tune in to what’s real right now. Like anything, mindfulness can be misused.
Is mindfulness a good way to manage stress?
So, can mindfulness ever be a safe and positive option to manage stress and develop a healthier thought life? Yes!
Is secular mindfulness horizontal?
Encourages escape from reality. These concerns are valid. Secular mindfulness is horizontal. In other words, you pay attention only to yourself. However, that approach contradicts Scripture’s teaching to have the mind of Christ and evaluate everything in light of our vertical relationship with God and Jesus.
Can mindfulness be misused?
Like anything, mindfulness can be misused. However, it doesn’t automatically contradict the Christian faith. We just need to make sure we approach it in a wise, biblical way.
Why is mindfulness important?
For some, mindfulness is used as a stress reducer in the midst of a hectic life. Others use it as an aid to prompt full engagement in life over rumination on the past or worry about the future. For others, it is seen as a means of self-discovery.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Mindfulness could be understood as observation of one’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and emotions with no judgment of their being right or wrong. For some, mindfulness is used as a stress reducer in the midst of a hectic life.
How can Christians be mindful of Christ?
We can mimic that same behavior. Christians can be mindful of Christ by taking every thought captive for Christ and renewing their minds with the truth ( 2 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 12:2 ). We are mindful when we examine ourselves ( 2 Corinthians 13:5) and ask God to search and reveal our hearts ( Psalm 139:23–24 ).
What is the philosophy of mindfulness?
The ideology behind mindfulness is to achieve stillness and balance of the mind. Some of the mindfulness techniques touted in popular psychology are perfectly compatible with the Bible.
Is mindfulness a biblical practice?
This behavior might be seen as mindfulness. But mindfulness, as a Buddhist meditation technique or even as a psychological self-help method meant to be a cure-all for self-awareness and self-fulfillment, is not biblical. Return to:
How to practice mindfulness in the Christian faith?
If you are interested in practicing mindfulness within a Christian framework, you might start with this simple practice. Set a timer for three minutes. Close your eyes (or relax your eyelids halfway) and become curious about physical sensations in your body, aware that you are in God’s presence and that your body is God’s creation. If you choose, pay particular attention to the sensations of breathing—the breath, given by God, coming into the body and exiting the body without any direction from you. When your timer goes off, take a moment to write down (or verbalize) the specific physical sensations that were present during that short breathing space, as well as any thoughts or feelings that you noticed. Thank God for this “temple of the Holy Spirit”—the body that God has given you—as you proceed into the rest of your day.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Mindfulness is a simple concept. It means intentionally paying attention to the present moment with an attitude of nonjudgmental curiosity. This can be practiced formally, using times of silent meditation to hone our awareness of what is present around us moment to moment.
Why is mindfulness important?
It gives us the focus and openness needed to lay down resistance to the good gifts God has in store for us. Mindfulness keeps us awake and aware as we move through each moment, receiving each God-given breath that is granted this side of heaven.
How can mindfulness be learned?
Mindfulness can be learned through a series of guided practices that teach us the attitudes of acceptance , openness, and compassion that ac company mindful awareness. Like most practices of mental and physical wellness, mindfulness can be practiced in a purely secular fashion.
What does mindful awareness mean?
Mindful awareness often begins with physical sensations, supporting our experience as embodied creatures, connected to the bodies that God created for us and pronounced “good” at creation’s birth (Gen. 1:31).
What does it mean when you live in a mental fog?
The reality is that we live much of our life in a mental fog, operating in a swirling cloud of thoughts that keep us disconnected from ourselves, from one another, and from God. For some of us, this is an emotionally neutral experience. For others, it fuels chronic feelings of depression or anxiety.
When will Irene’s book be released?
Her new book, The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness, and Faith, will be released in February 2020 through Fortress Press.
What is mindfulness in books?
Mindfulness can be described as “bringing one’s complete attention to the present moment on a moment-to-moment basis ” (Marlatt & Kristeller, 1999, p. 68) and as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Over the past decade mindfulness has seen an overwhelming acceptance in Western culture. It is being taught in schools, businesses, athletic clubs, wellness centers, doctor’s offices, churches, and in counseling offices throughout North America today.
Does mindfulness help with wandering thoughts?
Mindfulness has demonstrated some significant psychological benefits for the person struggling with wandering thoughts. It has been my experience that mindfulness can also play a significant role in improving a Christian’s connection with the Holy Spirit.
Where did mindfulness originate?
