Getting Real with Mindfulness Ep. 2 - Is Mindfulness Just Fluffy Nonsense?

Nov 2, 2025

Is mindfulness just fluffy nonsense? Hosts Claire and Victoria dive deep into this misconception, revealing how mindfulness is both gritty and practical. They highlight mindful colouring as a gentle entry point, while emphasizing its role in building agency and emotional resilience. The discussion contrasts rapid reactions with mindful responses, showcasing the benefits of self-compassion. With insights into workplace wellbeing and the neuroscience behind mindfulness, this engaging conversation challenges stereotypes and encourages a broader perspective.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Mindfulness Trains Attention Beyond Calm

Mindfulness is more than calming activities like mindful colouring; it's training attention to notice the mind's habits.
Victoria Fontana says deeper practice reveals grit and the capacity to see and work with inner layers.

ANECDOTE

Conference Criticism And Regret

Claire Kelly recounts a union leader calling mindfulness 'fluffy nonsense' at a conference.
She wished she'd replied that mindfulness provides agency and clarity, not emptying the mind.

INSIGHT

Noticing Creates Agency

Mindfulness creates space to notice mental patterns and slow automatic reactivity.
Victoria Fontana describes that noticing gives agency to choose different responses instead of habitual ones.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Is mindfulness just fluffy nonsense?! In this episode of 'Getting Real with Mindfulness', hosts Claire and Victoria take on one of the most common misconceptions about mindfulness - that it’s soft, indulgent, or lacking substance.

Through personal stories, practical examples, and a touch of neuroscience, they explore how mindfulness is far from fluffy. It’s gritty, challenging, and surprisingly practical. From mindful colouring to fierce compassion, they unpack what mindfulness really is and what it isn’t.

Whether you're a curious beginner, a trained teacher, or somewhere in between, this episode offers a fresh perspective on how mindfulness builds agency, supports emotional resilience, and helps us respond, rather than habitually react, to life.

👥 About the Hosts

Claire Kelly is a mindfulness-based mentor and the Director of Teaching and Training at Oxford Mindfulness. With over 25 years in education, she's also passionate about developing and delivering evidence-based programmes to support mental health and wellbeing in education.

Victoria Fontana is a certified mindfulness and compassion teacher, executive coach, and educator who helps people cultivate calm, clarity, and resilience in their lives and work. Victoria teaches mindfulness and compassion-based programs internationally through IE University, the Mindfulness and Health Institute, and through her own programs at https://www.mindgazing.com/

Oxford Mindfulness is a not-for-profit organisation helping people achieve greater well-being and improved mental health through research-based mindfulness. Visit our website 👉 https://oxfordmindfulness.org/

📑 Episode Resources

Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT): https://www.mindgazing.com/cbrt
Gilbert, P. (2019). Explorations into the nature and function of compassion. Current opinion in psychology, 28, 108-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.002
Desbordes, G., Negi, L. T., Pace, T. W., Wallace, B. A., Raison, C. L., & Schwartz, E. L. (2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 23050. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00292
Neff, K. D. (2023). Self-compassion: Theory, method, research, and intervention. Annual review of psychology, 74(1), 193 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047
Luberto, C. M., Shinday, N., Song, R., Philpotts, L. L., Park, E. R., Fricchione, G. L., & Yeh, G. Y. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of meditation on empathy, compassion, and prosocial behaviors. Mindfulness, 9(3), 708-724. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-017-0841-8
Charlson, M.E., Loizzo, J., Moadel, A. et al. Contemplative self healing in women breast cancer survivors: a pilot study in underserved minority women shows improvement in quality of life and reduced stress. BMC Complement Altern Med 14, 349 (2014). Https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-349, https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-349
Britton WB, Shahar B, Szepsenwol O, Jacobs WJ. Behav Ther. (2012) Emotional Reactivity to Social Stress: Results from A Randomized Controlled Trial https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3495556/
Mindfulness-Based Interventions and How They Work (Gu et al., 2015) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272735815000197