It sure does have all the hype of a fad at the moment!
The article is pretty âlite-weightâ⌠but I did enjoy this quote from it
"Meditation isnât snake oil. But if youâre judging people for not meditating, itâs pretty clear that meditation hasnât made you mindful yet. "
Reading the short article cited in the OP causes me to observe, with irony, that the article said nothing about a fad peaking.
Meditation is exploding in popularity. Schools and workplaces are offering classes.
ââŚexploding in popularityâŚâ i.e. probably nearing saturation, having reached most of the population (in the USA).
The two scientific reviews cited by Grant â the 1st an almost boringly elaborate meta-study, spending most of the verbiage covering all the ins-and-outs of divergence of methodology across the range of âstudiesâ, concluding that there is no or only low-value evidence that what is popularly called âmeditationâ has significant health benefits (the presentation addresses MDs â itâs an article in JAMA), compared to other well-known methods, techniques; the 2nd citation similarly for the field of psychology.
They do note that most studies were relatively short-term, with rather small samplings, with little control over the quality of the practitioners, and without âcontrolsâ. And that more traditional methods emphasize expert instruction and long-term practice, and a value framework more well-defined than self-help coping therapy.
The saturating penetration of the population (and media attention), the evidence of growing push-back (like Grantâs article), and the virtual lack of scientific validation (for the largely watered-down and cursory popular applications) â suggest that room for further âexplosionâ is limited, and the matter will become more passe (in the tracks of the yoga, qigong, etc. fads of recent decades).
The optimistic hope, e.g. on the part of many participants in forums like this one, that the fad phenomenon opens the door to some who will dig deeper, find and pursue more substantial practices, is perhaps not unjustified. On the other hand, many people will gain the illusion that they, by exposure to the fad versions, already know what âmindfulnessâ is all about, and be less receptive to investigating in the direction of, for instance, samma-sati (and itâs integral connection with the other of the 8 factors of path).
Couldnât have said it better myself.
A revoir mindfulness.