The origins of mindfulness can be found in Eastern religions. Mindfulness is considered the seventh practice in the Eight Fold Path in Buddhism. A significant contributor to the introduction of mindfulness into Western psychology is Jon Kabatt-Zinn. He and his colleagues developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the early 1980s to address the problem of people suffering from present stress due to past trauma. Kabatt-Zinn “operationalized” mindfulness by stripping its Buddhist spiritual content with the intent to maintain its psychological and neurological benefits.
Is mindfulness a psychological benefit?
It appears the cultural acceptance of mindfulness has been due to its substantial psychological benefits . Research results conclude that the practice of mindfulness can result in one or more of the following benefits: reduced rumination, reduced stress, improved working memory, improved focus and concentration, reduction in emotional reactivity, increase cognitive flexibility, and increase in relationship satisfaction, just to name a few. With all these benefits it is hard to argue with the presupposition that by practicing mindfulness a person will resolve the issue of wandering thoughts. However, even with these benefits how should Christians approach the practice of mindfulness?
What is mindfulness meditation?
It is the process of focusing one’s attention on the present with the MAIN OBJECTIVE being INSIGHT INTO THE TRUE NATURE OF REALITY which is the Three Marks of Existence, namely:
What is the doctrine of mindfulness?
According to Rhys Davids, the doctrine of mindfulness is “perhaps the most important” after the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.“. Definitions: vipassana : to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation.
What is Samatha meditation?
samatha : the Buddhist practice of calming the mind and its ‘formations’. This is done by practicing single-pointed meditation most commonly through mindfulness of breathing.
What is the meaning of mantra?
mantra: a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation ; sacred utterance believed to have spiritual power. This made me think of Hinduism and the mantra “Om” or “Aum”. In “A Survey of Hinduism” by Klaus Klostermaier he says: “ The most famous powerful and most mysterious of all mantras is OM (AUM) also called (pravana), …
What does Sati mean?
sati : mindfulness or awareness, a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that forms an essential part of Buddhist practice.
Why did Buddhism use mindfulness?
According to Paul Williams, referring to Erich Frauwallner, mindfulness provided the way in early Buddhism to liberation, “constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths.
How many syllables are there in mantra?
The comment about being still and repeating a mantra or prayer word such as “Marantha” are common to both. They both also recommended saying it as four syllables with one saying “ give your full attention to the word as you say it .”
Why is mindfulness meditation important?
However, in reality, such acceptance is a path to make better judgments about our behavior . Here is where the secular world ends, and religion enters, and why psychologists say we can meditate regardless of our religious convictions.
Why is mindfulness important for Christians?
Christians who practice mindfulness may not realize it, but they are seeking the cure without addressing the cause. God is more concerned about dealing with the cause than just giving us a good life because life is more than health and happiness. 2. Mindfulness meditation develops a godless spirituality.
Why is mindfulness reductionistic?
But even mindfulness is reductionistic because it fails to provide a moral framework for our feelings. Without a moral framework, there is no framework for transcendent meaning. Without God’s objective and transcendent meaning, we lose the definition of meaning and reduce it to something less than it is.
What is spirituality not?
What spirituality is and is not. Salvation (and therefore Christian Spirituality) is not deliverance from health problems, mood swings, becoming more self-controlled or becoming happy. Certainly, biblical salva tion should result in those things, but those things in and of themselves are not salvation.
How does mindfulness work?
Mindfulness and meditation work because it breaks that cycle and allows the individual to exist outside of the bubble of reactivity. In mindfulness meditation, the practitioner is to observe or be aware of their feelings and thoughts, accepting what they find. This awareness itself is a fundamental aspect of change.
Why does meditation work?
Rather than simply sitting, thinking and reflecting, humans are increasingly active, and therefore reactive. We function under a mob mentality, imitating each other’s patterns of behavior, adopting each other’s standards and conforming ourselves to the people and environment around us. Mindfulness and meditation work because it breaks that cycle and allows the individual to exist outside of the bubble of reactivity. In mindfulness meditation, the practitioner is to observe or be aware of their feelings and thoughts, accepting what they find. This awareness itself is a fundamental aspect of change. There can be no change without an awareness of a need to change. If we can accept who we are or how we act, we are more able to make judgment calls about the appropriateness of our feelings and thoughts and to be able to control them. Thus, awareness is itself the beginning of change.
What does the Bible say about mindfulness?
Mindfulness and transcendental meditation regard people as less than what the Bible says it means to be human. Part of the original concept of transcendental meditation was that the practitioner was to eliminate their desires and to enter a state of non-existence. By contrast, the Bible teaches that God made man in His image with desires and emotions. Certainly, corrupt desires lead to bad circumstances ( James 4:1-3) but the problem is not the affections per se, but their corruption. Desires, emotions, and feelings enable meaning and are a gift of God.