What is the difference between formal meditation and mindfulness?
Short Answer
Formal meditation involves structured practice sessions with specific techniques, while mindfulness refers to maintaining present-moment awareness throughout daily activities.
Why This Matters
Formal meditation creates concentrated training periods that strengthen attention and awareness skills through deliberate practice. This focused approach results in measurable changes in brain structure and function because sustained attention activates specific neural networks. Mindfulness represents the application of these cultivated skills in real-world contexts, leading to integration of meditative awareness into ordinary experience.
Where This Changes
The distinction blurs when formal sessions become very brief or when daily activities become highly structured contemplative practices. Some traditions emphasize one approach over the other, and advanced practitioners often experience continuous awareness that dissolves the formal/informal boundary.