Can Mindfulness Cause Stress and Anxiety

Audio file: https://youtu.be/tYL9SIgE1HQ

many people in the mindfulness world won’t like this, but it needs to be said

Mindfulness can create stress.

There
I said it
and I am not taking it back.

Not because mindfulness is bad.
But because the way many of us approach it can be.

I know because I lived it.

When I first stepped into meditation and mindfulness, I was looking for healing and control.

If I am honest, I thought I was walking toward a world of sunshine and rainbows. A calm mind. A steady presence. Maybe even gliding through life like some peaceful movie character who never gets rattled.

Something like Grasshopper.

And when that did not happen, I assumed I was doing it wrong.

So I tried harder.
More routines.
More structure.
More effort to be present.

Ironically, the more I tried to force mindfulness, the more pressure I felt.

Trying to be calm is not calm.
Trying to be present is not presence.

It quietly turns awareness into a performance.

Am I doing this right
Why is my mind still busy
Shouldn’t I be more peaceful by now

That subtle self judgment creates tension, not ease.

Through openness, study, and a lot of lived experience, I slowly realized something.

The sunshine and rainbows version is TV mindfulness.
The polished version.
The marketable version.

Real mindfulness is more human.

Good days
Bad days
Mad days
Sad days

Moments of clarity
Moments of ego
Moments of humility

All of it counts.

My practice today looks nothing like it did years ago.

Less formal.
Less rigid.
Less concerned with doing it right.

It is no longer about the technique.
It is about the experience of being alive.

Some days I sit.
Some days I walk.
Some days I forget all about it.

And oddly enough, the stress eased when I stopped chasing the perfect practice.

If I could sit down with my former self, I would not give him a better routine.

I would just say

hey
chill out
take it easy

Some days will be great.
Some days will absolutely suck.

That is not failure.
That is the deal.

Mindfulness did not make me superhuman.
It helped me stop fighting being human.

Always remember to... JUST BREATHE.

The Unscripted Mind

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Just Breathe, The Unscripted Mind website.