Mindfulness under scrutiny

A Forbes essay published April 21 argues that popular mindfulness has been pared down so far that it can work against the goals people bring to it. (forbes.com) The piece, written by Nell Derick Debevoise, draws on religion professor Elizabeth Bucar’s critique of meditation as a productivity tool, airplane ritual, or stress hack detached from the traditions that shaped it. (forbes.com) Bucar said the stripped-down version leaves out ethical commitments, community, and disciplined instruction, and she told Forbes that “wellness alone is too low a bar.” (forbes.com; cssh.northeastern.edu) Mindfulness, in plain terms, is training attention on the present moment; in clinical settings it is often packaged into structured programs, while consumer apps turn it into short, repeatable audio sessions. (mayoclinichealthsystem.org; nature.com) That consumer format has spread faster than the evidence base. A 2024 systematic review in *npj Mental Health Research* examined 28 randomized trials covering 5,963 adults and found mindfulness apps looked promising, but the literature was still “nascent” and results varied across studies. (nature.com) Some recent trials have found measurable benefits. A randomized clinical trial published in *JAMA Network Open* on January 2, 2025 reported that 1,458 employees using a digital mindfulness meditation app had significantly lower perceived stress at eight weeks than a waiting-list control group. (jamanetwork.com) Other researchers have argued the field still blurs together different ingredients — guided meditation, psychoeducation, and informal daily practice — making it hard to say which parts are doing the work. A 2026 critical review in *Healthcare* said the expansion of mindfulness research has produced both enthusiasm and disputes over its actual clinical value. (mdpi.com) The debate has also widened beyond effectiveness to risk. A 2026 review in *Current Opinion in Psychology* said clinicians and researchers are paying more attention to adverse effects of meditation and mindfulness, alongside their benefits. (sciencedirect.com) Bucar’s argument lands in that gap between mass adoption and mixed evidence: she is not saying mindfulness never helps, but that turning it into a frictionless wellness product can remove the structure earlier forms treated as essential. (forbes.com; nature.com) The immediate question is not whether people should stop meditating, but what kind of practice they are actually doing when a centuries-old discipline is compressed into a few minutes on a phone. (forbes.com; jamanetwork.com)