How mindfulness is making us more anxious A cure for all our stresses or just part of a never-ending cycle of self-improvement? 1 May 2021 • 6:00am Mindful meditation has become popular in the last ten years but it's not the answer for everyone Today, being “mindful” has become a synonym for living a superior kind of life. Headspace, the mindfulness app created by Andy Puddicombe, a British former monk, is valued at $250 million (£180 million) and has two million subscribers. With books now published on everything from mindful baking to birdwatching, mindfulness is the key virtue of our times. How did we get here?