“Mindful” Mindfulness: Call Out the Fraud Squad!!

Kudos to Julia Culen for calling out the legion of “mindfulness” professionals suddenly stumping on every corner. Thanks for acknowledging the collective eye-roll.

Today’s career professional should be suspicious of any “specific way of artificial behavior”.

A forced moment of mindfulness will always feel “deeply unauthentic”. The positioning of mindfulness and the transference of an experiential skill is a complex teaching endeavor, and the grace with which that happens marks the difference between a mindfulness teacher and a mindful mentor.

On this Independence Day, I urge you to exercise your right to personal freedom andthink for yourself when it comes to mindfulness. Look for “one of those very down to earth people. They speak with a normal voice, can laugh about themselves and favor a good glass of wine or beer every once in a while’”

If you’re tossing around the mindfulness title, check yourself with a few basic questions and avoid Julia’s 5 fatal faker flags.

Hello?!? Is anybody home?

Do you embody mastery of personal and relational awareness? Are you in your heart or in your head? How often are your heart, mind and body in physiological harmony?  Are you practicing your walk or just babbling your talk?

Are catching the wave to make a buck?

If you’re using mindfulness to sell your coaching services, training program, life rebound kit, do you have 10+ years of personal practice informing your “expertise”? Really, not just a book you read, or a weekend workshop you attended and picked up a few useful concepts.

Are you preaching personal perfection?

The combined community of contemplative lineages gives a collective cringe here. Watch the ego and get a grip.   A true practitioner knows how humbling it is to see personal Truth.

What happens when you leave the meditation hall?

We’re all tempted to hurry up and carve out time to relax.  It’s a whole different ballgame to actually apply the practices on the ground, real time.  Remember, it’s a practice of remembering – keep coming back to that stillness inside, especially outside of formal practice.