What Mindfulness Is and Is Not

I have been practising mindfulness as a secular Mahayana Buddhist for more than 20 years by now. Mindfulness is no doubt a good tool to help me anchor myself in the present momen. It keeps me engaged to the task at hand, and it helps me catch "AHA" moments when I might lose my temper or the other extreme of falling in love to an object of lust or attachment. All these years as I practise mindfulness, I have matured as a person and I seldom lose control of myself, so in summary mindfulness is good for me.

Yet, there's a limit to what mindfulness can do. For instance, mindfulness doesn't make one rich overnight, it also is not a complete replacement for medication when one is sick. I just did a full health screening and received my report a few days ago, I am still suffering from high cholesterol and low testosterone and low Vitamin D, these are some problems that mindfulness doesn't solve. In other words, mindfulness is not a replacement for exercise, there are times when you are feeling frustrated, and instead of minding this or minding that, the better alternative is to put everything down and go for a brisk walk or a nice jog. For me, exercise works better than mindfulness. I would put my work aside, then go and feed some community cats, the simple walk works miracles better than spending hours being mindful of what I am doing in front of the computer.

I am still learning how to cope better with stress, la, I don't think there's a one size fits all approach, if mindfulness works for you, then congrats! Keep it up! If mindfulness doesn't work for anyone of you, don't despair, maybe a good workout at the gym might work better instead, I don't know what I won't know.

Have a good evening! I am a foodie and a good meal helps me cope with my stress too!