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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 ending
the struggle with our thoughts.
So, you know, perhaps one of the most
common misperceptions about meditation is
this idea that we are supposed to clear
our minds of all thoughts and emotions.
But that's really not
what we're aiming to do.
What we're learning instead is to change
the way that we relate to thoughts
and emotions when they do arise.
We're learning not to struggle
with them and we're learning also
not to be taken over by them.
So one of my favorite analogies for this
is the analogy of, you know, imagining
yourself, sitting on a park bench on
the side of the street and there's all
these people that are passing by you.
The people in this analogy represent
your thoughts and feelings.
The park bench that you're sitting
on represents your seat in awareness.
So in meditation ,in this scenario,
all you have to do is sit there
relaxed and easy on the park bench
and just let these people, let these
strangers just walk on by, without
leaving your seat of awareness.
Just let them come, go or stay
as they please, as you just sit
there, resting on the bench.
So, this is pretty simple, right?
But it's not always that easy in
meditation because we often get
caught up in engaging with the
passers-by, engaging with the thoughts.
We get caught up in the stories,
the dramas, the plans, and we keep
getting up and leaving our seat.
We also sometimes get irritated
because we wish these passers by
would go away and leave us alone.
But the truth is is that we don't
need the crowd to change or go away.
We can just accept that these passers
by will be coming and going as we just
sit there, relaxed entities in our seat.
It's also important to think about
having a warm attitude to these passing
strangers, knowing that they're there, but
not engaging with them or following them.
So, and if someone does catch your eye,
in other words, if a thought catches your
attention, you can just gently nod your
head, acknowledging their presence and
just stay calmly resting on the bench.
So we can do this in meditation to have
this sense of just kind of acknowledging
the thought and letting it pass.
So training the mind isn't about
getting rid of thoughts and
feelings or trying to control them.
It's just changing our
relationship with them.
And by learning to have a less reactive
and more skillful relationship with
our thoughts, we naturally find a place
of ease and rest within ourselves.
In today's meditation, I'm going
to guide you through a practice
of mental noting, to again, get
a sense of gently acknowledging
thoughts and feelings, letting them
pass while we stay in our seat of
awareness and in the present moment.
So I invite you to settle in for
that practice now and as always
thank you for your practice
and your presence here with us.
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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'.
- Joy
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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