Can't Stick with Mindfulness? Try the Japanese Version of "Being Present"

Why Mindfulness Doesn't Stick

Problem 1: It feels like a separate activity. For most of us, meditation feels "special" — sit in a certain posture, close your eyes, focus on breathing. It's not an extension of daily life; it's something you have to make time for. And "making time" is the first thing dropped on busy days.

Problem 2: There's an invisible scorecard. When your mind wanders during meditation, many people feel "I couldn't focus" or "I did it wrong." An activity that's supposed to have no right answer starts feeling graded. When that happens, meditation becomes another task — not a rest.

There's Already a Japanese Word for "Being Present"

Mindfulness is often described as "being present" — paying attention to the here and now. Remarkably, Shinto already has a concept that maps almost perfectly to this.

Nakaima (中今) literally means "the middle of now" — the present moment that sits between past and future. Don't regret the past. Don't worry about the future. Live fully in this moment, right here. It's essentially the same as mindfulness's "be present."

But there's one crucial difference:

• Western mindfulness: You actively control your attention (active). Losing focus = failure
• Shinto's nakaima: You feel yourself as part of a larger flow (receptive). There is no concept of failure

In other words, nakaima is mindfulness that you don't need to "do right."

Mindfulness Is Already Embedded in Japanese Daily Life

Japanese people already practice mindfulness-equivalent actions throughout their daily routines — they just don't call it that.

• Saying itadakimasu before a meal (2 seconds) — gratitude meditation
• Clapping twice at a shrine (10 seconds) — breath-awareness meditation
• Soaking in the bath (10 minutes) — body scan meditation
• Offering water at the kamidana each morning (1 minute) — morning routine meditation

Almost no one thinks of these as "mindfulness practice." But the effect is equivalent. The key is simply to do these things consciously rather than automatically — and that transforms them into nakaima practice.

Omairi Instead of Meditation

While mindfulness advocates typically recommend "morning meditation," we suggest morning omairi instead.

• Meditation: You control your own attention → easily becomes a task
• Omairi: You put your hands together and think "please" → there's nothing to judge

The greatest strength of omairi is that there's no room for "trying to do it right".

• Pick up your phone in the morning
• Open the Kamidana App instead of social media
• Place an offering
• Close your eyes or put your hands together
• Think: "Today too, please"
• Done (total time: about 60 seconds)

The Comfort of Cultural Roots

Where mindfulness can feel like a "borrowed culture," omairi is something that has existed in Japanese life for centuries. Your grandparents did it. You do it instinctively at New Year's. All you're doing is making it a daily habit.

This sense of "roots" matters more than you might think for sustaining a habit. When asked "why do I do this?" the answer isn't an intellectual argument — it's "because we've always done it." That's enough.

Summary

• Mindfulness struggles because of the "special activity" feeling and the invisible scorecard
• Shinto's nakaima is nearly identical to mindfulness — but has no concept of failure
• Japanese daily life is already full of mindfulness-equivalent micro-practices
• Meditation is "self-regulation." Omairi is "being held." The latter is easier and sticks better
• Cultural roots provide an invisible support system that keeps habits alive