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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 the possibility of discovering a deeper sense of self. So although we might have a very solid idea of what kind of person we are, when we train in awareness and begin to look a little bit closer at who we are that solid fixed sense of identity starts to change a little. We begin to observe the transient and fleeting nature of body and mind, and we kind of have this realization that on one level we're more like a living process than a fixed and solid identity. So as we observe the mind for instance, and we see that thoughts are arising seemingly out of nothing and then dissolving very quickly back into nothing, even though we may have the kind of sense of having very fixed ideas and opinions, when you look closely like this at the nature of thoughts, they're anything but solid.
They're very fleeting and they actually have to be repeated over and over again to appear solid at all. And so we can't be our thoughts because we're watching our thoughts come and go. Our emotions too, come and go and continuously change. We might be prone to certain emotions or think out of ourselves maybe as an angry person or a sad person or an anxious person. But no emotion is there all the time.
So we can't be that emotion. It's not our true identity because we're observing the emotions coming and going. And the body too is changing continuously. We see that when we look in the mirror, right, or when we look back at old photos of ourselves. And actually from a scientific perspective, the cells in the body are constantly changing, dying and being regenerated.
And actually you have a whole new set of cells, a whole new body, every seven to ten years. You know, and our roles out life circumstances, our environment, our community, our world, all of it is a flow of ongoing change. So as we look at these changing conditions, we find that there's nothing we can point to and say, that's a solid, fixed identity. So it'll be closer to say that you're a living process. You are, uh, a flow of life.
We, human beings love to define things and put mental labels on things. But if we can lay aside that tendency to see ourselves solely through mental definitions, we can find out who we are in our direct experience, who we are beyond all definitions. And with that discovery comes a lot of freedom and peace of mind. So we'll explore this a little more in today's meditation, and I invite you to settle in for that now. And as always, thank you very much for your practice and for your presence here in this community.
Discovering a Deeper Sense of Self
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 the possibility of discovering a deeper sense of self. So although we might have a very solid idea of what kind of person we are, when we train in awareness and begin to look a little bit closer at who we are that solid fixed sense of identity starts to change a little. We begin to observe the transient and fleeting nature of body and mind, and we kind of have this realization that on one level we're more like a living process than a fixed and solid identity. So as we observe the mind for instance, and we see that thoughts are arising seemingly out of nothing and then dissolving very quickly back into nothing, even though we may have the kind of sense of having very fixed ideas and opinions, when you look closely like this at the nature of thoughts, they're anything but solid.
They're very fleeting and they actually have to be repeated over and over again to appear solid at all. And so we can't be our thoughts because we're watching our thoughts come and go. Our emotions too, come and go and continuously change. We might be prone to certain emotions or think out of ourselves maybe as an angry person or a sad person or an anxious person. But no emotion is there all the time.
So we can't be that emotion. It's not our true identity because we're observing the emotions coming and going. And the body too is changing continuously. We see that when we look in the mirror, right, or when we look back at old photos of ourselves. And actually from a scientific perspective, the cells in the body are constantly changing, dying and being regenerated.
And actually you have a whole new set of cells, a whole new body, every seven to ten years. You know, and our roles out life circumstances, our environment, our community, our world, all of it is a flow of ongoing change. So as we look at these changing conditions, we find that there's nothing we can point to and say, that's a solid, fixed identity. So it'll be closer to say that you're a living process. You are, uh, a flow of life.
We, human beings love to define things and put mental labels on things. But if we can lay aside that tendency to see ourselves solely through mental definitions, we can find out who we are in our direct experience, who we are beyond all definitions. And with that discovery comes a lot of freedom and peace of mind. So we'll explore this a little more in today's meditation, and I invite you to settle in for that now. And as always, thank you very much for your practice and for your presence here in this community.
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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.
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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.
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I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
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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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