The Mindfulness Market

I admit it.

While standing in the supermarket checkout line the other day, I squandered five bucks on a small PreventionGuide booklet called “The Mindfulness Manual.” It’s full of tiny articles with titles like “Clear Your Mind,” “Boost Your Joy” and “Put Down Your Phone.”

Okay as far as it goes, but mostly the kind of simple-minded stuff you find in the cheaper women’s magazines — a lot of it about as mindful as a casserole recipe. Mallika Chopra wrote the “Find Your Purpose” squib, so I guess she’s gone into her family’s guru business.

The continuing ham-handed corporate attempts to monetize mindfulness interest me, because they show both how powerful the concept is and what a buzzword it’s become.