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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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Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about distraction and the concept of deep work. We are living, as they say, in an age of distraction. And although the distractions can seem relatively harmless in the moment, they can cause all kinds of unintended consequences, large and small. Like when we're having an important conversation with a loved one and we're only half there, not fully present with them when they really needed us.
Or when we perform poorly or slowly at work, because we're not able to stay focused on our tasks and instead, we ended up clicking on things that pull us away from what's really important. Or when we pick up our phones while driving potentially putting ourselves in danger. So a big part of mindfulness training involves really training our minds to concentrate, which if you've ever tried, meditation is a hard thing to do even for 60 seconds straight when you begin. This skill, the ability to focus can give us incredible insight in meditation. We really learn a lot about ourselves through this practice.
But it also becomes immensely valuable when we take it off the mat or off the cushion and into our lives. So distractions often stumble our efforts to focus, and for good reason. The human brain is an incredible thing, but neuroscience is revealing that the brain has its limitations. And one of them is how incredibly sensitive we are to interruption and distraction. So our obsession with seeking out and consuming information is actually rooted in our ancient survival instincts.
So in a sense, distractability is in our nature. But we do need to temper it because in order to do anything well or appreciate anything fully, you need to pour our attention into it, hold it in our focus and savour it. So the question is, how do we do this in daily life? Now, of course, this is where mindfulness comes in. In meditation we're really learning to notice when we're swept away by thoughts and emotions. We keep training ourselves to return and anchor our attention over and over again.
In real life, the invitation here is to practice in the same way. So the sooner we can notice the pull of distraction, the sooner we can gently bring ourselves back. So as a practice for today, just simply notice when you're distracted and then bring your focus where you want it to be. When we can stay focused on whatever is in front of us at this very moment - this task, this conversation, this meal, this book, this step, this song - we're not only more effective in those moments, but we're also much more fulfilled in our whole daily lives. So I wish you well with this practice.
And as always, thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
Deep Work
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. Today, I'm going to talk about distraction and the concept of deep work. We are living, as they say, in an age of distraction. And although the distractions can seem relatively harmless in the moment, they can cause all kinds of unintended consequences, large and small. Like when we're having an important conversation with a loved one and we're only half there, not fully present with them when they really needed us.
Or when we perform poorly or slowly at work, because we're not able to stay focused on our tasks and instead, we ended up clicking on things that pull us away from what's really important. Or when we pick up our phones while driving potentially putting ourselves in danger. So a big part of mindfulness training involves really training our minds to concentrate, which if you've ever tried, meditation is a hard thing to do even for 60 seconds straight when you begin. This skill, the ability to focus can give us incredible insight in meditation. We really learn a lot about ourselves through this practice.
But it also becomes immensely valuable when we take it off the mat or off the cushion and into our lives. So distractions often stumble our efforts to focus, and for good reason. The human brain is an incredible thing, but neuroscience is revealing that the brain has its limitations. And one of them is how incredibly sensitive we are to interruption and distraction. So our obsession with seeking out and consuming information is actually rooted in our ancient survival instincts.
So in a sense, distractability is in our nature. But we do need to temper it because in order to do anything well or appreciate anything fully, you need to pour our attention into it, hold it in our focus and savour it. So the question is, how do we do this in daily life? Now, of course, this is where mindfulness comes in. In meditation we're really learning to notice when we're swept away by thoughts and emotions. We keep training ourselves to return and anchor our attention over and over again.
In real life, the invitation here is to practice in the same way. So the sooner we can notice the pull of distraction, the sooner we can gently bring ourselves back. So as a practice for today, just simply notice when you're distracted and then bring your focus where you want it to be. When we can stay focused on whatever is in front of us at this very moment - this task, this conversation, this meal, this book, this step, this song - we're not only more effective in those moments, but we're also much more fulfilled in our whole daily lives. So I wish you well with this practice.
And as always, thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
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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
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.
- 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.
-
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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