Browse
Top articles
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
00:00
00:00
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 taming paper tigers. So you might've heard of this term before, paper tiger. It's a term that refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful and threatening, but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. So as we go about our lives, there are many things that invoke fear in us that are actually just paper tigers.
Most of them are our fear inducing thoughts. So for instance, we worry about things that will probably never happen or things that we really can't control. We worry about what other people might think of us. We catastrophize, that is, we play out worst case scenarios in our minds. And we sweat the small stuff.
Right? So in all these ways and more, we create paper tigers in our mind. Giving things much more weight and substance in our minds so that they seem much more scary and stressful. So as I'm saying this, you might already be beginning to think about what I'm about to ask you. And that is, what are your paper tigers? You know, everybody's different. What are the thoughts that tend to tip you towards fear, stress, and anxiety? Perhaps you find yourself playing out a lot of what if scenarios in your mind.
You know, what if I lose my job, what if my partner leaves me, what if I have cancer right now and I just don't realize it. Or maybe your paper tigers come in the form of worrying about what people think of you. Did I say the right thing? Am I fitting in? Do they like me? Am I doing anything that could get me rejected? Am I beautiful enough? Am I successful enough? Or perhaps it's a sense of making mountains out of mole hills. When small inconveniences or setbacks, when they happen, become quite big in your mind. So for instance, something like, you're going to be late and you think, oh my God, they're going to hate me.
They're never going to invite me anywhere again. Or you might have a headache and think, oh gosh, my mom had a stroke around this age. I could be next. So whatever your particular paper tigers are, even though they might claim to be big and scary, in reality, they're simply thoughts. Bits of language that arise in the mind and dissolve.
They're really just mental events. So even though they can induce a lot of stress and fear, they really have no power to hurt you. This reminds me, there's an old acronym for fear, F E A R - false evidence appearing real. And that's a really good acronym to remember when the paper tigers arise in your mind. So today and ongoing, I invite you to be attentive and on the lookout for your paper tigers when they arise.
And when they do, see if you can take a pause, take a breath and then examine them closely to see if they're simply false evidence drawing you in to unnecessary anxiety. In this way, you can let go of stress, reclaim your inner strength and peace and enjoy a more mindful and meaningful life. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
Taming Paper Tigers
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 taming paper tigers. So you might've heard of this term before, paper tiger. It's a term that refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful and threatening, but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. So as we go about our lives, there are many things that invoke fear in us that are actually just paper tigers.
Most of them are our fear inducing thoughts. So for instance, we worry about things that will probably never happen or things that we really can't control. We worry about what other people might think of us. We catastrophize, that is, we play out worst case scenarios in our minds. And we sweat the small stuff.
Right? So in all these ways and more, we create paper tigers in our mind. Giving things much more weight and substance in our minds so that they seem much more scary and stressful. So as I'm saying this, you might already be beginning to think about what I'm about to ask you. And that is, what are your paper tigers? You know, everybody's different. What are the thoughts that tend to tip you towards fear, stress, and anxiety? Perhaps you find yourself playing out a lot of what if scenarios in your mind.
You know, what if I lose my job, what if my partner leaves me, what if I have cancer right now and I just don't realize it. Or maybe your paper tigers come in the form of worrying about what people think of you. Did I say the right thing? Am I fitting in? Do they like me? Am I doing anything that could get me rejected? Am I beautiful enough? Am I successful enough? Or perhaps it's a sense of making mountains out of mole hills. When small inconveniences or setbacks, when they happen, become quite big in your mind. So for instance, something like, you're going to be late and you think, oh my God, they're going to hate me.
They're never going to invite me anywhere again. Or you might have a headache and think, oh gosh, my mom had a stroke around this age. I could be next. So whatever your particular paper tigers are, even though they might claim to be big and scary, in reality, they're simply thoughts. Bits of language that arise in the mind and dissolve.
They're really just mental events. So even though they can induce a lot of stress and fear, they really have no power to hurt you. This reminds me, there's an old acronym for fear, F E A R - false evidence appearing real. And that's a really good acronym to remember when the paper tigers arise in your mind. So today and ongoing, I invite you to be attentive and on the lookout for your paper tigers when they arise.
And when they do, see if you can take a pause, take a breath and then examine them closely to see if they're simply false evidence drawing you in to unnecessary anxiety. In this way, you can let go of stress, reclaim your inner strength and peace and enjoy a more mindful and meaningful life. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. Let's settle in for today's meditation.
Duration
Play in-app
Scan the following QR code with your camera app to open it on our mobile app
Get Unlimited Access
A Mindfulness Plus+ subscription gives you unlimited access to a world of premium mindfulness content.
Email Missing
We couldn’t detect your email with the SSO provider you have selected.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
We believe in a world where everybody has access to the life-changing skills of mindfulness.
Private Browsing
Congratulations on taking the first step towards a more mindful life! As a token of our appreciation, we want to offer you an exclusive opportunity to upgrade to Mindfulness Plus+ for a price you won't find anywhere else.
Mindfulness Plus+ is our premium membership that includes everything you need to learn mindfulness and keep practicing throughout all stages of life.
Take this exclusive offer to further your mindfulness skills and experience deeper levels of well-being.
Annual membership
$0
Just a small sample of the life-changing 5-star reviews we get on a daily basis.
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
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.
-
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.
7-Days free trial, cancel anytime.
Complete a few quick questions to make your own personalized mindfulness plan.
Sign up or login to your mindfulness account to proceed.
Sign up or login to your mindfulness account to proceed.
Mindfulness
One membership to gain access to a world of premium mindfulness content created to help you live happier and stress less.