Decentralizing the Commodification of Mindfulness

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Alexa Beaubrun
English 170
Vinciguerra
12 October 2022
Decentralizing the Commodification of Mindfulness

The commodification of mental health is truly undermining the benefits of the movement. Oftentimes– many struggling with their own battles– whether internal or external turn to online resources to get them out of dark times. After the eventful year that 2020 has brought, America has become increasingly weary of the bustling world. The nine-to-fives, the rush of city streets and car exhaust; the creeping whisper of productivity around the corner. This new emergence of online psychotherapy and mental health apps was born out of both convenience and societal disdain for the world around us. It has positively allowed many people to access mental health resources, as long as they have access to the internet. The online mindfulness industry is incredibly profitable– and it’s almost understandable why this process of commodification occurs.

In late 2019, I ingested the words of Founder of Headspace, Andi Puddicome, as closely and imperatively as I did water. He created a method, a set of buzzwords, and he repackaged a dream out of old ideals. It was crack. As I clicked on his Headspace app, I felt refreshed. My “aura” carried a new bright hue– similar of course to the eye catching oranges and yellows and tiny characters the app displayed. The app was designed to be pleasing to the eye and to that– it
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succeeded. I was enjoying the app; enjoying letting go of habitual productivity. I was enjoying it of course until a certain pop-up prompt came right up on my screen. With no regard or sympathy to the rigor that modern day capitalism bestowed on me daily– this app was asking me for cash. Little did it know I downloaded it to get away from cash, and work, and commodification. Of course, this is only one issue that these “calming apps” have. Editor of digital magazine Backchannel, Scott Rosenberg believes that “these apps are masters of the upsell” and compares the likeness of them to “free samples” (Rosenberg). This could not be closer to the truth. When apps offer more paid content then actual free content– then isn’t the app basically a free sample? A taste at what life could be like if you paid $9.99 a month? The irony of it all was that even this app, one made to bubble me away from the economic fatigue of this society, was riddled with just that. It’s one of the sad ills of the mindfulness industry.

Meditation’s integration into western society is deliberate and strategic. Especially when looking at the fact that western society is both individualistic and consumerist at heart. Mindfulness culture is the antithesis of both of those concepts. When blended into western capitalism, our society is able to create the presence of a well rounded, calm worker. According to scholar and economist Mary Wrenn, “The core imperative of corporate spiritualism—much like neoliberalism—is the emphasis on the individual.” (Wrenn). Wrenn acknowledges that when mindfulness is blended with corporatism, then the desired result is ultimately individualism. When we analyze our systemic issues regarding work, income, and overall well being through an individual lens, it is easy to blame ourselves. After blaming ourselves we can turn to an individual solution– such as deep breathing and guided meditation. Nevermind the fact that we
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might just need paid time off or standard universal health care! Obviously this is an internal mental health crisis. Our society is also able to keep up with the illusion that mindfulness is the complete cure to all of our late-stage capitalistic problems. By treating depression and anxiety like it exists in a vacuum in our own heads, we as a society are dismissed and shut down– never able to truly address the ills in this world. While mindfulness is a beneficial and often necessary aid to those going through strife, it should not be “the end all be all”. It should not be a replacement for the societal issues that are hurled our way. Constantly, America enforces that systemic issues are our faults, so bringing in mindfulness and ironically using it to further push individualism— is in fact strategic.

Capitalism has allowed mindfulness to be palatable. It has co-opted everything from its phrases and culture down to its practices, in order to “fit”. According to author Ronald Purser
Mindfulness has been oversold and commodified, reduced to a technique for just about any instrumental purpose. It can give inner-city kids a calming time-out, or hedge-fund traders a mental edge, or reduce the stress of military drone pilots. Void of a moral compass or ethical commitments, unmoored from a vision of the social good, the commodification of mindfulness keeps it anchored in the ethos of the market. (Purser).
So what does Purser mean, that mindfulness has turned into something “void of a moral compass”, or visionless of the social good? Purser has been able to characterize mindfulness under capitalism to be able to shapeshift. Under capitalism, mindfulness can be whatever it wants to be for whoever it wants to be. He acknowledges that it can quiet kids down when “needed”.

