What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation

The core distinction is actually very simple - meditation is a large category that includes dozens of practice techniques, while mindfulness is the most widely spread and secularized meditation technique at the moment. The two are often used interchangeably, but the actual boundaries are quite different.

When I first started practicing mindfulness, I couldn’t tell the difference. When I went to an offline meditation camp for the first time, the teacher led me to sit and watch my breathing for 40 minutes. After the exchange, some people said, “Today’s meditation was so difficult to sit in,” and someone said, “My mind wandered a dozen times during the mindfulness practice just now.” There was an argument on the spot.

Nowadays, whether in academic circles or practice circles, there is indeed no completely unified view on the boundaries between the two: some teachers who are deeply involved in original Buddhist practice believe that mindfulness itself is the core component of Vipassana meditation and cannot be separated at all. Without the systematic training of meditation, the "mindfulness of eating and walking with mindfulness" mentioned on the Internet are fragmented techniques that cannot achieve the real effect of awareness.； But researchers in clinical psychology don’t see it that way. Nowadays, many hospitals’ pain departments and anxiety disorder intervention clinics prescribe mindfulness training, which is completely divorced from the religious context of traditional meditation. You don’t even need to have any foundation in “meditation”. Even if you have never sat down and practiced for 5 minutes, you can learn to anchor your attention on your breathing when you are in pain and observe the changes in pain without judgment. This is already an effective mindfulness intervention.

In fact, it is easy to feel the difference between the two in your daily life: for example, if you deliberately take 15 minutes in the morning, sit cross-legged on a mat, and follow the guidance of the APP to do a body scan, it will be fine if you say that you are meditating or doing mindfulness meditation.； But if you are having a weekly meeting at work and suddenly find that your mind has wandered to what to eat at night, and actively draw your attention back to the voice of your boss, without scolding yourself for being distracted or following your thoughts, then you will definitely not say that you are "meditating in meetings". This is using mindfulness in daily life.

To give a loose analogy, it’s actually a bit like the relationship between coffee and espresso? Meditation is a whole category of coffee. You can make Americano, latte, cappuccino, or add milk, syrup and sparkling water. The techniques of different meditation schools vary greatly. Some require you to visualize specific images, some require you to follow the guidance to sort out childhood trauma, and some even require you to move. ； Mindfulness is the most basic cup of espresso. There is no need for extra additions. The core is "being aware of the present moment without judgment." You can drink it alone or mix it with other drinks. You don't even have to sit upright on the table in a coffee shop to drink it. A sip while catching the subway can also have a refreshing effect.

I have been practicing for almost four years, and now I don’t worry too much about whether it is right or not. Anyway, whether it is taking time to sit down and practice, or casually drawing your attention back when washing dishes or squeezing in the subway, it can help you jump out of the mess of thoughts for a few seconds, which is better than anything else.