Meditation and McMindfulness: A Brief History of the American Wellness Industry

-
By Elspeth Sweatman

Like the characters in Small Mouth Sounds, many of us turn to mindfulness as way of connecting with ourselves and our surroundings. But mindfulness in America today seems a contradiction in terms; it is not only a means to help us relax and recharge, but also a business powerhouse, raking in an estimated $4.2 billion a year. This juxtaposition of relaxation and commerce, however, has only appeared in the last 50 years.

Edward Chin-Lyn as Rodney in Small Mouth Sounds.
Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Mindfulness first arrived in America in the 1840s, as Buddhist Asian immigrants poured into California in search of gold, and East Coast academics became enamored of the religion and the esoteric man at its center, the Buddha. For these academics, mindfulness was just another aspect of Buddhism to be studied, not practiced in its own right. However, as the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, increasingly stringent laws brought Asian–US immigration to a standstill and rising ethnic tensions curtailed interest in Buddhism.

After World War II, the position of mindfulness changed dramatically in the United States. Many colleges and universities established religious studies departments, educating each new generation about Buddhism. The US government relaxed the immigration laws, opening new channels of communication and outreach between America and Asia. And young adults, disillusioned by the Korean and Vietnam wars, turned to Asian culture for solace and guidance.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that mindfulness and Buddhism began to diverge. Buddhist monks teaching in America, as well as American-born Buddhist practitioners and psychologists, all saw ways to apply mindfulness to the stresses of suburban life and modern medical practices. They started to market mindfulness as a way to increase concentration and productivity, reduce stress, and deal with chronic pain and mental illnesses.

With the turn of the millennium, the mindfulness industry received a boost from the resurgence of another industry in America: self-help. As Americans sought to improve every aspect of their lives, from clean eating to decluttering to breaking bad habits, mindfulness practitioners were ready with suggestions and support. Mindfulness’s increasing exposure caught the attention of big business; Target, Aetna, Hearst Publications, eBay, General Mills, and Ford incorporated mindfulness training into their programs to boost the happiness and productivity of their employees.

The Abbot of Watkungtaphao at the Sirikit Dam in Thailand, 2009.
Photo by Tevaprapas. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Mindfulness is now an activity that more and more people are taking up on their own. With all the books, apps, websites, and instructional YouTube videos available at the click of a button, mindfulness can now be done anywhere. But will these changes result in mindfulness becoming more firmly entrenched in our daily routines, or will it send us, like the characters in Small Mouth Sounds, to escape our gadget filled lives in the silence of a meditation retreat?

Small Mouth Sounds runs until December 10 at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater. Click here to purchase tickets through our website. To read more about the history of mindfulness, order a copy of Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth performance guide series.

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die,
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me
Read more

Purely Pinteresque: The Elements of Pinter's Language

-
Image
By Taylor Steinbeck Most artists take years to establish their voice and style. This wasn’t the case for playwright Harold Pinter. His first West End play, The Birthday Party, showcases the elements of Pinter’s aesthetic that would later be evident throughout his 29 plays and 23 screenplays: the rhythm of colloquial language punctuated by pauses and silences, mysterious characters who rarely say what they mean, and the unsettling, yet witty juxtaposition of comedy and terror. Suspenseful and comical, familiar and foreign, disturbing and alluring, The Birthday Party is quintessential Pinter. Graphite drawing of Harold Pinter. By A.C.T. Senior Graphic Designer Brad Amorosino. Pinter is a playwright who uses the back-and-forth of everyday conversation to create conflict and shape power dynamics between characters. “My characters tend to use words not to express what they think or feel,” said Pinter in a 1995 speech, “but to disguise what they think or feel, to mask their actual
Read more