Norman Wells asks how Christians should respond
Until relatively recently, mindfulness was largely unknown outside Buddhist circles.
But now, shorn of its religious trappings, a secularised version of the ancient Buddhist practice is making rapid inroads into schools, colleges, workplaces, healthcare settings, and even into Parliament. Some churches are also jumping onto the bandwagon and developing a form of ‘Christian mindfulness’. What exactly is happening?
Mindfulness in schools
The Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) was founded in 2007 by three teachers from independent schools, supported by Mark Williams, former Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford University and Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. MiSP has prepared a ten-week course for 11–18 year-olds intended for use in schools and other youth settings. Known as the ‘.b’ course (pronounced ‘dot-be’), standing for ‘Stop, breathe and be’, it is designed to give all students a taste of mindfulness. The curriculum has been translated into eight languages and is being taught in 38 countries.
A new course, aimed at primary school pupils aged 7–11 has recently been developed, known as ‘Paws b’. This programme can either be delivered formally within a school’s PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education) programme, or ‘informally through integrating the learning and practice of mindfulness in all National Curriculum subjects and in the children’s everyday lives’.
Mindfulness in higher education
One of the founders of MiSP has also been instrumental in establishing the Mindfulness for Students Network, a body of mindfulness teachers who are interested in supporting the practice of mindfulness in higher education. The network lists around 30 universities in the UK currently offering mindfulness training to students.
Mindfulness in the workplace
A growing number of businesses are embracing mindfulness. Companies which run mindfulness programmes for their staff include Transport for London, eBay, Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential, the Home Office, the NHS and the London Business School. It has even entered the City of London at Goldman Sachs, Barclays and J. P. Morgan. Since 2011, the training organisation Mindfulness at Work Ltd has delivered talks, workshops and courses in mindfulness at a wide range of organisations, including local authorities, hospices, investment banks, retailers and charities.
Mindfulness in healthcare
Since 2004, NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has been recommending mindfulness for patients suffering with recurrent depression, and mindfulness is increasingly being offered on the NHS to reduce stress and to treat health conditions such as chronic pain and anxiety. For several years the Mental Health Foundation has been calling for mindfulness to be made available nationally on the NHS. Pregnant women are also being encouraged to practise mindfulness to help reduce prenatal stress and anxiety, and to improve mood and a general sense of wellbeing.
Mindfulness in Parliament
Education ministers have welcomed the use of mindfulness in schools as a strategy for controlling stress or anxiety and promoting social skills and academic performance.
Since May 2014 there has been a Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group. In October 2015, the group published its Mindful Nation UK report in which it made a series of recommendations for the application of mindfulness interventions to the policy areas of education, health, the workplace and the criminal justice system.
‘Christian mindfulness’?
Mindfulness is now also beginning to be embraced and used in churches and is finding growing acceptance among some evangelicals. One of the foremost advocates of ‘mindfulness from a Christian perspective’ is Shaun Lambert, senior minister of Stanmore Baptist Church. His book, A Book of Sparks: A Study in Christian MindFullness is warmly commended by figures from a broad church spectrum.
Lambert, a member of the New Wine leaders’ network, describes Christian mindfulness as ‘the lost gospel’, and declares that, ‘Mindfulness saved my life!’ In his view, the ‘gospel’ of mindfulness, once adhered to by the contemplatives in the early centuries of church history, was lost due to a Western overemphasis on reason, logic and propositional truth.
Nevertheless, Lambert enjoys many opportunities to promote ‘Christian mindfulness’ within the evangelical mainstream. He has also been interviewed sympathetically regarding mindfulness by the Evangelical Alliance (EA) and Premier Christian Radio.
In an article published by EA, Lambert argues that: ‘There are truly 50 shades of mindfulness and Christianity has something unique to offer in this area… Christians need to develop a theology and practice of mindfulness, and to engage respectfully and intelligently with the growing body of scientific research which endorses mindfulness…
‘Our culture is in the middle of a paradigm shift embracing mindfulness and related concepts. It is good news for the church if we can rediscover our ancient roots as contemplative evangelists.’
Academic concerns
While advocates cite research which suggests that mindfulness is ‘an effective treatment for a variety of psychological problems’, other researchers argue that ‘the idea that science has unequivocally shown how meditation can change us is a myth’.
While writing The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? academic psychologists Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm found 45 years of evidence from the science of meditation contradictory and inconclusive. Sitting in silence and focussing on breathing patterns may sound harmless enough, but Farias and Wikholm discovered a ‘potential for emotional and psychological disturbance [that] is rarely talked about by mindfulness researchers, the media, or mentioned in training courses’.
Significantly, they observed that: ‘Buddhist meditation was designed not to make us happier, but to radically change our sense of self and perception of the world. Given this, it is perhaps not surprising that some will experience negative effects such as dissociation, anxiety and depression.’
Biblical meditation
Unlike mindfulness and other Eastern meditative techniques, Christian meditation is not focussed on finding inner peace, harmony or attaining to some form of mystical experience. It differs in terms of its character, content, objectives and fruit. As Edmund Clowney wrote: ‘Christian meditation centres on the revelation of the triune God. Its power and blessing are not in the technique… but in the content.’
True meditation is not about emptying the mind; it is rather a discipline that engages the mind, heart and will with the Word of God. It is practised in the presence of God, based on the revelation of God, accompanied by the fear of God, motivated by love for God, and issues in a life lived for the glory of God.
The Scriptures teach us to mediate on God’s character (Psalm 63.6; 145.5), on his words (Psalm 1.2; 119.15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148) and on his works (Psalm 77.12; 119.27; 143.5) with a view to a life of obedience (Joshua 1.8). As Peter Toon has written: ‘Meditation is a God-ordained channel by which truth from God, written in the Scriptures, enters our minds, passes into our hearts and causes us to adore and love God and desire to serve him the more… Meditation upon God’s revelation makes use of the mind, heart and will and ought to lead to wholeminded, wholehearted and wholewilled Christianity.’
Conclusion
If present trends continue, growing numbers of Christians are likely to encounter mindfulness in their schools, colleges, workplaces and in the context of healthcare. In addition to warning of the dangers associated with ancient religious practices in modern dress, there is a need to recover the largely lost practice of biblical meditation. As we become more familiar with the true, we shall be better equipped to recognise the false.
