Mindfulness Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Well-Being

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Mindfulness might be defined as awareness, presence, consciousness, or mindful awareness—they all refer to the same thing. It is the knowing or witnessing self that observes our experiences.

The psychological skill of mindful awareness is believed to determine (or limit) how far we can move along the path to well-being (e.g., Wilber, 2024). So, to move across the stages on the path to well-being, we need to expand our awareness. And if we don’t develop the psychological skill of mindful awareness, we are likely to get stuck.

Awareness Does Not Equal Well-Being

Although mindful awareness is necessary for progress, it is not sufficient for well-being. In fact, I get really nervous when people teach mindful awareness without teaching other psychological skills. Mindful awareness, on its own, can increase well-being, but it often doesn’t. In fact, teaching mindful awareness on its own has the potential to increase ill-being. For example, adverse events (e.g., anxiety, pain, and psychosis) commonly occur in studies of mindfulness meditation (Binda et al., 2022). So, although the skill of mindful awareness is necessary for progress, it is not sufficient for maintaining well-being along the path.

This makes sense if we think about it. Mindful awareness is not partial to good or bad experiences—it simply observes or witnesses all experiences. For example, in meditation, we might become aware of deep gratitude for all living beings. Or, in meditation, we might become aware of chronic self-hatred.

We can’t predict what will arise in awareness, when it will arise, or who it will arise to. This is why developing other psychological skills—in addition to mindful awareness—is so important for well-being. These psychological skills are needed to help us manage whatever emerges in mindful awareness.

When to Build Awareness Skills

If we are in a place of relative stability or relatively high well-being, or we are feeling stuck, mindful awareness skills may be the most helpful to cultivate. Indeed, awareness can get us unstuck and help us move forward along the path to well-being.

However, during times of relative instability or relatively low well-being, building other psychological skills may be more beneficial. These other psychological skills can help stabilize us, boost our current well-being, and prepare us for other upcoming challenges. With these considerations in mind, let’s discuss how to build mindful awareness skills across the stages of adult development (e.g., Cook-Greuter, 2014; Lester, 2013; O’Fallon, 2010; Wilber, 2024; Woods, 2022).

Building Mindful Awareness Skills Across Stages of Development

Early in life, we have first-person awareness that witnesses the physical body and the body’s five senses. With this awareness, we can explore the body and the things it perceives physically.

In childhood or adolescence, we generally develop second-person awareness, which can witness others’ physical bodies and five senses. With this awareness, we can explore how we physically interact with other people. For example, we understand that if we hit someone, it hurts them just like if they hit us, it hurts us.

In late adolescence or early adulthood, we develop third-person awareness, which can witness our own autonomy. With this awareness, we can explore how we are different from others. Here, we can begin to observe our stable traits and behaviors.

If we're lucky, we extend third-person awareness to witness the self across a greater span of time. That is, we can more easily place our awareness on interior experiences, like memories of the past and visualizations of the future, and we can explore our reasons, causes, goals, etc.

According to Cook-Grueter, approximately 11 percent of adults have fourth-person awareness and can witness not only their own interior but others’ interiors as well (Cook-Grueter, 2014). In other words, we can explore others’ reasons, causes, goals, etc. This is when skills like empathy and perspective-taking can be more fully developed.

We may later extend fourth-person awareness to witness our own and others’ interiors across time. That is, we can explore stories, patterns, and processes within ourselves and others.

According to Cook-Grueter, about 1.5 percent of adults have fifth-person awareness and begin to witness subtler aspects of time and space (Cook-Grueter, 2014). This is when we develop meta-awareness and can observe awareness itself, witnessing all of our other experiences (O’Fallon, 2020). This allows us to better understand the nature of the self and the world.

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Very few people may even have sixth-person awareness, which enables them to bring mindful awareness to the merging of the self and the world (e.g., O’Fallon, 2020).

In Sum

By cultivating awareness, we can move through these stages of development. However, it's important to keep in mind that the experiences that emerge in awareness may increase or decrease well-being. So building other psychological skills is an essential part of improving well-being.