Mindfulness.com
Meditation
See All Meditation

Browse

Top articles

How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

Mindful LivingSleep
CommunityFor Work

Already have an account?

Sign in

00:00

00:00

Innocence Is Not the Same As Naivety

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 the difference between innocence and naiveté. There is a difference. So most people associate innocence with naiveté. And conventional wisdom regards innocence is kind of belonging to children, fools and dreamers who perhaps lack critical thinking skills or the life experience to know the hard truth about life.

But there is actually a different kind of innocence. It's an innocence that's based on an ability to see the world with fresh eyes every day. An innocence that understands that the world is always changing, that nothing is permanent and therefore everything and everyone is precious and deserves to be met with an open heart and an open mind, our mind without the overlays of preconceptions and opinions and beliefs. This kind of innocence also has a lot of humility to it. It doesn't feel that it's more special or important than others.

It has no desire to be better than. It's really curious rather than critical, humble rather than hateful. It's grounded in wisdom and compassion. So by getting in touch with this natural innocence that we all have, we become better at letting go of ego and embodying mindfulness in everyday life. And we can do all of this without losing our edge, without losing our engagement in life.

We don't have to become a doormat or, you know, lose sight of our ambitions, but rather this kind of innocence invites us to hold both softness and strength together so we can live a more wholehearted, joyful and connected life. So the invitation for all of us today and ongoing is, if you care to, if you resonate with this, is just to experiment with inviting more innocence into your life. That may be through softening your judgments, seeing the world with a beginner's mind, or simply acknowledging and appreciating the precious people and moments of your life. And just keep remembering that innocence is not the same as naiveté, that innocence is not a weakness. It's a strength.

As always, thank you for your practice and you presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.7

Innocence Is Not the Same As Naivety

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 difference between innocence and naiveté. There is a difference. So most people associate innocence with naiveté. And conventional wisdom regards innocence is kind of belonging to children, fools and dreamers who perhaps lack critical thinking skills or the life experience to know the hard truth about life.

But there is actually a different kind of innocence. It's an innocence that's based on an ability to see the world with fresh eyes every day. An innocence that understands that the world is always changing, that nothing is permanent and therefore everything and everyone is precious and deserves to be met with an open heart and an open mind, our mind without the overlays of preconceptions and opinions and beliefs. This kind of innocence also has a lot of humility to it. It doesn't feel that it's more special or important than others.

It has no desire to be better than. It's really curious rather than critical, humble rather than hateful. It's grounded in wisdom and compassion. So by getting in touch with this natural innocence that we all have, we become better at letting go of ego and embodying mindfulness in everyday life. And we can do all of this without losing our edge, without losing our engagement in life.

We don't have to become a doormat or, you know, lose sight of our ambitions, but rather this kind of innocence invites us to hold both softness and strength together so we can live a more wholehearted, joyful and connected life. So the invitation for all of us today and ongoing is, if you care to, if you resonate with this, is just to experiment with inviting more innocence into your life. That may be through softening your judgments, seeing the world with a beginner's mind, or simply acknowledging and appreciating the precious people and moments of your life. And just keep remembering that innocence is not the same as naiveté, that innocence is not a weakness. It's a strength.

As always, thank you for your practice and you presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.7

Duration

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

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

Added to your cart!

Checkout

Claim your free access

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

or continue with
By continuing, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Do you already have an account?