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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, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about the judgmental mind. A lot of times within the mindfulness and meditation spaces, we, well, we could give the judgmental mind a bit of a bad reputation. You hear in a lot of different definitions of mindfulness that it's paying attention in the present moment, non-judgmentally. And this can make us think that having judgments is a bad thing, or if we are being judgmental, it must mean that we're not being mindful, but that's not necessarily the case.
Having a judgmental mind is not bad. It's actually essential. And mindfulness is not about eliminating judgment. It's about becoming more aware of your judgments and understanding how they might be subconsciously coloring your perception of things, people and events. With this awareness and this understanding, you can now choose to accept your judgements, challenge them or let go of them entirely.
And this is essentially what it means to work skillfully with your thoughts, which aren't going away. As long as you're going to be human, in this body, with this brain, you're going to have thoughts. And with that comes discernment, judgments, critical thinking. So we're not trying to get rid of it. We need to be making decisions in each moment and the capacity to make decisions rests on our capacity to have some sort of discernment and judgment.
So we're not trying to eliminate it, but rather become more aware of those judgements so that we don't have to be subconsciously tossed around by them. That is the practice of mindfulness. So when you're engaging in your meditation practice, notice your relationship to the judgmental mind. And instead of beating yourself up when you do notice judgments arise, see if you can smile for a moment and go, Oh yeah, there's the judgmental mind. Thank you mind.
Thanks for trying to assess. Is this situation good? Is it bad? Am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong? And if the judgment is not necessary in that moment, maybe just allow yourself to let it go. Just watch it, like again, a cloud passing through the sky and see if you could drop into this moment exactly as it is. But if the judgment is important, such as like, Ooh, I actually shouldn't be here. I need to make a call right now.
Well, that might be important and something that you need to respond to. So we meet the judgment in the moment with mindful awareness, with curiosity, assess its merit, and then choose how we want to relate to it from there. You could do that in your meditation practice and do that in your life. Thank you for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
Judgment Is Not Bad
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, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about the judgmental mind. A lot of times within the mindfulness and meditation spaces, we, well, we could give the judgmental mind a bit of a bad reputation. You hear in a lot of different definitions of mindfulness that it's paying attention in the present moment, non-judgmentally. And this can make us think that having judgments is a bad thing, or if we are being judgmental, it must mean that we're not being mindful, but that's not necessarily the case.
Having a judgmental mind is not bad. It's actually essential. And mindfulness is not about eliminating judgment. It's about becoming more aware of your judgments and understanding how they might be subconsciously coloring your perception of things, people and events. With this awareness and this understanding, you can now choose to accept your judgements, challenge them or let go of them entirely.
And this is essentially what it means to work skillfully with your thoughts, which aren't going away. As long as you're going to be human, in this body, with this brain, you're going to have thoughts. And with that comes discernment, judgments, critical thinking. So we're not trying to get rid of it. We need to be making decisions in each moment and the capacity to make decisions rests on our capacity to have some sort of discernment and judgment.
So we're not trying to eliminate it, but rather become more aware of those judgements so that we don't have to be subconsciously tossed around by them. That is the practice of mindfulness. So when you're engaging in your meditation practice, notice your relationship to the judgmental mind. And instead of beating yourself up when you do notice judgments arise, see if you can smile for a moment and go, Oh yeah, there's the judgmental mind. Thank you mind.
Thanks for trying to assess. Is this situation good? Is it bad? Am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong? And if the judgment is not necessary in that moment, maybe just allow yourself to let it go. Just watch it, like again, a cloud passing through the sky and see if you could drop into this moment exactly as it is. But if the judgment is important, such as like, Ooh, I actually shouldn't be here. I need to make a call right now.
Well, that might be important and something that you need to respond to. So we meet the judgment in the moment with mindful awareness, with curiosity, assess its merit, and then choose how we want to relate to it from there. You could do that in your meditation practice and do that in your life. 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.
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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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