00:00

00:00

How to Think About Mindfulness

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 back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about a way that you can perceive mindfulness and how it might apply to your life. So my working definition of mindfulness is the practice of being with our experience rather than in our experience in a way that is spacious, curious, and heartfelt. So, imagine your life as a river going down a mountain. There are two ways you can be in relationship to the river.

You could be caught up in the river, smashing into the rocks, drowning in the white water, and praying for moments of calm. Or you could be sitting on the bank of the river, watching it go by with a quality of peace and ease. In either case, you're still experiencing the river, just from two different vantage points, and therefore a different experience entirely. This illustrates what I mean by being with the experience instead of being in the experience. And it's also what I mean when I use the word spacious.

This points to the distinction between the part of you that is observing and the part of you that's being observed. There's awareness and there's anger that is passing through awareness. But most often, the two feel like the same thing. I am angry. We identify so strongly with whatever the experience is that we're having that we get sucked into it.

Once inside, we get thrashed around and wherever it takes us, we go. Mindfulness meditation is a way for us to step out of that thrashing. It allows us to deepen our connection to the present moment without getting overwhelmed by it. It's important to point out the potential pushback. Well, what if I like being in the river, Cory? Am I just going to be watching my life happening without actually living it? The quick answer, no.

Although the river metaphor helps us capture what it's like to embody an awareness versus an unconsciousness, specifically in meditation, it doesn't capture another reality, which is that you're still living your life and experiencing even more all there is to experience. So while this metaphor might work well for the stillness in meditation, perhaps a better metaphor can be used for mindfulness in daily life. We're learning how to kayak, to move fluidly with the flow of our life without drowning or being trapped in it. So we'll get to continue to practice this in the meditation. As always, thank you for your practice and let's settle in for our meditation.

Cory Muscara

4.7

How to Think About Mindfulness

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 back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about a way that you can perceive mindfulness and how it might apply to your life. So my working definition of mindfulness is the practice of being with our experience rather than in our experience in a way that is spacious, curious, and heartfelt. So, imagine your life as a river going down a mountain. There are two ways you can be in relationship to the river.

You could be caught up in the river, smashing into the rocks, drowning in the white water, and praying for moments of calm. Or you could be sitting on the bank of the river, watching it go by with a quality of peace and ease. In either case, you're still experiencing the river, just from two different vantage points, and therefore a different experience entirely. This illustrates what I mean by being with the experience instead of being in the experience. And it's also what I mean when I use the word spacious.

This points to the distinction between the part of you that is observing and the part of you that's being observed. There's awareness and there's anger that is passing through awareness. But most often, the two feel like the same thing. I am angry. We identify so strongly with whatever the experience is that we're having that we get sucked into it.

Once inside, we get thrashed around and wherever it takes us, we go. Mindfulness meditation is a way for us to step out of that thrashing. It allows us to deepen our connection to the present moment without getting overwhelmed by it. It's important to point out the potential pushback. Well, what if I like being in the river, Cory? Am I just going to be watching my life happening without actually living it? The quick answer, no.

Although the river metaphor helps us capture what it's like to embody an awareness versus an unconsciousness, specifically in meditation, it doesn't capture another reality, which is that you're still living your life and experiencing even more all there is to experience. So while this metaphor might work well for the stillness in meditation, perhaps a better metaphor can be used for mindfulness in daily life. We're learning how to kayak, to move fluidly with the flow of our life without drowning or being trapped in it. So we'll get to continue to practice this in the meditation. As always, thank you for your practice and let's settle in for our meditation.

Cory Muscara

Cory Muscara

4.7

Duration

Cory Muscara

Play in-app

Scan the following QR code with your camera app to open it on our mobile app

Get Unlimited Access

Start your mindfulness journey today.

A Mindfulness Plus+ subscription gives you unlimited access to a world of premium mindfulness content.

Over 1,800 meditations, sleep, calm music, naturescapes and more
Daily mindfulness video meditations 365 days a year
100s of courses and tools to help manage anxiety, sleep and stress

Available on

Email Missing

We couldn’t detect your email with the SSO provider you have selected.

Mindfulness Guarantee

We are here to make a positive impact on the world. We never want to sell you something that hasn’t helped you live a better life. That’s why if you’re unhappy with any purchase from us, you have 30 days to get a full refund and your money back.

If you subscribed to Mindfulness Plus+ and are unhappy with your purchase, please get in contact with us within the 30-day period and we’ll refund your purchase.

Learn more about our Mindfulness Guarantee.

Mindfulness

Bring balance into your everyday life.

We believe in a world where everybody has access to the life-changing skills of mindfulness.

2,000+ Guided Meditations
Daily Coaching
Sleep Content
Mindful Exercises
Mindful Radio
10+ Courses from world-class teachers

Private Browsing

Added to your cart!

Thank you for joining us

Dive into the full library and enjoy all it has to offer!

Claim your free access

Create a mindfulness account and we’ll unlock this premium session in your account forever.

Start a free trial to play this session

7-Days free trial, cancel anytime.

Finish personalizing your account

Complete a few quick questions to make your own personalized mindfulness plan.

Mindfulness

One membership to gain access to a world of premium mindfulness content created to help you live happier and stress less.

2000+ Guided Meditations
Courses from world-class teachers
Resources for Stress + Anxiety
Breathing exercises, gratitude practices, relaxation techniques
Sleep meditations, playlists, stories
Mindful talks, podcasts, music, nature sounds