Which one is better, mindfulness or meditation

If we really want to be honest, there is no absolute "which one is better". The two have the same origin. The core of which one to choose depends entirely on which one suits your current needs and status.

Many friends who are new to it always think that these two methods are completely independent. In fact, they are not - the mindfulness therapy commonly used in clinical practice today was standardized by Dr. Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s after he separated the core awareness training from traditional Vipassana meditation and completely de-religionized it. Psychological intervention programs can be regarded as a "modern improved version of meditation branch" to some extent; and the "meditation therapy" that everyone usually refers to generally refers to all traditional practice methods that include concentration and awareness training, from Vipassana to compassion meditation and transcendental meditation. The scope is much wider than mindfulness.

Last year I took over a girl who worked in Internet operations. She had severe difficulty falling asleep. She couldn't fall asleep after lying on the bed and closing her eyes for two hours. Her mind was filled with unfinished activity plans and unanswered work messages. At first, she followed the APP to practice traditional focused meditation, which required her to completely clear her mind. As a result, the more she practiced, the more anxious she became. She always felt, "Why am I distracted again? I am not suitable for practicing this at all." Instead, she stayed up until three o'clock without falling asleep. Later, I introduced her to mindfulness body scanning exercises. She didn’t have to force herself to “think about nothing.” When she was distracted, she could just gently bring her attention back to the current physical sensation. After practicing for three weeks, her sleep time was reduced to less than 20 minutes, and her problem of being distracted during meetings during the day was much better.

Of course, I also know many teachers who have practiced traditional meditation for more than ten years. I feel that the "standardization" of mindfulness has limited its role, leaving less room for exploring deep emotions in traditional meditation. I once had a client who came to me for consultation. He suffered from the trauma of abandonment in his childhood. After a full 8 weeks of MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy), he was still flustered for no reason. I later referred him to a friend who did traditional meditation intervention. He used compassion meditation and Vipassana practice. After practicing for less than three months, he said that he was finally able to face the "child" huddled in the corner in his heart, and the frequency of panic attacks dropped by 80%. He himself also said that this kind of in-depth emotional sorting was something he had never experienced when doing structured mindfulness exercises before.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the difference between the two is like when you go to the gym. Mindfulness is a targeted local training, whichever is weaker. For example, if you want to relieve current anxiety and improve concentration, follow the standardized guidance and practice, and you will see the results quickly. The threshold is also low, there is no need to understand complicated theories, and it is friendly to all people. Traditional meditation is more like a whole-body conditioning exercise. If you want to see deep effects, you need to persist for a long time. It is more suitable for people who want to do deep self-exploration and long-term adjustment of physical and mental state.

I usually change my practice. When I am overwhelmed with catching up on projects, I will take 5 minutes to do mindfulness anchoring exercises to bring my attention back to the present moment, and I will soon calm down my emotions. When I am free at home on weekends, I will light incense and sit in meditation for 40 minutes to slowly sort out my recent emotions. You really don’t have to worry about which one is better. The one that can solve your current problem is the most suitable for you.