What’s The Difference Between Mindfulness and Meditation? Experts Finally Set the Record Straight

The lockdown has been threatening not just our physiological health but our mental wellness as well. To make matters worse, we can’t meet with our friends and families whom we could ask for support during this terrifying time. That, mixed with the soaring number of positive cases of people who caught the dreaded and highly contagious virus, can prompt anxiety and stress to slowly creep in our minds.

As such, most of us have googled ways to keep our sanity, especially since our movements are limited to doing a supplies run and staying home. Upon searching, you have come across the words ‘meditation’ and ‘mindfulness,’ which, at first glance, may seem interchangeable.

In fact, most people think that the two are synonymous – but that’s not true. In reality, these things are quite different but related, thereby smashing the common misconception. So what is the difference between these concepts?

Mindfulness vs Meditation

The two are oftentimes tossed around like they’re the same thing because each has many definitions. In a gist, however, their most basic meanings will give us an idea of the boundary between them.

Fizkes/Shutterstock — Meditation is about setting aside a specific time to exercise mindfulness

Mindfulness is the ability to be aware and present of the moment a person is in, which results in a calm body and mind. It’s also the ability to focus on our actions and being undistracted of the white noise, Mindology App founder Claire Aristides explained.

Nowadays, we are bombarded with so much noise, even in the comfort of our homes. From e-mails to household chores to Zoom meetings, everything can be so overwhelming, which is why it has become even more difficult to practice mindfulness.

Fizkes/Shutterstock — Being mindful is being into the sensation of what you are currently doing

Headspace founder Andy Puddicombe, meanwhile, describes meditation as the exercise by which we try to be mindful, which then we can use for our everyday life. ‘The Now Effect’ author Elisha Goldstein explained that this is when you set aside time to accomplish something good for yourself.

Importance of Knowing the Difference

For Andy, knowing how meditation and mindfulness differ is a big deal because of the time allotted in practicing these things. For example, if a person only meditates for 15 minutes a day, then there would be more than 23 hours that are not addressed.

You may want to see it as meditation, Andy recommended. You can start practicing mindfulness by choosing an activity – showering, for instance – and focusing on what you are doing.

Mindfulness Meditation

Tikhonova Yana/Shutterstock — Focus on an activity to practice mindfulness

To further twist our minds, there is also something called mindfulness meditation, which is when you focus on the moment intentionally – be it about your emotions, activities, or thoughts, it’s about knowing how to bring your mind back when it begins to wander, Claire noted.