Mindfulness: dangerous business

***Mindfulness: dangerous business (otherwise known as paying attention while living life)***

As someone who has utilized mindfulness as the cornerstone of my own healing process I have to say that what is wrong with most pop treatments of meditation in general is that they fail to warn the reality. It’s taken years of profound mindfulness practice that has demanded going deep into the darkest parts of the human psyche…in this process I’ve learned how to listen to my body and follow my own guidance. I’ve learned to shut out all the multiple conditioned voices of our ugly capitalistic system and come back to myself.

What they don’t tell you is that mindfulness in process…deep profound, honest mindfulness can alienate and isolate while on the way to well-being.

It ain’t no fuzzy quick fix and they fail to pretty much ever mention this. there are a few people speaking to it…I have a page on my site called: “meditation: not all bliss and roses…” – it covers the fact that mindfulness can lead to complete break-down. It did, necessarily for me, really. Or really it brought me through complete breakdown. (bedridden, nonverbal for some years — that of course was caused by brain injury and because instead of being taught to listen to myself I was drugged almost to death by a system who doesn’t know how to help us through psycho/spiritual crisis).

meditation and mindfulness has been profoundly healing and really is the foundation of everything I have learned. but yeah…flippantly telling people to meditate without such warnings is pretty much a crock of shit.

also for me formal meditation was/is only a wee tiny bit…most of my practice is 24/7 learning to be in the present while allowing the past to come up and out (not pretty quite often) …

anyway…another view. more complex…no sugar coating. This path can KILL you. Seriously. And it almost has. AND, I’m deeply grateful that I’ve stuck it out too…mileage will vary…not appropriate for everyone.

one last comment. well-being doesn’t have much to do with being happy…but happiness happens, on occasion just like every other state of being and mind.

(thoughts that still seem timely from 2018, never published)

the thoughts in this little piece began the process to a much longer piece on Mad in America. I kind of like the simplicity of this one better at this point!

Mindfulness and Complex Trauma: The Rewards and the Risks — Mad in America

Mindfulness: dangerous business, more on topic:

• Meditation, not all bliss and roses
• Your body tells you when you’ve moved out of harmony: listen to learn
• Trust your body: learning to heal

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