{"id":703,"date":"2024-10-31T01:01:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T01:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/?p=703"},"modified":"2026-02-20T21:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:51:57","slug":"mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/31\/mindfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 9-29-24:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I occasionally use the mindfulness technique to keep myself in the moment and reduce stress. I recently heard someone say that mindfulness is an occult practice? Is mindfulness sinful? Sitting quietly and focusing on breathing and what you feel in your body.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must admit that I didn\u2019t know about \u201cmindfulness.\u201d It appears that it is a popular technique for stress reduction, and I had to try to do a little research to gain some understanding. The first thing I found is that red flags go up in some Catholic circles because mindfulness as a meditation technique has its origins in Buddhism. And so, some caution is in order. But, on the other hand, the use of these techniques is also found in Eastern Christian practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There also needs to be a distinction between mindfulness used purely as a physical\/psychological therapeutic technique as opposed to it being used as a meditative prayer technique. In the first case, which the questioner seems to engage in, there does not seem to be any issue. The Mayo Clinic gives this definition of mindfulness: \u201cMindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.\u201d<\/em> (https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/consumer-health\/in-depth\/mindfulness-exercises\/art-20046356<\/a>) In addition to stress, they claim it can be effective for anxiety, high blood pressure, and a number of other ailments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concern and caution come in to play, however, when mindfulness is used as a meditative prayer technique. In 1989, in response to interest by Catholics in \u201cforms of meditation associated with some eastern religions,\u201d the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a \u201cLetter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some Aspects of Christian Meditation.\u201d<\/em>The letter was issued because they felt there was \u201cthe need for sure criteria of a doctrinal and pastoral character which might allow them to instruct others in prayer, in its numerous manifestations, while remaining faithful to the truth revealed in Jesus.\u201d<\/em> The letter, authored by then Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by John Paul II, expresses caution: \u201cThe present diffusion of eastern methods of meditation in the Christian world and in ecclesial communities, we find ourselves faced with a pointed renewal of an attempt, which is not free from dangers and errors, to fuse Christian meditation with that which is non-Christian.\u201d<\/em> They add: \u201cSome physical exercises automatically produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing sensations, perhaps even phenomena of light and of warmth, which resemble spiritual well-being. To take such feelings for the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the spiritual life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CDF letter states: \u201cEastern Christian meditationhas valued psychophysical symbolism, often absent in western forms of prayer. It can range from a specific bodily posture to the basic life functions, such as breathing or the beating of the heart. The exercise of the \u2018Jesus Prayer,\u2019 for example, which adapts itself to the natural rhythm of breathing can, at least for a certain time, be of real help to many people.On the other hand,\u2026not everyone is equally suited to making use of this symbolism, since not everybody is able to pass from the material sign to the spiritual reality that is being sought. Understood in an inadequate and incorrect way, the symbolism can even become an idol and thus an obstacle to the raising up of the spirit to God\u2026it can degenerate into a cult of the body and can lead surreptitiously to considering all bodily sensations as spiritual experiences.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One must be careful with mindfulness meditation prayer because it is easy to be led astray. The CDF, in their letter, seems to question the need for pursuing mindfulness prayer when there are so many fruitful forms of Christian prayer, especially contemplation on Scripture. It states: \u201cThe Church recommends the reading of the Word of God as a source of Christian prayer, and at the same time exhorts all to discover the deep meaning of Sacred Scripture through prayer so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For, we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 9-29-24: I occasionally use the mindfulness technique to keep myself in the moment and reduce stress. I recently heard someone say that mindfulness is an occult practice? Is mindfulness sinful? Sitting quietly and focusing on breathing and what you feel in your body. I must admit that I didn\u2019t know about… Continue reading Mindfulness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":704,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions\/704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}