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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.
Today, I'm going to talk about how
we can learn to calm reactivity so
that we can act more intentionally.
So when we practice mindfulness and
we begin to really watch the mind,
we start to see how the mind can
be really jumpy, really reactive.
Often we're there, and we're focusing
on the breath and then all of a
sudden, an unpleasant feeling arises
and the mind immediately starts to
push it away or fight against it.
And then we might come back to the breath
for a while and then maybe a pleasant
thought comes up, maybe about planning
a vacation or something like that.
And we chase the thought,
we get lost in the thought.
Then we realize what's happening.
We come back to the breath.
And then maybe a memory arises
about someone who let us down.
We immediately start to going to a mental
narrative about how wrong they are.
Anger starts to build.
And then we catch ourselves
and we come back to the breath.
And so on.
Now, as we watch the mind, we
can really start to see that a
lot of what it does has an almost
automated kind of feeling to it.
It's very reactive.
So an unpleasant emotion arises, and we
have a knee-jerk response of resistance.
A pleasant thought arises, we have
a knee-jerk response to chase it.
An impulse arises, and we act on it.
A judgment arises, and we buy
into it and we react to that.
So we really start to see that a
lot of the time, we're not really
consciously choosing a response, the
mind just kind of does what it does.
It reacts.
But as we continue to practice
mindfulness, what we see is that we
open up more and more inner space.
So we learn to step back from thoughts,
emotions, and impulses and observe them.
So what we're really doing here is
we're really kind of unhooking ourselves
from the thought and the emotion and
learning to meet it with awareness.
Now, when we're meeting it with awareness,
we don't have to react immediately.
We can pause in that space of
awareness and then choose a
more skillful response instead.
So we don't have to always be at the
mercy of all the mind's knee-jerk
reactions, whether it's to a
feeling, a thought, an impulse or
a difficult situation in our lives.
So the more we develop this capacity for
mindfulness, the more we open up that
inner space, the more we actually have
the ability to respond to life instead.
And of course, what we develop
in meditation really relates
to every part of daily life.
Whereas before we might've spent so
much time in reactive mode, chasing
this, acting on that, resisting
this, judging that, now we've become
less reactive and more grounded in
presence and able to respond instead.
Therefore, we're able to make more
wise choices, the ones that move
us away from suffering and lead
towards us living a happier, more
loving and more meaningful life.
So as always, thank you for your
practice and your presence here with us.
And let's now settle in
for today's 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.
-
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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