Meditation and Appropriation: Best Practices for Counselors Who Utilize Meditation

Abstract

Support for meditation is found across academic communities and popular culture. Although the application of meditative practices has yielded positive treatment outcomes, larger purposes of the practice are perhaps lost in the empirically driven West, thus driving a risk of appropriation. In response, the authors outline 4 implications for best practice for counselors who aspire to engage in the culturally responsible use of meditative practices.

The Sacred to the Secular: Using Mindfulness and Meditation as Instructional Methods in Academia

“…Further, some scholars also are concerned with the cultural and spiritual appropriation of such practices-of drawing on the practices themselves without considering the cultural and religious traditions in which they are grounded (Surmitis, Fox, & Gutierrez, 2018). These programs, although based on traditional origins, employ mindfulness and meditation in nonsectarian ways, and run the risk of losing their religious, philosophical, and spiritual underpinnings.…”

“…Their stories are also indicative of the fact that culture is never static; given the internet, global mobility, and the processes of globalization, now more than at any time in history, we interact, are exposed to, and are influenced by the spiritual and cultural traditions across the world (Surmitis et al, 2018;Tisdell, 2003). Keeping in tune with their own traditions and beliefs that helped them to understand mindfulness and meditation for their own personal use, my colleagues' journeys reveal how they were then able to infuse these practices into a secular environment.…”

“…These programs, although based on traditional origins, employ mindfulness and meditation in nonsectarian ways, and run the risk of losing their religious, philosophical, and spiritual underpinnings. Further, some scholars also are concerned with the cultural and spiritual appropriation of such practices-of drawing on the practices themselves without considering the cultural and religious traditions in which they are grounded (Surmitis, Fox, & Gutierrez, 2018). The secularized version of these practices as instructional methods includes teaching various techniques (e.g., mindful eating, guided breathing, walking, meditation) as intervention tools for outcomes of alleviating stress, anxiety, and other health concerns.…”

“…Keeping in tune with their own traditions and beliefs that helped them to understand mindfulness and meditation for their own personal use, my colleagues' journeys reveal how they were then able to infuse these practices into a secular environment. Their stories are also indicative of the fact that culture is never static; given the internet, global mobility, and the processes of globalization, now more than at any time in history, we interact, are exposed to, and are influenced by the spiritual and cultural traditions across the world (Surmitis et al, 2018;Tisdell, 2003). While we need to be careful of spiritual and cultural appropriation at many levels, including of mindfulness and meditation, we can teach in ways that honor the cultures and traditions in which such practices arose, and adapt them to secular settings.…”

Summing Up: Themes and Variations, and Further Directions for Mindfulness and Meditation in Adult Education

“…Some authors refer to what is lost and what is gained by doing so (Tisdell & Riley; Gupta) while acknowledging concerns about what Surmitis et al (2018) refer to as cultural and spiritual appropriation. Several authors highlight or refer to the Eastern history and traditions of mindfulness and meditation as connected to Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism and the ways in which the Western world has embraced the practices offered by these traditions without necessarily accounting or embracing the spirituality of those traditions.…”