I have tried mindfulness, but...

A reflection on mindfulness and its place in wellbeing

18 February 2026

By Will Jacyna Counsellor and Psychotherapist at Beacon Therapeutic Practice

"I have tried mindfulness,

but it doesn't really work for me."

Sound familiar?

I used to say this too. I get it, really.

Having a practitioner suggest mindfulness can be frustrating, especially when you feel you are drowning. But here's the thing...

Mindfulness is often dismissed as lacking scientific rigour, but the clinical literature consistently demonstrates that between 70–80% of individuals who practice mindfulness notice a significant reduction in distress.

When comparing that to pharmacological interventions for chronic pain or mental health conditions, mindfulness actually yields a comparable or higher reported rate of symptom reduction than many pharmacological treatments.

For many of us, perhaps it is hard to imagine that we all have ways of inwardly resolving much of our emotional distress.

Prayer and meditation have been an ancient medicine for much of human history.

Despite major advances in neuroscience, psychiatry, and pharmacology, rates of anxiety, depression, and other forms of poor mental health are not declining. Arguably, in the West they are reported more.

For the cultures that have practiced mindfulness for thousands of years and report stable and positive wellbeing, if these techniques were not effective, it would be unreasonable to believe somebody wouldn't have called BS somewhere along the way.

So why practice mindfulness?

Mindfulness changes the brain. Neuroscience demonstrates that practice leads to improvements in emotional regulation (prefrontal cortex) and in stress response (amygdala reactivity). This is neuroplasticity in action.

Mindfulness improves pain coping, reduces relapse in depression, and lowers stress biomarkers.

Mindfulness has been proven to reduce relapse rates in alcohol and substance addiction recovery.

The key word that keeps emerging is practice. Mindfulness is a practice and a skill that one develops.

Consider taking a look at my mindfulness decision tree, before fully dismissing it?