"it is better to engage in mindful activities where you are more naturally engaging with your environment"

This sounds fine but what if your environment is unnatural? I believe this the case for most Americans (only group I am qualified to speak on).

I also don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, but I do believe an unnatural environment requires a remedy and that meditation could be that remedy.

Fowl are living the same life they have lived for thousands of years. Human lives have shifted in the last 50 years and perhaps have shifted more dramatically in the last 2000 years.

"Meditation is something artificially put on; it does not belong to the native activity of the mind. Upon what do the fowls of the air meditate? Upon what do the fish in the water meditate? They fly; they swim. Is not that enough?"

I'd argue that thinking about our thoughts and ourselves is a natural thing for humans to do. It's natural for birds to fly, it's natural for fish to swim, and it's natural for humans to engage in meta-cognition.