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The VICE Guide to Right Now Podcast

How Mobile Apps Have Whitewashed Mindfulness Practices

On today's podcast episode, we talk about how the traditional Buddhist practice has been commodified.
Image: Pixabay

Meditation practices have made it into yoga classes, magazines, and mobile apps, but the concept of mindfulness has also become increasingly divorced from its roots. Similar to the Western practice of yoga, plenty of people—including the largely affluent, white tech entrepreneurs—are profiting from mobile apps like Headspace or Calm.

Stripping meditation and mindfulness practices from their roots in Buddhist discourse has ultimately alienated some of the people who can have access to these practices. We talked about this whitewashing effect on the latest episode of The VICE Guide to Right Now Podcast.

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