A Full Mind and Mindfulness.

Mindfulness has become a widely embraced practice over the past decade, particularly among people seeking relief from daily stress and emotional overwhelm. Its focus on slowing down, paying attention to one’s breathing, and observing thoughts without judgment has made it both appealing and accessible. For many in a fast paced world, it offers a much-needed pause in a fast-paced life.

Rooted in meditative traditions, mindfulness invites us to step back from habitual busyness and instead reconnect with the present moment. For some, this can feel restorative — a welcome contrast to constant problem-solving and mental noise.

Part of mindfulness’s widespread appeal may be its low barrier to entry. It doesn’t require equipment or ongoing financial investment. Unlike yoga or Pilates, which often involve paid classes, mindfulness can be practiced alone, quietly, almost anywhere. In our increasingly digital world, there are also countless apps, videos, books, and online courses available — offering guided meditations and simple ways to start. Whether via a YouTube clip or a five-minute meditation app, mindfulness has become readily available to nearly everyone.

It’s common for people to turn to mindfulness when they’re struggling — with anxiety, sleep issues, fatigue, or general emotional unease. And in many cases, it does help reduce symptoms. Slowing down can make someone feel more focused and better able to manage day-to-day life. But from a psychoanalytic point of view, there’s an important distinction between easing symptoms and understanding their origins. Psychoanalysis sees symptoms — whether emotional or physical — not just as things to eliminate, but as expressions of unconscious conflict. These inner tensions are often deeply buried, sometimes since childhood, and can resurface in the form of sleeplessness, low mood, irritability, or repeated behavioural patterns.

From this perspective, symptoms are not meaningless inconveniences to be smoothed over. They are dense, meaningful signals — the mind’s way of pointing to something unresolved or unspoken. While mindfulness might quiet the distress for a time, it may also risk silencing what that distress is trying to communicate.

That’s not to say mindfulness should be avoided — far from it. It can be a useful practice to maintain to create balance in an overwrought life, much like getting daily physical exercise exercise or paying attention to our diets. However if the goal is long-term change or deeper emotional understanding, an engagement in psychoanalytic therapy offers something more substantial: the space to ask why the symptom exists in the first place.

People are free to choose what form of support suits them best. For some, practicing mindfulness provides exactly the balance they need. For others, the return or transformation of symptoms over time may point to a need for more depth-oriented work. The important thing is to remain curious. If mindfulness helps you find calm and clarity — wonderful. But if you sense recurring emotional struggles or patterns that mindfulness alone doesn’t shift, psychoanalysis may offer a different, more sustained kind of help.

This piece is not a critique of mindfulness, but a call to consider its place within a wider approach to mental health. If mindfulness is working for you, keep going. But if you’re seeking to understand the why behind what you feel, and not just lessen the symptoms, psychoanalytic work might provide a way forward.