Tuesday, February 10, 2026
The word “meditation” is often confused with “mindfulness.” Meditation is the discipline of sitting still in a particular posture in silence and solitude with focus on the breath. Mindfulness is the complete attention on the task at hand, and the state of total awareness of what is going on in our mind and around us. Attention and awareness results from the daily practice of meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation is also the name of a meditation and is one of the meditations we practice such as Body Scan, Loving Kindness, Guided meditations and so on.
You have practiced focusing attention on your breath. In doing so, you watch your own mind in the present moment. You witness yourself. This is similar to looking at your own reflection in a life-size mirror. The way you become aware of your face, your torso, arms and legs–the whole body, is not different from witnessing your passing thoughts, feelings and sensations. Watching yourself is self-awareness, a quality essential to your emotional and spiritual growth.Meditation teaches you to patiently listen to the whispers of your Authentic Self, the awareness embedded deep within you. You may or may not receive immediate answers to your self-questioning but the practice will calm your body and mind. When you are your own judge and jury, you can’t cheat, lie, or ignore the truth. You get to know yourself from the point of view of your conscience and get an opportunity to improve your behavior and attitude. When you live in the present moment, the only time and space where consciousness emerges, your true nature shines through.
Trust the path you have chosen to walk on, trust the calling that has been bestowed upon you and watch it lead you to a better place. There is no one in the world who could do what you have done or plan to do. Let your plan reveal itself to you with the help of your daily practices of journaling, meditation, walking and reading.
Remember, attention and awareness are basic faculties you hone in meditation which makes you more mindful.
Phil Church
Thank you for clarifying distinctions of mindfulness (awareness) and meditation (attention). Can they reinforce each other?
Is there a proper mindfullness/meditation balance? How is it achieved? What are the signs that I’ve got mindfulness and meditation in balance, or that they are out of balance? Or is one simply reinforcing the other? If so, which?
Jennifer D. Diamond
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and clarification. For years I resisted using the word “mindful” because it felt like the “buzz word” of self-help social media influencers. But finding you, the Mindful Writers, and learning from you have helped me find a true meaning in the word. Thank you!
Madhu B. Wangu
Hi Phil,
Thank you for visiting and posting questions. The difference between mindfulness and meditation can be confusing. I hope what we discussed in our session today was helpful. In addition, the emails I sent to the group and today’s reflections explained the terms further. I suggest reading the daily Inspirations for Month two and three would clarify both the terms and the process.
See you next Tuesday!
Madhu B. Wangu
Dear Jenn,
This happened to me when I used God for the first time. You see, in Hinduism and Buddhism there is a word for god, Bhagvan but it does not carry the kind of weight that the term “God” does. All gods are known by their names and the supreme divine power is called Brahman. So when I needed to write about the sacred power of the universe I would write Ultimate Reality. Yet, these two words seemed empty of meaning. It took me decades to use the term God that meant something to me. So your hesitance to using word “mindful” is quite understandable.