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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. You know, we can so easily view people, events and the world around us through a veil of preconceived notions, judgments, and opinions. For instance, maybe you have an opinion about someone and you, you know, put them in a box, as the saying goes. She's a hippie. He's arrogant.
She's smart. He's weird. But if we hold on to these mental labels, thinking that we know someone through these mental judgments, you know, we'll never truly meet them again. We'll only see them through the lens of our own viewpoints. Similarly, we do the same thing with places, events and even life itself.
And it's really important to remind ourselves that whatever our mental labels about things are. That's all they really are, mental labels about things. Not reality, not the truth. You know, to meet reality moment by moment is to put aside the attachment to these judgments and the idea that you already know something and adopt the openness and the freshness of a beginner's mind. So there's a really well-known story about this.
Yeah. Uh, young man goes to see a Zen master, but when he arrives at the master's house, he launched into a detailed explanation of everything he already knew about Zen philosophy. On and on and on he went. And as this student was speaking, the Zen master starts pouring tea. He pours one cup for himself and one cup for the visitor.
But as he pours the second cup, tea fills to the brim of the cup and spills over the edges onto the table, onto the floor. And the student yells, "Stop pouring!" The cup is already full. "Yes, it is," replied the Master, "Unlike this cup, you are already full of your own opinions, viewpoints, and judgments. You're not going to be able to let any wisdom or understanding in unless you first empty your cup." So this story is a great illustration about how we fill our minds with the opinions and judgments and beliefs. And when our minds are so full like that, we can no longer see things clearly.
There's no space left for new wisdom and understanding to emerge. But we can train ourselves to bring a beginner's mind into our daily life. And perhaps most importantly, into our relationships with others. You know, when we put aside our preconceived ideas about others and meet them as they are in this moment, we give them a great gift, the gift of being truly seen and heard. And this may be the greatest gift we can give.
So maybe take a moment to contemplate how would you like to possibly bring this beginner's mind in your life today? Maybe what notions, judgments and opinions can you lay aside so you can see what's happening more clearly?
Adopting a Beginner's Mind
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Duration
Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. You know, we can so easily view people, events and the world around us through a veil of preconceived notions, judgments, and opinions. For instance, maybe you have an opinion about someone and you, you know, put them in a box, as the saying goes. She's a hippie. He's arrogant.
She's smart. He's weird. But if we hold on to these mental labels, thinking that we know someone through these mental judgments, you know, we'll never truly meet them again. We'll only see them through the lens of our own viewpoints. Similarly, we do the same thing with places, events and even life itself.
And it's really important to remind ourselves that whatever our mental labels about things are. That's all they really are, mental labels about things. Not reality, not the truth. You know, to meet reality moment by moment is to put aside the attachment to these judgments and the idea that you already know something and adopt the openness and the freshness of a beginner's mind. So there's a really well-known story about this.
Yeah. Uh, young man goes to see a Zen master, but when he arrives at the master's house, he launched into a detailed explanation of everything he already knew about Zen philosophy. On and on and on he went. And as this student was speaking, the Zen master starts pouring tea. He pours one cup for himself and one cup for the visitor.
But as he pours the second cup, tea fills to the brim of the cup and spills over the edges onto the table, onto the floor. And the student yells, "Stop pouring!" The cup is already full. "Yes, it is," replied the Master, "Unlike this cup, you are already full of your own opinions, viewpoints, and judgments. You're not going to be able to let any wisdom or understanding in unless you first empty your cup." So this story is a great illustration about how we fill our minds with the opinions and judgments and beliefs. And when our minds are so full like that, we can no longer see things clearly.
There's no space left for new wisdom and understanding to emerge. But we can train ourselves to bring a beginner's mind into our daily life. And perhaps most importantly, into our relationships with others. You know, when we put aside our preconceived ideas about others and meet them as they are in this moment, we give them a great gift, the gift of being truly seen and heard. And this may be the greatest gift we can give.
So maybe take a moment to contemplate how would you like to possibly bring this beginner's mind in your life today? Maybe what notions, judgments and opinions can you lay aside so you can see what's happening more clearly?
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The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
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- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
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You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
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Highly recommend.
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Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
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I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
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