Your Meditation Practice Is Yours…And Yours Alone

Mindfulness and meditation have both grown in mainstream popularity in recent years. They are both powerful tools in managing stress and other negative emotions and can be a big part of a spiritual practice if you desire. Unfortunately, there has been a bit of an ongoing war between meditation purists and those new to practicing meditation.

I’ve seen a fair amount of feedback from traditionalists online shaming people for using meditation apps or otherwise using more non-traditional ways of practicing meditation. It’s disappointing really.

Here’s the Complicated Part

The reality is that meditation is now relatively mainstream. It’s roots however, are in ancient Eastern traditions of spirituality and religion. Given that, I can certainly understand that difficulty that some have in accepting how the practice has been transformed, or adjusted, for others. I’m talking cultural appropriation.

This is a conversation that takes place about many cultural practices. This conversation is something that Gwyneth Paltrow ignorantly wandered into when she implied that she’s responsible for mainstream yoga in the United States.

There is no universal rule on what constitutes cultural appropriation or appreciation, and where that line is. It’s a moving target with a lot of different perspectives and concerns.

I’m sure that the conversation on cultural appropriation could go on, well forever, and it is valid. Western societies take a lot from other cultures and brand it as our own. We have a lot collective work to do, especially if we’re not actively respecting and honoring the histories of the practices we use. However, as a wellness advocate and therapist, I think it’s important to consider that whatever we need to use in order to keep us well is an individual choice and process worthy of admiration.

That is, if you find something that works for you then you should continue to use those tools for your health and well-being. There’s nothing wrong with that. 

There will always be conversations about whether a practice has changed so much that it has gone “mainstream”. This really isn’t your concern when you’re doing what works for you in managing your emotional and physical health on a daily basis. We need to do what works for us. That doesn’t mean that we are exempt from these cultural conversations or criticisms, but it is our individual choice how involved we want to be in that conversation. 

At the end of the day, you have to do you.

We don’t need to shame people for doing what works for them. We need to applaud them for actively bettering themselves.