Netflix's latest dark comedy series, Murder Mindfully, has divided the audience as it blends mindfulness with murder, which some viewers see as clever social commentary while others find disrespectful or trivializing.
Fans believe the show uses satire to explore self-awareness in dark situations, challenging conventional thinking. Meanwhile, critics feel that portraying mindfulness alongside violent crime undermines the gravity of both, creating discomfort and disconnect for those who prefer mindfulness to be portrayed more seriously.
Mindfulness is the method of contemplating the present moment without judging it or letting your thoughts define it. This holistic therapeutic practice of fostering self-awareness has been presented twistedly through the eyes of Björn Diemel, the protagonist of the Netflix series. He appears as a powerful lawyer who sought out a mindfulness practice clinician to balance his stressful work as a lawyer and his personal life.
In the series, as he starts applying his learned mindfulness techniques to deal with the daily pressures of being a divorced parent and working with high-end clients, you notice that things take a dark turn as Bjorn gets caught up in unmindful actions, including murdering someone to reduce the stress in his life while spending time with his daughter.
This show is a fusion of a thrilling narrative and a cautionary tale. It highlights how mindfulness, too, has a dark side, and when not practiced correctly or under the support of a therapist like the ones at Shakti Therapy & Healing Services, it can become unfavorable.
Mindfulness Therapy: A Tool Often Misunderstood
At Shakti Therapy & Healing Services, you will find that mindfulness isn’t just a trendy buzzword but a systematic mindful therapy process that assures a stress-free mind and positive lifestyle.
Today, the term mindfulness is thrown around daily—often without its full meaning or depth acknowledged.
When mindfulness becomes a buzzword, it loses its depth and encourages superficial calmness without addressing deeper issues. This can cause spiritual bypassing, where people use mindfulness to suppress challenging emotions rather than confronting them. Eventually, mindfulness is reduced to an instant remedy, losing its potential for true inner transformation. For a long-lasting impact, mindfulness needs to be practiced with a specialist therapist.
On the contrary, mindfulness meditation therapy has a proven track record of transforming the lives of millions of people. Mindfulness therapy transforms lives by helping people develop greater awareness of their thoughts and emotions and reduces overthinking caused by anxiety over physical sensations in the present moment. This practice helps in reducing anxiety and depression, as well as allow individuals to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. Evidently it can shift negative thought patterns, promote emotional resilience, and foster a sense of inner peace.
On social media platforms like Instagram, on the pages of self-help books, and inside wellness blogs, mindfulness is often presented as a “quick fix” for stress or a path to calm and enlightenment.
However, mindfulness meditation is a complex, deeply-rooted practice that involves understanding oneself with honesty, self-compassion, and patience. It actually is far from a quick fix and the societal push for this as a fast remedy is dangerous, as you see in Murder Mindfully.
American Psychological Association has expounded upon the several empirical benefits of mindful therapy including reduced rumination, stress reduction, enhanced focus and memory, lesser emotional reactivity, and better cognitive flexibility.
It is a powerful tool, but without proper guidance and ethical grounding, it can easily be misinterpreted, as Björn’s actions in Murder Mindfully meticulously outline.
Basic Critically Analysed Acts in the Series
“Letting Go” This is Taken to the Extreme
Björn’s interpretation of “letting go” is certainly an exaggerated example of how mindfulness, when misapplied or misunderstood, can lead to misguided decisions, and put you in harm's way.
You can find that as he faces people who disrupt his inner peace, he doesn’t respond with acceptance or empathy. Instead, he eliminates them from his life in extreme ways - this can be seen as a dismissive or disregarding action. This dark twist on “letting go” illustrates the importance of therapeutic guidance in truly understanding the meaning behind these principles, allowing you to address what is coming up for you before letting it out correctly.
The Unmindful “Acceptance of the Present Moment”
In one of the episodes, Björn tackles the idea of “acceptance” by accepting his current challenges head-on—but in dangerous ways.
Rather than using mindfulness to develop resilience and patience, he uses it to justify his reactions without considering the harm caused to others. In the therapy space, this process is perceived as embodying tunnel vision; a condition that narrows your field of vision to focus only on a particular thing versus the whole image or situation. In healthy practice mindfulness, acceptance means learning to observe and coexist with your emotions without immediate reaction or judgment.
This is one of the key endeavors of the mindfulness technique that you shall discover with a certified therapist like Ektha Aggarwal or holistic therapist Dipika Bisht at Shakti Therapy & Healing Services.
Mindfulness Requires Depth—and Often Guidance
Björn’s journey is an exaggerated reminder that mindfulness, without a structured or therapeutic approach, can lose its true meaning.
When you understand the components of mindfulness therapy, you will notice that it is not a set of isolated techniques but rather a deep process that often requires guidance to navigate. At Shakti Therapy, you will find that mindfulness is about becoming more aware of one’s emotions and responses and cultivating a balanced perspective, which in turn lowers the voice in your head and helps reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
This is where therapeutic guidance is invaluable. Therapy provides the context, structure, and ethical grounding to integrate mindfulness into one’s life in a way that promotes healing and growth—not impulsive reactions.
Mindfulness as an Ethical Practice
Through Björn’s misguided attempts, Murder Mindfully indirectly underscores the importance of applying mindfulness with guidance and intent. Mindfulness should never be about bypassing difficult feelings such as anxiety or depression, or “solving” stress through avoidance with methods of violence to self or others.
At Shakti Therapy, the mindfulness therapy team helps clients truly understand that it is all about building resilience, alleviating stress, and fostering self-awareness to reduce mental health symptoms.
It’s a journey into self-compassion, self-honesty, and emotional growth. Our team is here to provide the depth and support needed to explore this in-and-out therapy more meaningfully, helping clients harness mindfulness as a tool for lasting healing and transformation.
If you’re interested in exploring the true power of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Shakti Therapy & Healing Services offers therapeutic guidance to support your journey. Contact us to learn how mindfulness can lead you to a balanced, fulfilling life—without compromising values or bypassing challenges.
Ektha Aggarwal is an experienced licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and Founder of Shakti Therapy and Healing Services.
Shakti Therapy is a holistic & psychotherapeutic mental health clinic. We realize that we are an integral part of the vast and complex web of life - that the health of the whole is intimately connected with the health of the individual. Shakti Therapy combines both ancient Eastern & the most up to date scientific modalities, to create a basis of connection - mind to body, human to nature, individual to community, physical to spiritual, past to present to future.
To learn more about Shakti Therapy and Healing services, please visit www.shaktitherapyhealing.com
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