Mindfulness Teaches You to See the World as a Child Does

Mindfulness is surging in popularity right now as people around the globe are taking up the practice to reduce stress and boost productivity. Over at The Huffington Post, Renee Jain makes a keen observation about the in-practice goals of mindfulness, notably the purposeful focus on the present:

“Take a walk with a child, and you’ll notice that they don’t walk in straight lines. It’s pretty entertaining, actually. Children stop and touch, smell, and taste things (whether they should or not!) and, in many cases, they come up with observations that adults tend to miss. They pay attention to the experiences in the present moment. In short, children are natural-born mindfulness practitioners.”

It’s certainly an interesting idea. In essence, Jain argues that mindfulness seeks to recreate a mindset of stability that comes natural in children yet fades with age. If you imagine the human psyche broken up into two halves — the adult and the child — the former can be linked to achievement, responsibility and stress, and the latter to innocence, observation, and peace. To riff off Jain’s point, growing up makes us lose track of what mindfulness seeks to recreate.

What’s your take?