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Meditation & Mindfulness - The Difference

  • Black Cat
  • Aug 10
  • 5 min read
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At first glance, the terms mindfulness and meditation often seem interchangeable. They are similar, but they aren’t the same. I have used, and still do use both.

In my blog posts I will be discussing my experiences so just wanted to quickly write about the differences so you can see what might or might not be something you want to investigate further.


Mindfulness

It is a quality or state of awareness. Being awake in the moment, intentionally and without judging.

It’s noticing what’s happening. Your body, emotions, thoughts and breath.

For example. Notice how your feet touch the floor, how a hot‑flush heat rises, or how your thoughts swirl and spiral, but just notice and don't make a judgement, try not to identify with them. Mayo Clinic News Network+8Verywell Mind+8Calm+8.

  • You don’t need a cushion or a ritual. A mindful moment can be noticing the smell of your tea, the tension in your shoulders, and even for some of us lucky ladies, that hot flash coming on.

  • Importantly, mindfulness is momentary awareness, something you feel regularly, not just during “quiet time.” As a major profiling study shows, the most mentally healthy individuals, especially as they get older, are those who are nonjudgmentally aware. Frontiers..


  • Meditation

    It is a deliberate practice, often seated or guided, used to train your attention or evoke certain states like calm, clarity, compassion.

    Meditation, in contrast to Mindfulness, is a formal practice or technique used to cultivate mindfulness (among other states). You set aside time, usually sit or move intentionally, breathe, repeat a mantra, or simply observe your inner life PositivePsychology.com. There are many different styles of meditaion. Focused-attention (like Anapanasati breath-count in early Buddhist tradition), Mantra, Transcendental, open-monitoring, Loving‑kindness (Metta), and more arXiv+2Wikipedia+2.

    Neuroimaging confirms different styles activate unique brain networks, some strengthen cognitive control, others emotional awareness or compassion circuits arXiv.


2. At a Glance - Five Key Differences Between the Two

Mindfulness

Meditation

Moment-to-moment awareness in daily life

Structured practice, often seated

Informal and spontaneous

Formal, may follow script or guide

Can occur anytime after a pause or breath

Defined session with time, technique

More about awareness

Often training focus, compassion, insight

Light, flexible practice

Can be intense, powerful, even transformational


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Why This Matters, Especially Women Over 40 (Yes, thats you!)


  • Perimenopause and menopause involve plunging estrogen and progesterone. Many women experience hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, brain fog, insomnia, fatigue, and more (yay us!). Symptoms that disrupt work, relationships, self‑confidence, and quality of life.

    A Mayo Clinic study (1,744 women aged 40‑65) found that higher mindfulness scores corresponded to fewer symptoms of irritability, anxiety, depression, (even though they didn’t report fewer hot flashes), suggesting mindfulness helps with how symptoms are experienced, not necessarily the raw events newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.


  • Mindfulness teaches noticing irritability, racing thoughts, or sadness as passing events, not who you are as a person. Over time, women build resilience against swings in mood and thought patterns, without self‑judgment or escalating emotional loops

    A massive UCL analysis (3,501 women, 14 countries) included mindfulness, CBT and meditation. It concluded both improve mood, memory, sleep, anxiety, and advocated for NHS use alongside HRT, especially when HRT cannot be used. thetimes.co.uk+1.


  • Stress hormones like cortisol can worsen hot flush frequency and duration, and increase cardiovascular risk. Mindfulness and meditation help regulate cortisol, improve sleep, reduce anxiety. Now if that is not something to shout about then I dont know what is! eistymenopause.comWikipedia.

    A Korean pilot study using Brain Education Sangdahnjeon meditation (BESM) (a hybrid of static focused meditation) plus brain-wave vibration movement,found trends toward reduced menopausal symptoms and improved blood markers like HDL and glucose in meditation practitioners versus controls pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.


  • Studies show meditation improves attention span and working memory,even in short practice bursts. Mindfulness strengthens awareness of when attention drifts into worry or memory slip loops, helping women regain focus Verywell Mindbetterup.comdrugtopics.com.

    Clinical trials with MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) in peri- and postmenopausal women show significant reductions in vasomotor, psychological, and somatic symptoms versus active control groups nature.com.


    How Mindfulness and Meditation Support Well‑Being


Mindfulness Supports:

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  • Regulating emotional responses: noticing irritation or anxiety as passing events helps avoid escalation, and having a massive meltdown in the supermarket.

  • Interrupting stress loops: catching the flash‑stress‑reaction cycle in its tracks.

  • Greater general awareness: studies show older individuals often fall into the “nonjudgmentally aware” profile associated with better mental health and life satisfaction Frontiers.

Meditation Supports:

  • Rewiring the brain: long‑term practice increases connectivity between prefrontal cortex ( the bit of your brain responsible for planning, decision making and controlling behaviour..god knows we need some help with that rewiring job!) and emotion centers - see previous comment! It reduces amygdala reactivity and boosts compassion and attention ( yay..not as much brain fog) Wikipedia.

  • Rapid emotional-regulation impact: even one 10‑minute loving‑kindness session changes gamma/beta waves in emotional brain regions nypost.com..

  • Symptom reduction: meta‑analyses show significant improvements in sleep, mood, hot‑flash distress, cognitive clarity during menopause. sciencedirect.comnature.compmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Bottom line: mindfulness helps change your experience of symptoms, meditation helps change how your brain and body respond physiologically. So its a win-win for us.



Recap

So, hopefully after a quick read of this you will have a basic understanding of the diferences and similarities between Mindfulness and Meditation. It is subtle, and often overlapping, but as the research suggests both can have a significant beneficial impact on mental, emotional and physical health.The science, especially fresh findings in 2025, says these approaches help reduce menopausal symptoms, improve sleep, mood, stress and quality of life drugtopics.comthetimes.co.ukpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

If your 40s or 50s and onwards, feel like a hormonal rollercoaster, you’re not alone, and you don’t have to ride it in silent suffering.

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Think of your inner world like a wild garden.

Mindfulness is like glancing around and noticing weeds (or a massive patch of nettles and thistles and a bit of poisonous Giant hogweed) but don't start weeding yet. You're becoming an expert observer. Mindfulness is the awareness you carry around in your daily life.

Meditation is more like planting the seeds of calm, ( think Lavender and Chamomile),pulling out deep roots of reactivity and over time creating a gentler, more focused sweet smelling brain-garden.

When menopause brings storms of hot flushes, brain fog, sleep loss, and mood swings, both mindfulness and meditation offer tools to help

  • Mindfulness helps you see the storm without adding drama.

  • Meditation helps rewire your response system over time, so you weather it more gracefully.



  • Suggested Reading & Resources

    Books for Foundation

    • Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson: A well‑researched overview of meditation science and its lasting impact Wikipedia.

    • Full Catastrophe Living (Jon Kabat‑Zinn): The go‑to manual for MBSR and mindfulness meditation.

    • Wherever You Go, There You Are (Kabat‑Zinn): Brief chapters packed with practical, everyday mindfulness.

    For more creative paths

    • Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy by Laury Rappaport: Foundations of MBAT practice.

    • Insight Dialogue by Gregory Kramer: How to practice mindfulness in conversation.

    • Research on Satitherapy—for integrating mindfulness, ethics, psychotherapy Verywell MindWikipediaWikipedia.

    Scientific Papers & Studies

  • While generally safe, some people—especially with trauma, anxiety disorders, or psychiatric history—can experience adverse effects like depersonalization, panic, or unusual experiences.These are rare, but important. If you feel worse after practice, seek guided instruction or mental health support.

 
 
 

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