The items you raised as commonplace things we all do anyway is understood, but it seems you assume that most people are present for their own life, when actually people are often a million miles away thinking about something else.
Did the dinner you had last night taste good or did you not stop to enjoy the taste? Do you remember what you had for dinner last night? When you went on your last vacation were you really there enjoying it or were you enjoying the concept of it and how you could record it and share it with others on social media? There is even a psychological condition called disassociation that many people suffer from but don't know what it's called. Disassociated people see their life as a passive observer, like watching themselves act in a play.
Mindfulness is an Eastern solution attempt to counter these tendencies. In fact, mindfulness may be the only solution for disassociation because there isn't a pill you can take for that. Disassociation comes about because of trauma and a person's need to disengage from the pain. The "thousand yard stare" of war vets is an example. Mindfulness training is used as therapy by the VA but they don't call it that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony
The items you raised as commonplace things we all do anyway is understood, but it seems you assume that most people are present for their own life, when actually people are often a million miles away thinking about something else.
Did the dinner you had last night taste good or did you not stop to enjoy the taste? Do you remember what you had for dinner last night? When you went on your last vacation were you really there enjoying it or were you enjoying the concept of it and how you could record it and share it with others on social media? There is even a psychological condition called disassociation that many people suffer from but don't know what it's called. Disassociated people see their life as a passive observer, like watching themselves act in a play.
Mindfulness is an Eastern solution attempt to counter these tendencies. In fact, mindfulness may be the only solution for disassociation because there isn't a pill you can take for that. Disassociation comes about because of trauma and a person's need to disengage from the pain. The "thousand yard stare" of war vets is an example. Mindfulness training is used as therapy by the VA but they don't call it that.
https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/prolonged-expo...
I'm not saying there aren't "mindfulness" scam teachers, but that's true of just about any topic, at least in America