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Capitalism has co-opted and hijacked mindfulness to be able to serve its own profit agenda.
When profit is put over people who is really benefiting?

For those interested in the concept of capitalism-infiltrated-mindfulness, there has thankfully been a word that encompasses just that. The term “McMindfulness” was coined by Miles Neale– which on the topic of appropriation– he is often not credited for (Helderman). This phrase truly captures just what materialism and consumerism can turn an aspect of a culture into. The term “McMindfulness” was born from the words McDonalds and Mindfulness. The word McDonalds was incorporated into this word primarily because of how the golden arches are seen as the pinnacle of American capitalism. But what about mindfulness? What if the watered-down, neoliberal, version of mindfulness that we have been so easily introduced to; is separate from its origins. Professor João Simão of Universidade Aberta states that “As non-possession is a result of the non-self, Buddhism and capitalism are in opposition, as the latter favours possession and private property, while the former teaches detachment.” (Simão). According to João, Buddhism and capitalism do not coincide. They are not alike by nature. Buddhism teaches the importance of disattaching one’s own self from material possessions, while capitalism commodifies our desire for more stuff. Buddhism emphasizes that our “desires must be controlled by moderation and by the pursuit of genuine well-being” (Simão). Capitalism runs on a profit motive. It chases the quota and the demand. It isn’t slow or self aware– it doesn’t care about our well-being.

But what about the critics of the critiques of “McMindfulness”? A common concern amongst health professionals is that the McMindfulness movement has in some cases diminished
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and set aside people’s suffering. (Helderman). A movement that is calling out the establishment for the greater good of society can only be truly beneficial when its intentions are entirely pure and selfless. It is simply not enough to call out Big Tech for giving us Headspace and Calm because you do not like Big Tech. there are still benefits to these resources, despite valid critiques. The future of this movement should be piloted by those who care about the individuals behind the screen. Those who are suffering through indescribable situations. Those who are simply at war with themselves. Because if our world is facing a mental health crisis and a loneliness epidemic, then what truly is the answer for millions of people? It is also important to be kind when approaching this subject. There are many people who have built strength, positive mental connections and have generally rebuilt their lives through the help of mental health apps and online mental health resources. Empathy is a great start to a great solution.

Spirituality can be incredibly beneficial when used individually in one’s life. This is why this issue evokes so much passion, and has even started a movement. Within Buddhist practices, followers are taught to decentralize our own selfish desires and that indulging in materialism will lead to moral corruption. This issue is why it is so important to address the appropriation over Buddhism that capitalism has. Because who truly benefits over capitalism’s McMindfulness?

 

 

Works Cited
Helderman, Ira. “The Mcmindfulness Wars.” Tricycle, 30 July 2021, https://tricycle.org/magazine/mcmindfulness-debate/#:~:text=Though%20he%20is%20rarely%20credited,again%20in%20the%20years%20since.
Purser, Ronald. “The Mindfulness Conspiracy.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 June 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/14/the-mindfulness-conspiracy-capitalist-spirituality.
Rosenberg, Scott. “The Unbearable Irony of Meditation Apps | Backchannel.” Wired, Conde Nast, 30 Aug. 2017, https://www.wired.com/story/the-unbearable-irony-of-meditation-apps/.
Simão, João. “Some Tensions between Capitalism and Buddhism: A Reflection from McMindfulness.” International Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Society, vol. 9, no. 3, Sept. 2019, pp. 75–88. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8633/CGP/v09i03/75-88.
Wrenn, Mary V. “Corporate Mindfulness Culture and Neoliberalism.” Review of Radical Political Economics, vol. 54, no. 2, June 2022, pp. 153–70. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1177/04866134211063521.