"Mindfulness" is such a part of what's offered in "CBT" therapy these days, (even by Catholics!) that it's become one of many reasons why I eschew all modern therapy.
It’s true that mindfulness originated with Buddhism, but there’s nothing about following your breath which requires you to embrace a Buddhist worldview. Indeed, Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) wrote a letter as head of the CDF to Bishops saying, “That does not mean that genuine practices of meditation which come from the Christian East and from the great non-Christian religions, which prove attractive to the man of today who is divided and disoriented, cannot constitute a suitable means of helping the person who prays to come before God with an interior peace, even in the midst of external pressures.”
For me, mindfulness has helped me to intensively cultivate the ability to notice when my attention has wandered and return it to the object of focus - a skill that’s proven invaluable in my personal prayer. I think the practice holds great promise provided it’s integrated into a Catholic worldview. Dr. Gregory Bottaro has done an excellent job showing how mindfulness complements Catholic spirituality - I highly recommend his book The Mindful Catholic. I’ve also written at length on my own page in a piece called “Despoiling the Hipsters.”
As for the dangers of mindfulness, I didn’t read the article you linked to because it’s behind a paywall. But here’s a tweet from the author of the study, who adamantly claims the article misrepresents her findings. https://twitter.com/roosvonk/status/1343840291145572352 Meanwhile there are many other studies which show that mindfulness leads to pro social behavior, along with numerous studies which seem to show that it leads to mental health benefits. Granted, it’s a complex and still largely uncharted area of study. But until there’s much more and better evidence one way or the other, I don’t think it’s a good practice to casually speculate that it leads to narcissism.
"Mindfulness" is such a part of what's offered in "CBT" therapy these days, (even by Catholics!) that it's become one of many reasons why I eschew all modern therapy.
It’s true that mindfulness originated with Buddhism, but there’s nothing about following your breath which requires you to embrace a Buddhist worldview. Indeed, Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) wrote a letter as head of the CDF to Bishops saying, “That does not mean that genuine practices of meditation which come from the Christian East and from the great non-Christian religions, which prove attractive to the man of today who is divided and disoriented, cannot constitute a suitable means of helping the person who prays to come before God with an interior peace, even in the midst of external pressures.”
For me, mindfulness has helped me to intensively cultivate the ability to notice when my attention has wandered and return it to the object of focus - a skill that’s proven invaluable in my personal prayer. I think the practice holds great promise provided it’s integrated into a Catholic worldview. Dr. Gregory Bottaro has done an excellent job showing how mindfulness complements Catholic spirituality - I highly recommend his book The Mindful Catholic. I’ve also written at length on my own page in a piece called “Despoiling the Hipsters.”
As for the dangers of mindfulness, I didn’t read the article you linked to because it’s behind a paywall. But here’s a tweet from the author of the study, who adamantly claims the article misrepresents her findings. https://twitter.com/roosvonk/status/1343840291145572352 Meanwhile there are many other studies which show that mindfulness leads to pro social behavior, along with numerous studies which seem to show that it leads to mental health benefits. Granted, it’s a complex and still largely uncharted area of study. But until there’s much more and better evidence one way or the other, I don’t think it’s a good practice to casually speculate that it leads to narcissism.